candlebean

I'd love to know this, too. I got a sample acetate box from Frontier, but I haven't put a bar in it yet and let it sit for a while. Also, I think that it would be quite pricey to package with those.

I like those boxes from Frontier too - the kraft boxes just never worked for me, and I'm like a 5 year old with plastic wrap, so that never worked out so well for me either. BUT I did just send an email to Frontier to see if they could give us a discount for a bulk order....I may be tempted to host a co-op if they do :rolleyes2

You keep posting the same message in every section and never reply to anyone who asks what you want to order and from where - I don't get it!

I bought mine from www.sksbottle.com

I can't remember right now what I paid, but I don't think it was that much.....

Edited to add: I just checked their site - If you get a case of 48, they are $.37 each for a total of $17.76.

I wouldn't use solid perfumes on my lips! Even though they are skin safe oils that doesn't include lip safe!

Ditto! You wouldn't want to eat your FO's! :lipsrseal

I was just looking at Kangaroo Blue's site at the FBB and the sample recipie they provided. I have a question about the preservative. Per the KB site, you're supposed to use .5-1% of liquipar optima based on the total weight of what your'e making. Everthing is weighed out in oz except for the brown sugar, which is in cups. This may be a stupid question, but do you measure out 2 cups of sugar, then weigh it, and figure out how much preservative to use that way?

Second question: What happens if you use a little too much preservative? Say your calculations call for .40 oz and you put in .50oz.....is too much preservative the same as not having enough?

But now if I lose for three years & then some....what's the IRS do..shut me down? That's what I'm getting at more so.

I talked to my mom who is an accountant. At least for the state of Connecticut, if after 3 years you are not making a profit, they won't close you down. You'll just have to prove to the government that you are selling what you make and that you are a business, and they will give you more time to show a profit. They don't want to lose any of the sales tax or Business Entity Taxes they're getting from you!

So if its a hobby...do I even need to do taxes on it? I mean, if I want to lose money for ten years...I should be able to, right?

That's what I need clarification on.

LOL - if you want to lose money for ten years that's fine, but if you receive money for anything that you make, you have to pay taxes on it. If you just make it and give it away then you have nothing to worry about

If someone says "Hey super candle hobby lady, will you make me a candle if I buy you all of the stuff to make it?" I think that would be OK, because you're not actually receiving money to do it.

Maybe I'm wrong or maybe that's just a bad example - who knows? I'm here in my cube at lunch and quite frankly, nothing makes sense when you sit in a cubicle.

Goo Gone works wonders removing liquid dye from your hands and where ever else it might end up.

You took the words right out of my mouth - I've used Goo Gone to get red dye off of my white walls and DH would never have known if I hadn't told him about it

I know that adding too much oil will make it fall apart, I'm just asking to see if anyone out there has been making them long enought to know how long 1 drop will last, so that when I am selling them, I can tell people so that they don't add too much.

I haven't gotten my roses from the Co-Op yet, but was wondering something for those of you that already make them...If you put one drop of FO on a rose, how long does it last before you have to re-scent them? I wanted to sell small bottles of refresher oil with them, but was just curious about this.

TIA!

Eventually, yes, you can make a profit. But don't expect to for the first few years - there is a LOT of time and money that needs to go into testing and research....good luck to you both!

This may be a stupid question, but does the school charge you to test it or is it extra credit for some student? LOL - I assume they charge you, but I just wanted to double check.....

Hi Heaven,

Testing used to take me forever too, but someone (I don't remember who) gave me a great tip. When I used to get a new scent, I would make one of each size and would start with the wick I thought should work best, then it wouldn't work, so I'd make another one with a different size wick and test that one, etc. Well, this gets really time consuming and costly as I'm sure most of you know.

What I do now, is I make a wickless candle for whichever size/scent I want to test. Once the candle is completely cooled, I cut about 2 inches off of a tabbed wick. Then I take my heat gun and melt the top of my candle enough so that I can make a hole with a screwdriver. I bend the bottom part of my wick so it has a little girth to it and won't fall down the hole, and put it in the hole I made. I then zap the top of my candle again to quickly remelt the wax around my wick. Then I'll light my candle and let it burn for 2-3 hours and see what I get. If the melt pool doesn't go all the way to the edges, I know to wick up, or if it smokes too much, I know to wick down, etc. If the wick you have in there doesn't work, just blow it out, pluck out the wick, cut another 2 inch piece from a different size, stick it in the hole, and start again.

I hope this makes sense - it really does save a lot of time and money on supplies - if you need help, please feel free to PM me. I don't know anything about your type of wax/jar combos, but I'll do whatever I can to answer your questions.

I don't charge sales tax on top - I have normal fees for candles and stuff, in even dollar amounts. When it's time to pay taxes, I just add up my sales and multiply by .94% or something like that - I have the formula written down at home, and that tells me what I owe our fine Governer (sp? because I don't think I've ever actually written that word out...) in taxes. Which reminds me - I have to do my sales taxes for the quarter :whip:

I think baby grace is supposed to smell like baby powder, but I'm not sure about amazing grace. I have the baby grace perfume that my SIL gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago, and it just smells weird to me...the only one I like from Philosophy is Falling in Love - I am addicted to that scent

I got some from the first co-op and even though they haven't come yet, I am almost tempted to order more LOL is that sick or what?! I will have to exercise my willpower and hold off until I see how well these sell....but oh, the temptation!! :embarasse

I've never added anything besides FO and color to my Glaze base and I love it!

I know it's crazy, but people don't even blink an eye at $20....I guess I was just lucky on that one!

For my containers, I have my labels done professionally, but they are all the same. I put the size and scent on the warning label on the bottom of the jar. I'm with you - I have too many scents to have them all done individually....maybe when I make my first million it won't seem like so much money lol

I haven't written mine yet either, but could you look at sites like Yank** or something like that to get an idea?

Mine are crazily overpriced, but they fly off the shelf for me at $20 each...I don't know what I was thinking when I first priced them, but at Christmas and Valentine's Day, I can barely keep them in stock!

As long as you test and make a quality product, it will - just give it time. I love B&B - it's a lot of fun, but I get bored making the same things over and over so it's always good to experiment with a new product. With B&B there is TONS of stuff to make, so the sky's the limit!

My sales went up too when I added B&B to my line - I wouldn't say they doubled, but I do have a loyal following now for my B&B products. This was my first year doing it, and I spent a ton of money on testing and getting recipies down, so it's discouraging to look at my profit/loss LOL, but most of that is behind me now, thank goodness!

I have a friend that is interested in trying her hand at CP soap and I wanted to see if I could get her a basic kit or at least some starter supplies, but I have avoided the temptation (so far) to try CP, so I don't even know where to start. I could just order a random kit from somewhere, but I don't want to get her something that stinks and turn her off of it...so does anyone out in CP land have a favorite company for supplies on the east coast?

TIA everyone - hopefully together we can make her very happy :highfive:

You are on the right track, just don't get side-tracked (like buying every FO that you love, buying new jars/molds/waxes). I would recommend concentrating on perfecting your product (to your standards). Obtain insurance and understand the tax responsibilities you have, then look into doing shows. You don't have to do a juried show right off the bat, try a smaller, church or school type show to get an idea of what it's like to set up, sell, break down and do the paperwork at the end. It is overwhelming at times and when you feel overwhelmed step away from it for a day or two, then you will get the "fever" again to work some more. This like any business/hobby, you can get burned out quick.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

I completely agree about doing a small show to start with - you'll feel more comfortable and the cost won't be as much. You sound just like me about the legal/business aspect of it all - I was just saying to DH that I need a secretary to do all of the #%$^ work so I can spend more time on actually making candles and B&B stuff. Hang in there - it will all fall into place once you get your groove going!