gottabt

Just wanted to let those who are interested to know that BL is getting their Halloween stuff in this week. According to my local store the stuff is in the warehouse and should be hitting the shelves this week.

My 3 top sellers are: Gingerbread - wyw Mele Kalikimaka - pine with coconut - tw Christmas Past with Christmas Thyme tying it. - ky/ng

I really feel for you and I think that your patience should be commended. I use j223 and I will tell you that there are about 1/2 of the fo's I tried when I started did not throw. I will say that my room and what is going on in it has something to do with it. I have a large room with ceiling fans in each end. I test in the middle and the ceiling fans do not bother the candle as long as the speed on both is on low. I also closed the vents in those two rooms. For me the room temp must be 76-78 degrees. My test is always after 2 hours - I go outside and breathe deeply for about 5 minutes then come back in to see if I smell it. I repeat at 4 hours and then blow it out to check meltpool and soot. If I stay in the room with the candle - I rarely smell it - I think that my nose is fried. Even with waiting for the candle to cure - I have constant candle nose. I do not know if I helped or not but hang in there and I am sure that you will find some good scents.

Here is a second vote for Astorlite V. I really love it and I get it in pallet form so it is so easy to work with. No cutting up slabs and you have got to love that.

I would do it. Look at it as advertising. Give out your business card to everyone who seems the least bit interested. If you have a site print up coupons for a % off their first order. I found 1000 business cards for $8 at Sam's Club and I have printed up a bunch of them that I keep with me and hand out like candy. If you can pick your spot - try to get near an exit and let ppl know that you will hold their purchase until they are ready to leave. Have a sign to that effect. I know with the large craft shows this really helps because ppl do not want to carry candles around with them. HTh,

I use liquid only and love them - the range of colors is great and the consistancy I get from batch to batch. I transfer mine (I buy them in a squeeze type bottle) to amber bottles with droppers from SKS. I could not stand the smell until I changed over to the amber bottles. I also love the fact that they last so long - I think that it is probably less expensive in the long run.

Let me see if I can pick just a couple Hibiscus and Thai Palm Bamboo Blackberry Sage Peach Magnolia Raspberry Kumquat - b/c it makes me money and I love the smell of money Cherries n Chestnuts Biscotti Okay I'll quit there.

Lets see - first there are kumquats to pour - but there are always kumquats to pour. Only 30 dozen to go. I am in the process of completely redesigning the website. I need to print and put together new brochures for a special event - 150 should do the trick. I also have 4 candles to test and another 6 samples to get in wax. Did I mention Kumquats?

I do not include tax in my prices. I have heard but did not check that in some states including tax is not allowed. I have done some larger shows and I know that the tax reps were checking for tax certificates and that ppl were charging tax. I keep a copy of my tax certificate taped in the lid of my money box just in case. HTH,

I am in the process of making up about 12 of them. I went to wally world and got one yard of fabric and it makes 8 from one yard. I used 1 tbsp of crystals and that is the max they will hold. HTH, PS - I did not look at the link but all the instructions I found are about the same.

I have one show that I do periodically that is only $15 fee and I feel that $125 is a good day at that one. I have gotten to the point where I use the booth fee as my guide. I used to judge on overall sales but that is not very realistic. I think that anything above 5 times fee is worth doing again. Well, that is if the weather is good. The $15 show is twice a month all year round - you just show up and pay. It is from 10-3 so not bad time wise. I have not done it since May and will probably go back in October depending on my other business numbers. It is great to know if I am having a bad month that it is there to try to boost the numbers (or pay the bills really). I am really sorry it was so miserable but you made more than if you stayed home. At least that is what I tell myself when I am miserable at a show. I have done a few that physically made me ill from the heat. Robin, you should make yourself some of those cool collars out of the smelly jelly stuff to help beat the heat.

Good Luck - I know that I will not do anything outdoors until Oct around here - May was even iffy. I do not tolerate the heat well so I have stopped signing up for anything outdoors when it has the potential to be hot. I even have a small handheld fan in my "show box". I hope that it is not too miserable.

I like it! Noticed 2 small things on main page - Enchanted Lights - capitalize Lights Under the sales tax area - I would change the word forced to required - just sounds nicer for those who will be charged. HTH

I have been making and selling the ornies for about 1.5 years and the only ones that have had a problem were in Phoenix. My sis had hers fall the second day and my mom told me that hers got caught on the wrong side of the windshield cover and melted into the cover. It still smells great it is just misshapen. I have started building up the beads slightly over where the hole will be. They are lasting about 90 days or so. HTH,

This thread is very discouraging - I have not tried yet but I am collecting pics of my 2 yr old niece and was thinking about making one for her parents. I will watch this thread carefully. Good luck Donita - I am rooting for you.

We actually made one last year - by we I mean by dh and I - it is cute but nothing worth selling. You get a lot of jumplines and the bottom has a tendency to stretch a lot. I followed the instructions on the site mentioned and I understand the filling part. When we carved the face - we did not carve all the way through the shell so you could fill it. If I can find a pic I will put it in the gallery - I can not remember if I took a pic or not. This is something that we will not attempt again. It took too long to get the shell to the right thickness. Also, try not to blow up the balloon too much. I think we used a round one and blew it up to about 5". HTH

Vanilla based scents are usually the ones that need wicked up. I also find that a little container vybar helps in the blending of the fo. I have had a heck of a time with BB muffins. My biggest problem is the color turning after they are cured. I have stopped trying to make them blue. Now they are muffin colored.

I have used the cardboard ones from Jim Britton and I really like them. I have 6 now. I do not cover them I use them as is. The only mistake I made was that I left them up overnight at a show and now the shelves are bowing. I could not believe that I was that dumb but live and learn. They will hold 18 apothecary jars without a problem. I love that they fold flat so they are easy to transport. HTH,

I have 5 presto pots and love them all. They all have spipots and they are wonderful. I leave j223 in 2, votive wax in 1 and pillar in one with one as a floater. I mix in both the prestos and the pour pots. I always put the uv in the presto so I do not forget it. For pour pots I use the large pyrex measuring glass cups. I always start by filling the pour pot half way with water and microwaving for 5 minutes. Whip out with a paper towel and go. I always heat my pour pot - easier to clean after each scent. Once you start pouring the cup stays warm from the previous pour. HTH,

I have PT complete but I think that the basic one is everything you need. I can not remember the difference but as long as you have the Bill of Materials or Assembly function then you are good to go. I have been using mine for about 4 years and love it. I started using it for another company and I liked it so well that I purchased it for myself. Mine is a little out of date - I think it is 2002.

Peachtree is still my all time favorite. I like it because of the inventory capabilities that QB just does not have. It is free right now. I think it was Staples that has a rebate going to make the basic program free. About six months ago, it was free and about a dozen or so members bought the program and I opened a forum to discuss setting up and using the program. I have not heard from anyone from the group on whether or not they are still using the program or if they have gone back to their old ways. Maybe some will pop in and give their opinions. If you decide to give it a go - I can make you a member of the forum and you can read through the old posts to help you get started. I will of course answer questions if you need me to.

Thank you Donna but I really was not in any hurry. It did show up as an e-check on my end but it went through this morning.

Geez this was something that I did not want to think about but if I am realistic I would say somewhere around 3000 a year. Sales let's see probably about 1000 a year. My problem is my inventory - I can not pour to order so I have 2 small jars (10oz) and 1 large jar (16) of every scent I carry poured. Then of course there are all the calmshells, votives, pillars, speciality things and ornies made up. I like having a complete inventory on hand so my money is tied up there.

I think that the shape is not appropriate - the overall diameter compared to the width of the opening. I will try to get a pic tomorrow. I can take them but I do not know how to get them out of the camera into the puter. I need the dh for that one. The container is ceramic and it seems to be sealed well enough. I filled on with water and no leaking so at least I do not think that I will need to modge podge them. If I do, her kids will do that before I pick them up. I think that would be a good kid friendly project. Okay - facing sealing all these before pouring is just too much for me to deal with. I will not have much profit in these since all I am doing is filling and wrapping them anyway.

Hi all, I really have a dilemma and I need some help here. In her travels this summer my client came across some really cute little containers and thought that they would make great candle containers. Well, they are cute but I would never have thought about putting candles in them because of the shape. Well, the problem is - she bought 700 of the things and now I am in a pickle. She wants them filled and I really do not know where to even begin and need help. I will try to get a pic but here is the basic issue. They are round. Diameter is about 2 1/4", 2" high and the top opening is only 1 1/2". My concern is that the top opening is so much smaller than the overall diameter I do not know where to begin wicking them. I will use j223 and I am thinking a lx-10. I am thinking that I should wick for the opening not the diameter so that I do not get a soot problem. I really do not see how these will ever get a full meltpool so I guess I need to focus of the soot issue and then see how they burn. Any ideas - 700 of them I am really upset because these are not appropriate but if I can not make them work she is out the money. Please help me.