amanda

I have a weekly farmers market every Friday. Normally I do well, but this week was just awful! My sales were only a third of what they usually are even though there were tons of people at the market. I'm really hoping it's just that people don't like to spend extra money before a holiday. This is my first year at the market and I worry that when it's hot, no one will want a candle. But I did have another repeat customer! I'm starting to amass a little group of regulars and it's such an awesome feeling.

I use this in 6006 for my jelly jars and in ecosoya PB for votives and never had any issues with having to wick up. Good luck with testing because it's one of my best throwers and it's my #1 seller by a landslide. People really like this scent (which always surprises me because florals are NOT my cup of tea!)

Blue Hawaiian by Nature's Garden is phenomenal. The throws are incredible in 6006 and ecosoya pb. I also tested island coconut by candlescience, which smelled great and threw well. But I personally wanted something fruitier/sweeter. Island coconut smells like piña colada! Yummm

I was just thinking about this yesterday! With some fragrances, I get mushrooming with my last burn too. I figure if I'm happy with the burn overall. And there's no soot, melt pool is good, jar isn't hot, great throw, great roc, etc... Then I'm not going to get too worked up over some mushrooming during the last burn of the candle. I also use CD wicks (in 8oz jelly jars)

A rug is a great idea! I'll add that into the mix for my next parking lot market. I'm happy to report that my candles have been holding up beautifully. The highest temp they have been in was 91. I live in PA. So it could be worse. I have two little battery powered fans that I got off of amazon. For as small as they are, they really seem to help.

Before I even read proudmarinemom's suggestion, I thought that "lucky 7s" would smell like bamboo! So I think that's a definite winner! Don't forget triple cherries on the slot machines! That's an easy, fun one. Since royal flushes are either red or black, I immediately pictured a red candle. Maybe a cinnamon spice of some sort? And I cosign "blackjack" being anise and orange. In our pre-baby days, my husband and I use to play a lot of poker and put in long hours at the casino, they always made sure to keep the free coffee flowing to keep us awake and at the casino! Haha. So when I think of poker, I definitely think of a coffee scent! This is a really fun idea and I look forward to seeing what scents you decide to go with

first, thank you guys SO MUCH for the awesome advice/ideas. I have a million other things to get to first, but I ran a little bit through felt out of curiosity's sake. What a great method! I'm glad I didn't try some of the other stuff I've read online. It's looking pretty dark. So I've decided that I'm going to use one of the little beehive molds Chris linked me to and make little ornaments like TallTayl suggested. I never would have thought of that if it weren't for this forum and you guys! And I think they'll make nice little keepsakes for everyone. So, thanks again! So glad I found this forum. **high-fives!**

I tried a search and most of the threads were more geared toward 444 or 464, so I was wondering how 6006 holds up at outdoor events. My farmers' market is in the evening, on the grass, under a natural canopy of trees in addition to my tent. So I'm not as worried about that. BUT I was accepted into a really great juried event by a really popular local nomatic market. This event is a series taking place the first Sunday of each month this summer. Really exciting, right? But then I realized: I'm going to have candles, on a parking lot, from 9am-4, in the summer heat. Hmmm, maybe I was accepted because I was the only candlemaker dumb enough to apply! I read about the styrofoam coolers and rotating candles in and out of them. Would a battery powered fan help? Will my votives melt? (ecosoya PB, shrink wrapped) I have 4, 8, and 16oz glass jars. All with lids. All 6006 with color, scent and UV inhibitor. Now I'm really anxious about this event that I was previously so excited about. Am I doomed? Any experiences/tips/words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

I have always used Nature's Garden for my CD wicks. Then one time I needed something from lonestar and though "I'll just get some extra CD 10s while I'm ordering since I'm low". When testing the batches of candles I made from them, I noticed the were burning as if they were a smaller wick. I had made a lot of candles with the Lonestar CD 10s. That's how I learned this lesson the hard way. BUT if kind of worked out because there have been some fragrances where a CD 8 is too small and a CD 10 is just slightly too large. So for those, I use the Lonestar CD 10s as a makeshift "CD9".

Thanks for the responses. @ TallTayl- the cleaning method I came across online involved pouring it through pantyhose. You like using felt? I have TONS of felt laying around. Just melt, pour through felt, melt, pour through felt, repeat until clean? Also, I've mentally prepared myself that I might not get a whole lot of usable wax. Don't want to be disappointed. But I think the whole thing will be fun regardless. @ChrisR I'll keep that in mind that if that wax is dark, it will be harder to wick. That's interesting. Does it get darker as it gets older? Because the beekeeper estimated this hive to be 10-12 years old. If that wax is really dark, maybe I'll just get cute beehive molds and make little wax keepsakes for the beekeeper, brewers and managers of the restaurant instead of candles? That might be a nice gesture? Speaking of...can anyone recommend a place to order small silicone beehive molds? Perhaps votive size. I did a search online and everything was either very large ( > 10oz) or surprisingly expensive. I'd love to try little beehive or rolled beeswax-looking votives. I see little beehive votives on etsy so I know they exist! Thanks again guys! I'm really excited about this project!

Oh, I was hoping to make candles out of it. I should have probably specified that. Is that possible with this type of raw beeswax or is candle beeswax processed some type of special way? Also, how much of a dork does it make me that I'm just waiting for my husband to ask "what's in this bucket?" so that I can reply "None of your beeswax!!"

Hello all, A local brewery that I used to work for recently rehomed a bee colony (of approximately 50,000 bees!!!) during construction. The master bee keeper came and took the bees to his apiary. Then the brewers pressed the wax for the honey to use in a beer that will be specially brewed in honor of our buzzy little friends. The manager asked me if I wanted some beeswax, and an hour later she's at my house with a 5 gallon bucket full of raw beeswax! I've never worked with beeswax. Never even researched or read about it. I googled how to clean it, and I'll start that process next week, but where should I go from here? My current candle line consistes of parasoy container candles and soy votives and tealights; That's all I have experience with. I don't even know where to begin. Any tips on where I should start? My instinct says votives. Is that what you would do? Any guidance on where to start wick-wise? How much usable wax might I expect to get from this bucket (5 gallon bucket filled with large chunks)? Would something cute like this http://www.bee-outside.com/rubbercandlemoldbuzzingbeeskep.aspx be overly ambitious for someone who has never worked with beeswax? I'd appreciate any guidance from those with experience with something like this Thanks so much in advance and happy weekend!!

I also have been using Candlescience's UV inhibitor. I add it in at ~180 with my fragrance and haven't noticed any sort of the flaming your mentioned. Are you perhaps using too much?

Thanks for weighing in, guys. I'm glad to hear that it's not something that would require me to adjust my formula. You all know how much work it is to find the right fragrance load and wick! Adding something else to the mix seemed scary! Lol. I ordered some from Candlescience and will be sure to mark the candles I already have made to make sure I sell those first.

Hello all! Today was my first day vending at my local farmers' market. It went really well and I had such a great time I have a question about UV inhibitors. How essential is it to use one? I hadn't thought about it before today, as I had been selling at indoor craft shows and online. I'm still operating on a pretty small scale so I don't have many candles that sit around for very long. And I will be outside (under a canopy of trees as well as a pop-up tent, so a very shaded area if that makes a difference) for 4 hours a week 3:30-7:30pm. Are the candles I have now doomed to discolor?? Should I stop making more until I order UV inhibitor? Will it affect my burn/wicking/HT? Things that may be relevant: I use igi6006 for containers and ecosoyaPB for votives. I have very colorful candles. I use 4, 8, and 16oz clear glass canning jars from Fillmore for my container candles Thank you in advance for your advice!

I have little 2" terracotta flowerpots that I paint flowers on and use to make a candle. They have a drain hole. I spackle the hole and then mod podge the heck out of it. If your planters are terracotta/clay, make sure you also mod podge or otherwise seal it super good too because the hot wax will discolor the clay. Learned that the hard way! Haha. HTH

My 4oz and 8oz jelly jars have the same diameter and produce the same HTs

I mix mac apple with pomegranate.

Thanks for the compliments; means so much coming from someone who isn't family!

Hello all! I'm Amanda and I started making candles about a year ago. It started as gifts for family and friends and then people starting asking for more and this little business starting growing. I'm happily married to a great guy and am a stay at home mom to the sweetest little 7 month old girl. She hates to be set down or put into any swing/playpen/etc, so most of my candles are made with my little sidekick baby wrapped up on my back while we listen to music and dance around our kitchen. She refuses to be babysat, so she accompanies me to all my shows (she is so social, LOVES smiling and babbling at people) and she's my top salesperson! I love to think that when she's older, I can teach her and we'll make candles together. I haven't done many shows yet, but I've had great success at the ones I've vended at, and I just got word yesterday that I got into the farner's market that I was really hoping to be accepted into! I'm so excited for that. I couldn't be where I am in my business if it weren't for pouring through all the advice, experience, and information on this board, so THANK YOU. I originally had 16oz mason jars wicked well and good to go (those were the candles I started with as gifts), but when I tried to branch out to jelly jars, I was having a HORRIBLE time. Very frustrated and not having fun anymore. Then I got some great advice from you guys (and CD wicks!!) and now we're off to the races. I like igi 6006 for container candles and I like to do a lot of color layering and ombré effects. I also make fun and funky little striped votives with the ecosoyaPB. I like to have fun with it, it's an awesome hobby that mixes science and creativity. Here's a candle I made today http://i.imgur.com/mvxTyH9.jpg It's "Blue Slushie" flavor. I'm trying to have some fun, summer scents for the market. Thanks for reading this and I hope someday I can pay it forward on this forum and be of help to someone. Have a nice day!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and input. I rummaged through my dad's scrap wood in his workshop and made some cool blocks and little shelves to display my votives. Now to buy some shrink bags and individually wrap them all (blech!). @turtle wax- your votives sound really fun and creative. I love the idea of dessert votive in a bakery box. So cute! I agree that people can get cheap, boring, mediocre votive for $2 at Target, so I need to start working on my confidence! My mom and husband are always telling me that I'm pricing my products too low. :/

@Vicky- I'm so excited about that idea! I never would have thought of it on my own, so thank you!! Instead of glass, I will use wood blocks because I use kraft for all my packaging/labeling and my signs are screen printed on wood so I feel wood blocks would match the feel of my table nicely. I'm going to go root through my dad's workshop tonight for wood to make into different size blocks I knew this forum would come through for me!

@Turtle Wax- I am in Pittsburgh. If you are in Pittsburgh, let's just join forces! Haha. You're definitely right that it's distracting. Especially now that I have more than 4 options. I originally wanted to sell them in the twin packs because the price I set was 1.50 and I didn't want to deal with a bunch of quarters! lol. But they sell really well and are rather labor intensive so I feel it will be okay to price them at $2 a piece and sell them individually or 3 for $5. In your experience, does that sound reasonable? @vicky- do you have all of the votives for sale stacked on and around the blocks, or just some to display and keep your stash of votive under your table? I love the idea of displaying them with some height/levels, but I definitely have way too many to set them all out. Maybe 3 of each or something? Do you both label your individual votives? I use hanging tags, so I'm trying to think of a way to label each individual votive's scent. All I can think of is a round kraft sticker on the bottom with the scent hand written. Is that too unprofessional?

Hello! This is my first post. I've learned a lot lurking around this forum for the past year, thank you all for sharing your experience and expertise! I have a question that I couldn't seem to find an answer to using the search function. How are you displaying your votives at craft shows/events? This was my original method: http://i.imgur.com/7rLN0xc.jpg But now I have more scents (I have 10 scents that I use for votives) and I spend so much time on the layers/ombré effects, I'd like to individually shrink wrap them and nicely display them. With the basket, I feel people may miss some options while digging through and don't really get to see the layers/color effects. I'm having trouble coming up with a way to nicely display my votive on my table. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated! TIA