Jane42

We didn't throughly test the corn cob in the muslin bags, so I can't tell you which is better. I always wanted to test those bags some more because you could stencil on them, but no time. I like the looks of the organza bags, and they are much simpler to just fill and be done with it, but I think the male customers might prefer the muslin....lol....I think the little cute organza bag looks a little funny hanging from my husband's F150's rearview mirror....

We tried the corn cob mixture, and the corn cob mixture with rock salt. I wasn't really impressed with the length of time the scent stayed, and the mixture did not look very nice in the organza bags, so we switched to aroma beads.

With the votive warmer, I do use the same votive holder over and over. To get more scent in a larger room - if I don't have a large wickless at home - I will take a couple melts and put them in a 10 oz jar and put that in my larger warmer.

Oh, good heavens...she definitely should be happy with it lasting as long as it did...I'm jealous!! Mine certainly don't last that long! lol I also would not recommend refreshing it with oil. She just needs to buy a new one!! Good Luck! PS Does anyone ever recommend using an empty jar and putting a few melts in. I do it for my own use, but don't know if it is a no-no. I use my tester candle jar, clean it out, add some melts and put in electric cachepot melter. So far, no problems, but I know the "re-use" of jars is not a good idea. Hmmm, guess I answered my own question!! lol

I don't shop with this company, so I have no idea how large they are, but I do alot of online shopping and have never thought to contact the company to see if they would still give me the deal if I didn't meet the requirements. It would be great if they did, and I would be very grateful, but I don't think I would feel that they had to. Must be all that time I spent around Christmas trying to get my orders from Amazon.com over $25 so I could get the free shipping...lol I would always be just a couple cents short of the free shipping and would spend WAY TOO LONG trying to juggle things around....:rolleyes2

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and your husband, LynnS - I know the agony of waiting...

Oh, boy...I understand your panic! I don't know what to do to help, though....call the bank?? See what they suggest?? Whoops, idacandlelady, we posted at the same time!

Hmmm, did anyone purchase these at Michael's? I know we have some in the shop somewhere. I am stuck at home after foot surgery...will have to call my partner and see if she can find them. I know we didn't sell many, since our jars were too big to sit on the warmer, but we did sell a few with the little iron pans..... I just remembered I had one on the kitchen...Provo, but I don't see a model number that is even close to what they are showing. Still not going to use it, though, and we will get rid of the rest.....

OK - I laughed so hard when I read this....."If you’re concerned about indelicate noises or just want to multitask, consider the "upgraded version." BUT, how nice would it be if HE had HIS TOILET and I had MINE in the same room. We don't have to use it at the same time, but MY toilet seat would ALWAYS be down!! lol Hmmmm, cleaning two toilets per bathroom.....nahhhhhhhh, forget it......

Yes, they really are 100% free!! lol You can purchase the flat rate boxes with the postage already on it if that makes it easier for you - just make sure that whatever you are putting in the flat rate box is a better deal than just sending regular Priority....which is what the OP is dealing with. The flat rate and regular rate Priority boxes look very similar (at least they did), so make sure you are getting what you want.

We use this wax and for most FO's, we use 1 oz per pound, which I believe is closer to 6%. There are some "lighter" oils that we may use at 1 1/2 oz pp. We use the same temps as you. We do not use CS FO's, so I can't help you there. The only FO I have had that happen to with the 4630 was Cajun's Vanilla Bake, which is a heavy oil. I used 1 oz pp, but will test it with less next time. It not only had "beads" of FO on the top of the candle, I could see where it had collected on the bottom of the jar along the edges!! Wish I could be more help, but even after two years, I am still a "newbie"...lol

We have been selling for about two years. We loved candles and had always wanted to make them ourselves....and we hoped that maybe by the time we retired, we would have established a business that would add a little extra money to our retirement. We didn't want a "business" now...just wanted to sell to friends, do some home shows and craft shows. After researching on these boards, we found that the general consesus was that we should have insurance in place before we sold any of our candles. That costs around $600 a year. Some of the craft shows require we show a vendors liscense, so we registered and have a DBA - have a tax id and charge sales tax and pay quarterly. My business partner spends hours keeping track of inventory, filing our sales tax info, etc. We had been so overwhelmed the first couple of years this was the first year we wrote anything on our personal taxes re the business. This is the only problem my husband has had with this business....that we weren't writing off our expenses (losses - which, with all the testing that you do, adds up - along with the gas, use of the truck to go to shows, etc.) The craft shows can be great...or they can stink. We have hauled hundereds of pounds of candles, tables, displays, etc. to a show just to turn around and haul them all back. It is back breaking work and not something we look forward to....lol We just wanted to make candles.....and somehow we ended up totally overwhelmed by all the other aspects of owning a business. At our last business meeting we looked at each other and said "Why didn't we just make jewelry???" LOL That is our joke that we use when we have just gotten back from a show and gotten everything back into the shop and we are trying to catch our breath....lol Yes, we are rethinking the whole idea right now because of the increase in wax and gas. Rather than stocking candles in our 25-30 differents fragrances, we are going to concentrate on the Fall/Holiday scents, since that is when we do the bulk of our selling. Hopefully, the cases of wax we have now will get us through the season. We won't be looking for any extra people to host stop n shops this year. There were too many times we drove 50 miles and only had five people show up. We have two craft shows booked, and we have two or three stop n shops that we have done well with in the past, so those will be the only ones we will do. We were hoping to make a little money, but now we are just happy if we can cover expenses and buy new product. On the other hand, if you have experience in business, it may not be such a daunting experience. You would be able to concentrate more on the what you love the most...making candles! I honestly cannot say whether we will continue or not. We love making candles, we love testing new scents and trying new things. That is the whole reason we got into the business. We just aren't sure we can afford it anymore....

I wouldn't do that either...alot of people on Ebay were getting in trouble for doing that. I realize they probably were not going to pay Priority, but it is still not being used for what it was intended. I picked some up by mistake once - when I went to mail a package, I just wanted to pay Priority - not the Flat Rate. Guy at the PO told me I had to repack it in a Priority box - would not cover up the flat rate info. Unfortunately, this package was going to Italy for Christmas...not time to drag it home to repack..so I paid double the cost of Priority.

I second TV Guilfoil...they have the jars and the straps. We use the same jar, except ours is the 10 oz with the black strap/handle.

Well, I would HOPE that mine would burn well at any altitude, but without testing them in different areas, I wouldn't know. I have burned a few in AZ and they did well........lol

Good Point...thanks, Vicky. That is what concerns me. I know that people worry that if they are on consignment, the employees may not be as careful with their items as they would with items that they actually own. It probably would be the same with a "rental spot".

So, does that mean a Yankee candle burns well "somewhere"?? I have always wondered about this when I read that it all depends on where you make it, then where you burn it, as to how well it burns. Can a candle be made that burns well everywhere?

I just received the following email. I picked up one of your cards at a craft show and am just now able to extend an invitation to you to display your lovely candles at (name of business). We have a great location with plenty of parking. With our spa and Merle Norman business taking up much of our time we have display space to share!! What I'm suggesting is that you visit us, see what we have and then consider renting some shelf space. We're open 6 days a week (reduced hours on Mondays) Tuesday-Sat. always 10-4 and later hours Thursday & Fridays. What is your opinion on this? Has anyone done this? Thanks so much for any advice you can give me. Jane

tootie4 - I love reading about your testing results! We have used LX wicks in a small 5 oz apothecary and it works well, but I have never tried the larger jars in any of the wicks you are testing, so it's quite interesting! Unfortunately, the company we usually get this wax from is no longer going to carry it, so we have to start testing a new wax. We don't sell alot of soy at this time, so we are hoping to have something together by the fall shows. Good Luck with the testing!

The only difference I find with the scent is my older paraffin candles still smell great and look the same as the day I took them out of the mold....my soy votives seem to smell a bit "off" and they look "dry". I use the Enchanted Lites votive wax. Not sure if there is a better votive wax or not, but I just don't seem to get the same shelf life between the two.

Very good point! We spent/lost so much money on testing and were never able to write any of it off.

Not getting caught up in the whole soy movement and staying with what I like best...paraffin! I also have to agree with not buying/testing so many FO's. Maybe have a few of each in each category (ie bakery, fruit, etc.), but it's too late now!! :rolleyes2 We are still fairly new, so this thread will be very interesting!

We use a 10 oz apothecary that we purchase from TV Guilfoil in Syracuse...sorry, no pictures - but they are pretty common.

Thanks, Tess....I would never have thought of using this wax for pillars. Do you use additives to "harden" the wax, or just use it as is?