foxhill

That basket looks great. I can't imagine anyone turning your stuff down. It is all very elegant and classy and very professional looking. I love your labels, do you do them yourself?

I think that is a wonderful idea, I would name the scent something like "Hope" etc, for that fundraiser to really single it out. Right now I am really into Jasmine Vanilla. My best seller this summer has been Clean Cotton though.

If you want something cheap and cute I would go with something like a jelly jar, the 4 oz. jars are cute and have a pretty wide mouth for scooping. I know some people don't like to use glass but I have gotten salt scrubs from Bath and Body Works in glass crocks before and had no problem. That would be cheap packaging and you can decorate with ribbon or homespun and a label.

I teach classes at Michael's and we have one for the classroom, it is good if you do a lot of M&P and want to constantly keep it ready to pour...but you have to keep an eye on it because it only has two settings, melt and warm and it is supposed to cut itself back to warm after a certain period of time but doesn't always and can boil or boil over (ask me how I know!). The main thing I don't like about it is that it has no on/off switch when you plug it in its on warm and if you want to stop the heat you have to unplug it. I have one of the older ones at home that is nonstick instead of aluminum and I have used it for soy wax and it works fine. I have never had a problem with mine boiling over or boiling at all, just the classroom one at Michael's. For my M&P soap I usually still use the microwave because its easier and for my wax I use my presto pots.

For me it is more sales through home parties, then the web and shows/work.

For the body washes I used to do I just cut strips of clear packing tape and and put it over the label, it worked well for me.

I like to give away votives and tarts, that way they can pick different scents that they may want to try later. I give away a free votive with $15 order and a tart 6 pack at the $30+ level. (I let them mix-n-match tarts to try new stuff). I save the bigger stuff for door prizes or prizes for games, such as an 8 oz. candle as a door prize and 4 oz. candles as game prizes. I also use stuff that I need to get rid of as a prize, for example when I switched to different tart warmers I gave my last 2 away as door prizes because I wasn't having too much luck selling them with the newer nicer ones I had.

I use a soft-side tackle box from Wal-Mart for my samples case. I came with 4 plastic cases that I keep my tarts in and it has 3 other decent sized compartments. I can fit one of each size candle in it, my three boxes of tarts (with all of my scents) 3 or 4 bars of soap, a whipped butter and a bottle of lotion, plus a little extra. (it also has a cup holder pocket!) I have also looked at the scrapbooking storage bags that have wheels.

Check out this site, they specialize in stuff for partylite, home interior etc and they have tons of different sample cases, look under jewelry and makeup too, they have more cases there. They also have the little plastic containers like in the link you posted, I think they are under sample containers under candles. http://www.getorganizedcandles.com/enter.html HTH!

There are a few more threads on these down further. I had the 40 peice case and hated it. The edges on the case are sharp and the tins are tiny (smaller than a tealight). It was a pain to pour into them and keeping track of which was which was a pain too. I switched to using tarts in 3x4 zip bags and putting them in a plastic case (pencil box or fishing tackle box). This works much better for me. However, I know there are people on here who use them and like them, so I guess it is personal preference. BTW you can also get them at some craft stores in the scrapbooking section.

I always get address and phone number when I take cards at shows, I check their drivers license to verify (comes from years of working in a jewelry store) and I have never had any problem.

Heather you should probably just come move in with me, I lots of stuff that needs fixing around here! You can bring the doggies, I live on a farm!

Were they just plain candle warmers or ceramic, painted or what?

I haven't used the milky way molds but I can tell you that the thinner plastic type like the M&P molds you get at the craft store won't take the heat. I have a heavier plastic mold from WSP that works fine though.

I went to Kroger last month and bought all they had left and went I went in last week this still hadn't restocked so I figured something was up. I guess I better get to Lowe's before they run out too. I really don't use enough to buy in bulk.

I weigh my wax and fo and measure my dyes by # of drops and like some others I write it down in case it works! But if a go a little over I don't scoop out the extra, I just adjust. I keep a calculator on the pouring table just in case I need it.

Sara, I got my soap today, it smells so good! I may have to take a bath tonight to try it out!

I think it was about a week or so for me. You can always send the check priority mail to make sure it gets there fast. Paypal also has a new credit card acceptance program, similar to propay, I'm not sure about fees though. You can also go to your bank and talk to them about setting up a merchant account to accept credit cards, they may be faster.

I have the smallest, lightest manual imprinter I could get. I think I paid $27 for the imprinter, slips and the stickers for Visa/Mastercard, they came as a set. I didn't get them from ebay though. I ordered mine from gocardservice.com http://csibusinesscenter.com/imprinter_515.html They also do the custom plates but I didn't have one made, I just use my stamp. I have a propay account that I use for my website and I do probably 50% of my sales by credit card.

I use saran wrap or Sam's wrap (wal-mart brand) for my M&P soaps. I cut with scissors to get the right size and stretch it really tight and then you can put your label over the ends, it comes out looking very nice. For the fish in a bag soap I usually start with 1-2 drops of color depending on how big a batch you are doing at a time. I use the regular liquid dyes for M&P soaps, I haven't tried food coloring. HTH!

Virgin Shea butter has a pretty strong smoky sort of smell, a lot of people find it unpleasant. More refined shea butter has less of a scent. I think it depends on what company the shea is from and how refined it is as to how strong is smells. You should contact the person you bought it from and find out if it is virgin shea, if so the smell is normal.

I actually bought the mold from Carmen (ebcandles) on the classies. But I searched through my stuff and found the original site. http://tonysfragranceoils.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=29

You can add extra oils and glycerin to some M&Ps but just be careful because the more you add the less your soap will lather.

I ordered from them and I got a new cartridge and had no problems, I saved about $12 over buying here at Staples!

I got mine from Matthews Wire. www.matthewswire.com but sometimes you can catch auctions of ebay for quantities of 100 and get a better deal. His eBay username is mwire.