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Thank you both Goldie & Trappeur for the compliments.

@CandybeeThose truly are some awesome items for your booth. The tablecloths will make such a big difference. Very inspiring! Like everyone else, I would love to see the end result when you set it all up

Good luck!! I'm sure it will turn out great.

Thank you Your fireplace is gorgeous! It looks so much warmer and inviting. That half wall sure is different, but with the rock and faux beams it will look like a really cool architectural feature when it's done. Neat! All I can say about staining is that it's easiest for me to use a cotton rag, dip in the stain and lightly wipe back in forth, like you're rubbing it in with the wood grain. Let is sit for a couple of minutes, get a clean rag, and wipe the excess off (if you let it sit too long it gets tacky and is a total pain in the rear). Usually you have to make sure you sand absolutely all of the old laquer off the cabinets before you can try to stain, otherwise it will look splotchy and uneven. I highly recommend the General Finishes brand. I used it to finish this chair I refurbished last year. I haven't used the stain, as I had a can of Minwax stain laying around, but I did use the wipe-on poly top coat in satin finish. Especially easy to work with, just use a rag to wipe it on in a thin coat and leave it, sand between layers. The finish turned out so nice and smooth. A+ product there. Note: bonus pic with my pups.

Thanks for the support, @GoldieMN! Cheers and best of luck on your sales as well! @Trappeur I myself have two antique windows sitting on my back porch waiting to be restored... will try to get to them tomorrow or maybe early this week. My plan is to sand them down, repaint them, and distress slightly to use as a backdrop for my festival booth. Shutters would be perfect for that too! I am trying to keep myself from going antique shopping... like I really need more stuff. Lol.

Ok Goldie those are some awesome paintings! I especially love the one with the butterfly/purple flowers and the bluebird. BTW I didn't need your ID, but thanks I've done a couple of small festivals back in when I lived in Cali; didn't sell candles, just the wood artwork. The one coming up is April 8th. Not sure what kind of a turn out there will be since this is a small town, but you never know. Plus side: the town is so small that usually any event has a pretty decent turn out (because there's nothing else to do!)

Today I thought I would share some of my latest projects, other than the normal candle stuff. I needed a sign for my booth at an upcoming festival, so I finished that this week (Vieve Designs). The rest are some other items I've been working on. So, this is what I do with my free time. I have fun with it Any of you guys make stuff aside from soaps/candles? I thought I saw some pottery/jewelry on here...

I use Nature's Garden Vanilla Bean and it is my favorite. I like Candle Cocoon's Vanilla Voodoo as well, but it is very sweet and cakey. Both are very good, but NG's is more subtle, in my opinion. I just can't handle anything too sweet.

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback

Thanks for the replies, everyone. @Incendia, thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of using Sierra Vista as a name, but it does sound nice.

Good evening everyone, I have been invited to set up a booth at a local festival in April and am trying to come up with a *short* list of candle fragrances to offer. Because I make a variety of items (mainly painted wood signs/artwork, some jewelry, and of course candles), I'm not trying to come up with fragrances that will appeal to every buyer. Instead, I choose fragrances that I enjoy and that "fit" my brand - mainly earthy/natural scents. SO, with that in mind, here is a list of potential fragrances that I think I might do. 1) Simply Vanilla 2) Lavender 3) Lemon Tea 4) Seashore (ocean breeze/sea water type scent) 5) Pepper & Port 6) Warm Pipe Tobacco 7) Leather/Sandalwood/Vanilla mix (I have no clue what to name this yet!) 8) Rosemary Mint 9) Patchouli 10) White Sage 11) Piñon Pine Shoot, I'm already at 11 fragrances and I only wanted 10. I would appreciate any input or ideas, if anyone cares to chime in. I should note that I am located in southeastern Arizona; I realize the location plays a huge role in what types of scents sell best. Thank you!

Incendia, the piñon pine I have is from Wellington. I've just poured a candle I am patiently waiting to burn... the cold throw is somewhere between earthy pine forest and chopped firewood/campfire. It has a warm, smokey hint to it. <3

I usually have testers going in my house... I think it may be driving my husband mad, there is at least one candle in each room (usually I don't burn more than one at a time so I can get an accurate sense of the hot throw). I do tend to only make candles that I enjoy. Usually earthy or herbal fragrances... patchouli, piñon pine, rosemary mint for example. I like tobacco, pepper & port, and vanilla bean as well. Ok I like everything.

I'm by no means a very experienced chandler, but the little 4 oz. jelly jars I use are 2.5" diameter and I am having great success with ECO 4 wicks (wicking up to ECO 6 for tougher fragrances). I use Golden 444 wax, 1 oz FO per 1 pound of wax. Hot throw has been very strong for me (CC's herbal rosemary smelled up the entire first floor of my house the other day - just from a tiny little candle! I couldn't believe it). While the my jars are a tad smaller in diameter than yours at the widest point, perhaps a similar wick would do well, since your jars are rounded and look like they might keep the heat in and any excess would melt down (if that makes sense).

Haha this cracks me up, too funny. @GoldieMN Those were the first ones I ever made, and I did fill them up a bit too much... I probably take them down about another 1/8-1/4" so they are still pretty full, just not to the rim. They burn fine in our log fireplace; all the wax burns right up. My husband laughed at me the first time he saw them because he thought fire starters were a silly idea... now they are his favorite thing that I make! He is sad he can't use all of them, since I'm saving them to sell.

@Trappeur I have seen pictures of your fire starters in an old post, and they looked so nice! Good to hear about mixing fragrances - and good idea separating them into scent categories so they don't totally clash. Thank you!

Yes, I do use soy. Part of the reason I love doing them is that I no longer waste any wax, so it's good to hear consumers won't mind the fragrances! Woohoo!

Thank you both! @franu61, you're very kind to say that. I have yet to see a fire starter that isn't adorable - I love how they're just a mixture of things, like little collages.

Hi all! I have been making fire starters for myself and would like to add them to my shop. Currently I use leftover wax from candle pours, meaning it's scented. Has anyone had issues selling fire starters with multiple fragrances mixed together? Not sure how buyers would feel about that, particularly if they dislike certain scents (although I find it silly when it's just going to burn up, but hey, whatever). Should I just toss the leftover wax and use fresh, unscented wax for the fire starters? Any tips would be appreciated.

I also like the black old time lid with #5 or #7 label. If you want a border, I think the grey plays nicely off of the foggy forest and makes your label "pop" as opposed to the white or green. I think the rusty lids make it look less sophisticated, but that's just my opinion. Also love the twine; it adds a bit of softness to the final product and gives it a homey touch. I love love your feather label, but perhaps not for Ace Hardware.

I'm not sure how sweet the iced tea FO is, but perhaps something like "Honeyed Tea" or "Sweet Southern Tea".

For example, here's a font similar style to the one you are using: https://creativemarket.com/genesislab/372755-Austtria-Script-Letter-30off It does have a small price tag, but you'll have the comfort of knowing you're legally allowed to use the font commercially!

I agree with everyone else here. While that font has a certain feel you might be going for, there are many, many other similar fonts that are easier to read. If someone else hadn't pointed it out, I still wouldn't be able to read your business name. Another thing - the phrase "100% hand poured" doesn't really make sense to me. You wouldn't only hand-pour half of the candle, so it seems unnecessary. "Handcrafted" at the bottom of your tag gets the point across much better! Something like "100% soy wax" would work (for example, if you were using 100% soy).

No, it didn't smell perfumey to me at all. Just very garden-like and herbal, if that makes sense. I believe (if I remember correctly) it was a wicker-upper.

Fillmore's Rosemary Thyme is a "deodorizer". It's definitely an herbal scent, but it is so, so good (in my opinion).