hometowncandles

That's the biggest reason I went to clamshells. I started out making the tarts in the foil cups and they look really pretty to start with, but with the least little bit of handling they start to look awful. The foil cups get mashed and so do the tarts. I sell out of my home and take stuff around town to some of my regular customers. I need something I can handle and it will still look good.

I use to work at UPS as a part-time temp when I was in college. Their policy use to be walk the package to the door if it was a home and inside if it was a business. If no one was available to accept the package, they were to leave it in a appropriate place, meaning out of the weather, and as out of site as possible. If they didn't feel there was a safe place to leave the package, then they were to leave a delivery attempt notice and take it back with them. Then you could either go pick it up or they would try again tomorrow. And I have to honestly say, most of the ups drivers were very cooperative and helpful. And the ones that deliver to me still are, even the ones that didn't work there when I did(Of course I get harassed by the ones that did, especially when I have a lot of big boxes) But It has been about 8 years ago that I worked there and their policy could have changed or maybe just the quality of their drivers. I have been noticing more and more lately that customer service and courtesy are quickly becoming a thing of the past, especially in Wal-Mart, but that's another thread

Thanks, they have the best prices that i've been able to find too. Me being the penny pincher I am though, just thought I'd ask around before I purchased that many.

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who is a sample junkie. LOL I love trying new scents. My DH cringes everytime ups pulls up, he knows its for me. Oh well, with so many wonderful scents, what's a girl to do. Keep the fav's coming guy's, I'll get them all tried eventually. :highfive:

Finally got to pour some of my sample scents yesterday and today. I used 1oz pp of f/o in kysoy125 and here are my results on the ones I made yesterday and burned today. I poured the rest of my samples today, but am letting them cure. Lilac is wonderful very true not like perfume Berry Lemonade smells great, but not very strong I think I may need to add a little more Pears and Berries is one of the best of this type scent I've smelled, may need just a tad more f/o hot throw was good in a smaller room but when I moved it to my larger room throw wasn't as strong. Does this sound about right to those have poured these before? Any advice is greatly appreciated. TIA Jennifer

Ok, I normally buy my four pound aluminum pour pots from candlewic. The have the lowest price I have found $9.19 each or $7.75 for four or more. I am needing to order about ten of these and was wondering if anyone else knows of a better place? TIA Jennifer

Tell me about it, I ordered a pina colada a few weeks ago (not from JS), and it smelled ok oob but once in wax I don't even know how to describe it. I was test burning it in the living room and my dh ask me what was on fire. The closest thing I can think of to describe it is burning plastic. Eeeewwww! But, anyway I ordered coconut cream pie sweet pea honeydew melon chestnuts & brown sugar pears and berries almond marzipan grammies berrie griddlecake berry lemonade-yahoo! orange dreamsickle lilac~love it love it love it white tea and ginger key lime pie The only one i'm not crazy about is the coconut cream pie, but I've heard anything with coconut generally smells better in wax than oob. I will let you guys know after I pour my testers. I'm off to melt wax

Ok, I ordered a 1oz sample pack from Just Scent yesterday and it came today. Talk about fast. I have ordered stuff from inside my home state that has taken longer than that. And they even threw in an extra two scents. You can choose 10 1oz samples for 16.95 and they ask you to list several alternates incase they are out of something. Well, I got all 10 that I listed and my first 2 alternates. And the scents they are wonderful, each one smells like it's suppose to. There were a few that I could even tell what they were just by smelling, before I even looked at the label. And the ones I couldn't tell by smelling were just because they were new scents to me. I will definately be ordering again from them. Soon. Thanks to searching on the fragrance board I found some wonderful new scents to add to my line without having to order from 5 or 6 different companies to find a good one. I really love this board. Thanks everybody for putting your reviews of companies and their fo's on here. On my way to becoming a certified foho. Jennifer

Sky High is right, just on what little I do from home for candles and b&b my insurance company wants almost $900.00 per year. They didn't ask for labels, but they did request a list of my ingredients for each of the products I make and about the conditions under which they are crafted, at home, garage, building, whether the area is sanitary, etc. But my agent also said that when I get a shop, that he can do a blanket policy for personal liability and it won't be as costly nor as detailed. You may want to check into that if you have a shop separate from your home. I think it is ridiculous the things an honest business person has to go through just to make sure they are covered in the event of an accident. But so many people now days are looking for any easy to make a living without working and there are a lot of judges out there handing down these ridiculous awards from insurance companies to compensate so called "victims". Many of which are so due to their own neglegant behavior in using products and not due to the products themselves. So I guess it's either pay a lot now or possibly a whole lot later. JMO though. Jennifer

I think the really good companies want to know if their customers have a problem so they can correct it. I ordered some oils from Lonestar back before Christmas and when they arrived some had leaked out of two of my bottles. So I contacted them just to let them know. I told them it was really no big deal it was less than 1/2 oz total. They said this had been happening quite often and they were in the process of changing to a bottle with a foil seal to prevent leakage. The next shipment that arrived was in the new style bottle, no problemo. And they gave me a credit for 2oz of oil, and I didn't even lose that much. Didn't mean to ramble on and on, but bottom line, if a company is worth ordering from, they want to know what problems their customers are experiencing so they can take necessary steps to correct them. If nobody lets them know there is a problem, then they don't know something needs to be corrected.

KY's Banana Nut Bread yuuummmy!!

Thanks guys for the input. I guess I'll order some samples and start sniffing. There are so many places out there to buy scent, it's nice to have some advice from someone who has tried them. Thanks again Jennifer

Who in your opinion has a really good lilac and a good coconut for soy? I have tried several coconuts, and they all remind me of coppertone tanning oil. I guess i'm looking for more of a coconut macaroon scent than a tanning oil. It doesn't have to be straight coconut, it can be a blend as long as you can definately tell it has coconut in it. I haven't tried any of the lilac's, I just had a customer ask for that yesterday. Since i'm trying to add a few more summer scents, thought i'd give it a try. Thanks Jennifer

I've thought about making some of this for my nephew's they really love the foamy soap. If you don't mind my asking, how much distilled water would you add for an 8oz bottle? Thanks jennifer

I use ky's KYSoy125 It's soy with a tad bit of cottonseed oil. It works really well for me. I get a really great throw and most of the times smooth tops(except when I am overanxious and pour too hot). Plus it's within driving distance so no S&H whooohooo :highfive: Can;t imagine the s&h on 50 lb boxes of wax.

With all of these great suggetions and suppliers, I may have to take out a small loan. LOL I may have to order the lotion from M/C that camoflauge mentioned. I have that problem with my heels too. I've tried too many different products to mention and nothing seems to help long term. It's better when I first apply, and then in a few hours right back to the same old sandpaper heels. With summer coming up, I have to get these babies in flip-flop shape. I hate shoes, and the less of them I have on my feet the better I like it.

I think we need to meet as soon as possible. Now that I know bases are ok. I'm going to go crazy with the b&b. If I don't get some help soon, my hubby may kill me, and then what would become of my bases?

Thanks guys, I feel much better. I read all of these interesting posts where people are whipping up all of the wonderful handmade products and I think wow, I must be the only person in the world who doesn't do scratch. It's good to know I'm not. Luci, I have actually thought about doing that too, but as of right now I spend most of my day changing diapers, fixing meals, getting my babies down out of the dining room chairs(their new favorite obsession) and separating fights. I can just see me trying to whip up a batch of lotion from scratch. Most days I barely have time to add scent and color. It's good to know bases are ok. I think we need to form a support group for all of us base users who feel guilty. We could call it base users anonymous.

I have been making soy candles for about a year now, and I am really looking at getting more into some bath & body items. I have been using KY's Soy whip and a lotion base from craftlobby since November and I really like both. But, I feel like I am cheating since I am not actually making these myself. How many of you use premixed bases and how many make your own from scratch? If you do both, what do you make and which items do you buy premixed. I'm really conflicted on this issue. My real passion is to learn how to make soaps, but I don't have a workspace except for my kitchen, and I have two small children under foot all day, (which by the way I absolutely love that they are there, ) and I don't want to take any chances with lye right now. So I guess I'd better stick to the safer ingredients. Any and all comments or suggestions are welcome I'm here to learn. Thanks

I haven't personally used ky's, but I did see some Vic had made last time I was at her shop, and it looked very nice. No cloudiness or separation. I think that's what I'm going with this time.

Those are adorable. I don't allow myself to watch QVC to much temptation at just the touch of a button. :smiley2:

I also reuse my tester jars, but not jars to be sold. Jennifer

have you tried doing a search at www.scentforum.com you can type in what you are looking for and it will bring up suppliers offering that scent. HTH

That's exactly what I was looking for. Finally, somebody who understands me. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Jennifer

I saw that this question had been posed before, but there weren't many responses. I'm hoping that someone has some new info out there. I have been ordering my tart and jar warmers from levine and they are great, but I am looking for a little more variety. My husband and I recently went to a local flea market and they had the cutest warmers. They were ceramic sort of like what-knots in that they would depict a scene such as a wishing well and the wishing well would be the actual burner and then dangling from a chain would be maybe the top of the wishing well and that is where the tart would go. Oh yeah these are the electric ones, don't care much for the tealight ones. It seems like by the time the wax melts good the tealight has burned out. I'm sorry my description is so sketchy, but I'm terrible at putting what I see into words. If my husband were awake he's much better at that than I am, but since he has to get up at 4 am for work I don't think he would appreciate me waking him up just so I could give you guys a better description of tart warmers. LOL But anyway, as I was saying, I love levine's products but I am looking for a more diverse inventory of warmers and burners. And would love any info on the above, poorly described, warmers in particular. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Guys Jennifer