Dustpuuppy

My sales are down as for the number of orders, but up in the size of the orders I'm getting, so dollar volume is up, which is what matters to me!

I guess size really does matter.

I think I would be in trouble.. :rolleyes2

Just wanted to see if it were affecting everyone or if I have been put on a black list....

You've been blacklisted for years...

and was there ever a time you weren't in trouble?

I tested my jars with the ecosoya advanced and the cd 16 worked good. They are nice jars but $$$ w/shipping. I also have some square jars from the dollar store (no lid). I was thinking of covering with a piece of lace fabric and tying ribbon around to hold it in place (for packaging). My theme is Victorian.

:yay:Linda

If you're going Victorian, might I suggest slightly off white lace with a red velvet ribbon?

When I read that an image of that old velvet wallpaper popped into my head. Like this.

If nothing else you could recycle those little bottles that spices come in. The ones that are about 1 inch tall ?

I have no issue with those folk who sell for less. They know what their crap is worth.

I save my old/runny panty hose and cut them off in pieces and tie them over the pour spout on my presto and also turkey fryer! Nothing gets through them but wax.

Aparently something besides wax got past those pantyhose at some point or you wouldn't be running around calling yourself "Grama".

So much easier than going to markets

And the lunch room will be air conditioned.

They were awesome for about 3 weeks then disaster struck. The soap started to melt from the inside out.

Sounds like you got that recipe from a Detroit auto company.

Wish we did have Walmart though!

Tracy

Actually you don't. They tend to destroy the local economy in every area they go into.

As for the country by the sea thing... I'm not sure what you have down there. I was kinda thinking you could arrange your display so that these would be on the end. And try to put something in between to tie them together with your regular line.

Or you could put them all front and center... kind of spotlight them. Maybe capitalize on them being different.

I been racking my brain... I once saw a pic of a rundown cattle station, near the coast. I think it was on the west coast. Around Broome, maybe?

I must have seen a hundred photos of the kind of places I was thinking of. Can't find a damned one of them now.

The formula we're talking about is the % of oil, to wax, to vybar...etc.

It won't really stop her from going to someone else but it will slow her down.

Since you're going to be getting the oils from her, you couldn't be selling anything from the formula, anyway, but it would keep her locked in with you, to an extent.

I think I would ask for about 5 oz of each oil for testing, along with a deposit of 10% to 25% of whatever you decide is the minimum order.

When I was pouring, I did customs all the time, so it wouldn't be a big thing for me. I'd just be sure to have some cash in hand before starting.

With a large enough order and a sizable deposit... <shrug>

If it doesn't feel right to you, there's probably a reason. Get enough cash up front to make it worth while.

You could split it into smaller orders by doing one or two scents at a time.

And all recipes are work product and belong to you. She doesn't get them.

Just thinking out loud, here.

You could grunge up the outside. Maybe some rust colored paint?

Then grungy up the baskets. Maybe add the seashells, too. Give the idea of something you found on the beach ?

If you could dig up a picture of an old country house on the sea shore to put near them, it could tie these together with your other products.

Might find something, here. I saw a couple og old lighthouses... not sure what else is there.

I screwed up on the price. Peak's has them for $8.99.

I don't know if the $4 thing was a really old price or if I was just full of shit.

Either way, I'm finding them in the $8 - $10 range.

I always left the thermometer in the pot, too. Never had one break, though. I won't do it after this, though.

was it a mercury thermometer or an alcohol one?

Thing I was worried about was that some of them have even stranger things in them. Although the mercury would be bad enough.

Thank you so much for the positive wishes! I have helped so many other businesses succeed and achieve their goals. I am not afraid of hard work so I am going to give it my all!

BTW... I haven't been on the board for a few days and got confused with the last few pages of posts regarding spammers etc... I thought I was on the wrong thread or something!

We all wish you luck. Just remember that you're kicking off at a tough time. The upside, though, is that if you can weather the storm, the competition will be a lot less this time next year.

Sorry to hi jack your thread. We just had to take a moment to sweep up a bit of trash.

Heh.

Where I grew up, paranoid is a survival skill.

Like someone else said, you do handle these things more than you would a candle. My concern would be when they remove the used up tart from the melter. Not the only concern but it would be the top of the list, for me.

Also, if you dip from the top of the pot, you could just strain most and ditch the last inch, or some such. The glass should sink to the bottom, if there's any in there. Clean the pot thoroughly. If you have a spout attached, you might run a pipe cleaner through it, to make sure there's no glass trapped in there.

Those are my most paranoid suggestions.

Do you have an old wire strainer/colander you could sacrifice ? The kind that looks like screen wire?

If you could strain the wax through one of those, you'd be safe.

If you have a big one, you could strain the whole batch. You could use a tea strainer to strain one candle's worth at a time.

Also... did the inside of the thermometer break ? If those chemicals got into the wax at all, I'd dump the batch. No telling what kind of fumes they could give off or if they might cause your tarts to catch fire or some such.

I guess the use of more wax really wasn't my biggest concern.

That just niggled something in the back of my mind. Not quite sure why, but it bugged me.

I have trouble thinking that two such odd things are un-related, when they happen at the same time.

Ya gotta kiss a lot of frogs...

Well, Toto, you're not in Kansas, anymore. ( Somebody was going to go there, I just saw it first. )

If anything I'd think the higher altitude would make you use less wax.

What that thread never really said was that at higher altitudes, there's less oxygen in the air.

The altitude WILL make a difference. It's just a crap shoot whether that difference will be enough to notice, in the candles YOU make.

Also sounds like you're ignoring temperature as a factor. If your work area now is colder than it was in Kansas, that might account for both the tunneling and your seeming to need more wax.

We have rules ? When did this start ?

I'd bet your best bet might be the CoOp section.

I don't think anyone would mind that question. But remember that shipping from a supplier further away will cost more. So you might not do yourself any favors by ordering it on sale.

One decimal point ?

I think I'll stick with my metric triple beam.

LOL

I used to work in a computer shop. I found out there's a good reason that support centers always ask if you have the computer plugged in and turned on.

Some people actually DO think you should burn a votive as a pillar. Since I don't know you, I had to ask. :smiley2:

I don't actually have an answer to your question. Those were my only two thoughts. But, now that they're eliminated, it might save someone with more knowledge a little time. Maybe get you an answer a little sooner.

Or I could just be full of shit. That's always a possibility.

I t might help if we knew whether you need them all to be the same.

If you're doing orders, you probably want the ones you use to match your sample, as closely as possible.

If you just sell the at shows, it won't matter at all. They just take what's there.