Dee

Posted an old rustic without Fo picture in the gallery for you.

Here is one of the first rustics I did a loooong time ago so excuse the picture. It was made with 1343 and alot of steric (I think around 4 or 5 tbsp pp) no FO. Haven't made them this way since (without FO) then. Hope the old picture shows up ok.

Very pretty. Are the guests getting to choose the scents?

Very nice presentation:smiley2: .

Ohhhh! Pretty. Like them all but the one on the left is my favorite.

I used 1274 but it was some time ago. The finish looked good and mottled well and then I put them away in a dark closet and left them for awhile. Can't remember for how long, but it was some time before I took them out and the finish went dull. Don't know what happened, but sure was dissapointed.

I have made them with mineral oil from the drugstore and nothing happened. When I told my local wax supplier, he sold me parol and the candles mottled, but the finish on them was rather cloudy. May have used too much - but it was the same amount as I used when using FO. The very best results were with FOs. As for cold pour rustics, yes you can make them without FO or oils.

I never use a wire whisk either. I've found that with Vanillas, I've mixed the FOs in around 190/195 as well and also put ithe FO in a little glass and put the glass in hot tap water while the wax is melting.

I love the look! Great colors. I've cut almost all of my pillars back to 3%, due to cost and also, I'm finding that the good quality FOs throw failry well. Keeping votives and tarts higher though.

You might want to try using high melt glue and a glue gun. Some find that works well at stopping the glue from melting and the wick from moving.

After you take the wick pin out, you need to prime your wick in wax (usually the same wick you used to make the pillar). Wait until the wick hardens and then slide it up though the hole that was made by the pin. You can also prime a bunch of different wicks to have on hand.

Wow! I like those alot. You got a good color for the gingerbread cookie. I've also decided that maybe its best to go back to what I do best, after wasting alot of wax this month trying Different Christmas stuff.

Wow! What alot of work you've done! They look delicious:yay: .

I like them all, Robin. You really got a great color for the spiced cranberry. See you are doing 2"ers again. Are you going to let us in on the wick you used, lol.

Here's the metal tape link. http://www.candletech.com/metaltape/ It works really well. However, on the larger molds, particularly the metal ones with the base, I've found you have to use lots of putty and tape. Sometimes, with large molds, I've even overlapped the sides of the mold with the tape. Have never had the problem with the aluminum molds. Make sure that the tape is really sealed. To do this I run a little plastic glue stick over the it and make sure there are no gaps. Make sure the edges of your tape are really smoothed down too.

Here's a chart from wicks unlimited with the rate of burn. I like to look at that along with the flame size and pool diameter. HTH. http://www.wicksunlimited.com/atkins_pearce_htp_wicks.php

Just was at Michael's spending my 40% off coupon on another pour pot and thought I'd check out the candle they have that looks the same again - seam and all. Since I live in Canada, goods here have to be marked with their country of origin due to the North American Free Trade act with the US and Mexico. The bottom of the candle said Made in China, Improrted by Michael's USA. Its a dead ringer for the one in the pictures.

Pretty mottle:)

I've had the same troubles with flat ply. Really like the first burns (3-4hrs) then they get low with second burns - with particular Fos. So I've been trying different wicks (very ecpensive with Fos). Have tried hotter burning ones (as I've said a few times on the board lol). HTP 83 and 105 have been used successfully for some of my stronger Fos. I know people use them for containers, but they can also be used for pillars.

That's really pretty. I really like the glow through look too.

Some leave me with a bit of a stuffy nose, but there are a couple that make me feel like I'm having difficulty breathing. Thats only with one candle burning and I live in a fairly large house with good venting. I think you have way too many burning as well.

This may give you an idea about flame heights with flat ply http://www.wicksunlimited.com/atkins_pearce_ply_wicks.php However, I know what you mean. That's the only complaint I've had with flat ply. Sometimes I get a torch and then wick down one and the flame conks out depending on the FO used. They require alot of trimming. Is the flame high and smoking, a long thin flame or a nice flame, but just too high for you? I've recently switched to HTP wicks for stronger FOs. I've found that I have to make sure that the wick is really at 1/4 in. before the first burn. Recently was burning two candles from the same batch (no FO, fl ply) and one had a really nice flame and shell and the other had a really little flame and was tunnelling. The only thing I could think of was that I had cut one wick too short.

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6294 Our Michael's store had the exact same candles tie and all. The join between the layers didn't look very good and was not blended well. Looked like you could pull it apart. Didn't try though lol. The wax was fairly soft. It wasn't as attractive up close as the picture.

As long as its not your cat;)

My wax has often gone up to that temp when I'm melting it, just not for that long.