Made by hand, built with heart.

I’ve always loved making things with my two hands. When we were raising our four children, I needed a way to earn an income, and I had always wanted to work for myself. My husband shared that dream of owning our own business.

We started making candles from our dining room table. I loved that we could create candles, earn an income, and ship our candles and other handmade products to customers all across the United States.

Before long, our children became part of the business too. They made extra spending money on weekends, during summer break, and on school vacations by helping with the handmade work.

What began at our table grew into a true family business, built one candle and one customer at a time.

Then we uprooted our family and moved to the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. We fell in love with the area, its welcoming tourist-town spirit, and the beauty of the Smokies we had visited so many times on vacation.

Making that move was an exciting leap of faith. And with Dolly Parton—one of my all-time favorite country music singers—being from the area, it made me love East Tennessee even more.

Our business was established in 2003 under a different name while we were living in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. During that time, we also built two additional businesses: Smoky Mountain Bath and Body and Honeybee’s. We made many lasting friendships there, and some of our family still called the area home. We were also grateful to help my youngest brother and his family establish their own business, Smoky Mountain Mercantile.

After losing my mother in 2003, my father’s health began to decline. Our family made the difficult decision to sell the businesses and move back to my hometown so we could be closer to him.

By God’s grace, I am still running this business today. Carson Lane Candles continues to share handmade candles and bath products with the same care, creativity, and family spirit that started it all.