birdcharm

The only thing I can think of, although not "sugary," would be to make a vanilla bean infused oil that could be used in some bath products perhaps -- I'm not sure what it could all be used in or how it would smell, as I've never done it. I was reading about it recently, but the price of vanilla beans has skyrocketed!!

Is your question in relation to having a business out of your home? I don't think I've ever heard of that in regard to making candles as a hobby.

I use raw wick for a few different reasons. I first bought zinc and htp raw for use with gel candles. For other wick types, I've also purchased it raw as I like to use wick tabs with longer stems and I don't have as much waste, i.e., can cut more to size needed.

Hmmm ... did you leave any room at the top by chance? I'm thinking you could drill a tunnel down the center large enough to accommodate the wick tab, sink the wick, then fill in the hole just to the level where the wax is (you may have colors mix in the tunnel). If you left some room at the top, go back and pour a thin layer to conceal your endeavor. If you didn't leave any room, scape off a bit of wax from the top prior to performing the operation. I don't believe all is lost. I've never forgotten a wick, but I've played with wax long enough to know my way around an assortment of mistakes!

Thanks all for posting your thoughts! I am going to see about getting a concave mold. I also will not be using a pin, as I prefer to wick the mold, and, without having a stand of some sort to support it in, I can see how the concave can avoid any "wiggling" as noted! I think the one I saw was 3" across, so that's not so very wide. I only went looking for an additive, but now I'm trying to form a little order around it -- you all know how that goes, I'm sure!!

I'd like to make some small pillar candles this winter. I'm looking at some molds and I think I'd like to try a low profile type, for instance, about 3" diameter x 2.5" in height. One style has a flat bottom (top of candle) and one has a concave bottom -- I'm wondering which style most people may prefer, as I'll probably be making these as gifts. Any thoughts?

I love that idea! I've always wondered how people make the marbled look, I just wasn't thinking "whipped wax" ... lol. Thanks for sharing that! I'm going to try it sometime -- all I have right now is a small pillar mold, but at least I could practice with it.

In reading through this, I think there is some wonderful advice ... the only thing that I'd like to add is that if you're not going to take a deposit (which I personally would ... if you lose a sale over asking for a deposit, I'm not sure you wanted the order anyway), is to have a customer profile filled out by the customer with a personal guaranty if the order is large. In this way, you at least have a considerable amount of information about the customer, although if they decided not to pay, it might not get you real far, but it could give you some benefit in trying to collect.

Okay, so I went back and read through more of the Q&A's there on the auction page. Even though the page says "container blend" ... the title says it's soy wax ... and, from one of the answered, I'm gathering that this is GW444. If this is the case, and I think it most likely is, when you heated the wax, it wasn't hot enough if you only heated to 135dF. You would need to heat to about 185, add your scent at about 170, stirring well, cool to about 140-150 as many do (which is a little hotter than the recommended), stir again before pouring. Also, if it's GW444, you can add 9-11% fragrance oil. I would try again and see if this makes a difference for you.

In looking at the Amazon link for the wax ... if you scroll down the page, you'll see that they have a Q&A section there. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask them if there is a brand name affiliated with this wax or if it is a custom blend. I have a feeling it's a custom blend since they didn't note it. Also, I see that it says: This is a good container blend with a 121-125 melt point that is blended with 2% of our Universal Soy Wax Additive This wax can hold up to 15% Fragrance and has an incredible hot throw. Your candle was poured with 6% f/o ... perhaps you should try again, bumping the scent just a bit to see if you get better results.

Apologies about my post ... it makes a big difference when the word "not" has been missed! That was supposed to be: "might not make much difference" ... that is to say that it might not be the dye chip, as there are many reasons for frosting, as others have noted. But, the reason I mentioned that is because in the photo of when the candle is burning, there is a whitish ring around the meltpool and that's where the frosting occurred. I have read that liquid dyes do not have the solubility issues that dye chips can often have. Maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's something, I don't know, I'm simply throwing it out there as a "maybe possibility." Since I use the same wax with liquid dye and have candles half-burned from last winter without any frosting on pastel colored candles, I thought I'd chime in. Really, frosting isn't a very big deal, yet, if there's a way to troubleshoot it because you'd prefer to see if you can somehow avoid it, then I don't think that's a total waste of time if you know that it can be possible.

This might make much difference, but it could be worth trying a liquid dye to see if it offers any better results. I have some lightly colored GW464's and they didn't frost, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything!

For your combined Etsy and show sales that you are going to claim on your federal taxes this year, you'll be keeping a record of all of your sales to claim as income. This will be the gross amount you receive, which may include your shipping charges, sales tax, etc. Then, when you do your taxes, you will refer to the other records you have kept for shipping charges you paid, sales tax you paid to your state, as well as a variety of other things that you've kept track of -- your supplies (minus anything you've taken out for personal use), your packaging, your labeling, your costs for the show, etc. -- and those costs will be deducted from the total amount you've collected. Right now, I'd say to just start keeping records of everything and you'll get to the rest of it later, but getting your state permit is something you'll want to do and in doing so, you'll also learn how your state forms work for collecting and paying the sales tax you've collected. Good for you in your blossoming business!

That's interesting ... they've come out with a gel for pouring over wax embeds that has a lower pouring temperature. I'm sure that makes things easier; I've poured over high meltpoint wax embeds before, but even with that, had to dip them first and still be very careful. I might try this new gel sometime! I didn't realize that was available and wasn't sure what you were describing. Since it has a lower temperature, it may be similar to the low density, not sure. The reason I mentioned which densities I've used them in has to do with the fact that the HTP will stand up okay in those gels, but I'm not sure about a lighter density. In other words, a zinc wick with a metal core doesn't have that issue to consider. My experience from when I first started making gel candles was that I had to switch to raw wick as the wax on the pre-waxed wicks would start to melt and leave little streamers throughout the candle. But, with the new Overpour gel you're using, maybe that wouldn't be the case ... you could try and see, it sure would be easier!

You can substitute with HTP-104, just make sure to buy raw wick and not pre-waxed. With it being unprimed, I usually dip in gel to prime it. You didn't mention which density gel you're using ... I've tested these only in medium and heavy. (I haven't shopped for it in years since I have quite a bit of it.)

You're simply in a rut. It can happen sometimes ... I know that when I've ever found myself in one, it may have been due to being pulled in another direction for one reason or another and then I try to continue where I left off, but it doesn't seem to work that way. I think it helps to get in a mood to start over with your craft -- clean things up, decide on what you'd like to do -- type of candles, type of waxes, type of scents, etc. -- then start a new era in your candle making. Often, I find that creative surges take hold and then there's no stopping you ... you want to give everyone a candle for a gift and you'd like anyone to take notice of what you've created. We can't be our best if we hold ourselves back from doing what we love the most. I made my first candle in another lifetime and they're still my friends!

I'm not sure how to word my question about using 18% F/O -- for instance, if you use regular fragrance oils (not a natural based product, but regular F/O's) ... doesn't that affect the marketing of such products? I mean, when we're using 6-9%, for instance, it's under 10% of the contents ... but 18% is quite a different story.

I saw that Cierra Candles gave these waxes an initial test ... I have a feeling it would may be hard to decide which wax to use. I like seeing that the "melt to" temperatures have a moderate minimum, but I wonder if only heating to, let's say 160dF would give different results than if you heated to 180dF. If there was no difference in performance or appearance, that would be nice because it wouldn't need to heat for as long and with the pour temperatures at 145-175dF, they can be poured sooner -- it could make the process go a little more speedy than other soy waxes. Anyway, here is Cierra's test page

What I really do not understand is how crafters who put items that can burn or melt into a gel candle can be so uncreative when there are so many options for safe embeds.

It can happen so easily, but the nice thing about gel is that if you're really unhappy with it, you can scoop it out and do something else with it if you want to.

That's great! I think those would fit nicely in one of the Priority Mail "cube" boxes (#4) they have available and you can print your labels online at USPS.com. One way to cushion glass that works well is the use of egg cartons padding the inside of the box all around with some additional material to wedge the glass in the center where it's completely padded on all sides.

I'm sure you'll have fun with them. Just remember to use very little liquid colorant, it goes a long way! It's very easy to make them too dark, esp. if you're starting off making a candle or two at a time. If you want to color them in swirls after pouring, use a metal pick to add a little color, don't use a dropper bottle, it'll come out way too dark. P.S. The area where you live looks beautiful!

That is exactly what I do if I need to clean at all (sometimes have a dedicated pot for same color or scent ... then, rarely an issue.)

From my experience in not using a UV stabilizer in gel, for the most part, the colors have not faded much over time, but I think they can yellow if you keep them around for years. I have one that I've kept for decoration as an emergency candle that used to be bluer than it is now, as it turned a little greener, but that candle is several years old; it gets some daylight, but no direct sun. Also, just to mention, I don't know if an additive would cloud the gel, as other things, such as pre-waxed wicks, can create a clouding problem.

It probably does have more to do with temperatures, as mentioned. However, I did see this in regard to some waxes or some fragrance oils, so I guess in some cases, it can have an adverse effect.