LauraInNY

Mold release is a spray that you use sparingly on metal molds that will let the candle release easily. (Just like pam and baking a cake)

If you are waiting long enough, your tarts should release easily from these molds. You can try putting them in the freezer for 3-5 minutes and they will just fall out of the mold. HTH

Edited to add: you can find these at most anyplace that sells candlemaking molds. (ie BCN, Candles & Supplies, etc)

There aren't many that I don't like (and I LOVE lavender, cucumber & sage). I would have to add (in no particular order):

clean cotton

pink sugar

gingerbread

kojiki

peach

lilac

apple

sweetpea

lavender harvest

patchouli gold

I also use the 4x6 zip lock bags w/card stock folded and stapled at the top and call them air fresheners. They are on a rack display. They sell for $3.00.

edited to add - I also have display samples for sniffing (much easier).

Solas has an awesome hot chocolate- I compared to JS and hers does not stand up to Chris's hot chocolate. Very strong and dead on. His iced gingerbread is really good too. You wouldn't be disappointed with either of these. Bayberry and juniper are also both very good from Solas. I personally don't like the cranberry spice from JS, (it makes me gag - i think its too sweet) but everybody else loves it!

Solas Candles has a gingerbread that is to die for. It is B&B safe too.

Congrats!!! and best of luck to you

That is too damn funny!!!! She gotcha that time, Scented. What a great find!!! Congrats on the trailer and good luck on keeping it - LOL.

Thanks for responding to the Mal's question, Robin.

So to have propay automatically do the credit card thing, it's way expensive. However, to get around that we can have Mal's collect cc info and then I would enter it manually (via phone) through propay. (I am assuming that manually means through the phone, if I am wrong, please let me know.) Unfortunately, according to the link below it says that you can't do the phone processing unless you have the premium account.

http://www.propay.com/cgi/appProcess1.exe/tier_detail

Regarding the Mal's premium pkg, it costs another $8.00/mo, quarterly in advance:

"...Premium is an upgrade which adds features which are designed primarily for busy merchants, for example: automated card processing batch download of orders, direct access to UPS and USPS rates calculators plus a little bit more influence over the look of the cart. You can switch the status of your account between free and Premium any time you wish and without making any changes to your website."

I wish someone would chime in about their experience with DIY, here's the link to their features: http://www.diyestores.com/info.htm

Thanks for all the help...

I have begun doing my website and have gotten to the shopping cart dilema. I have been doing some research and thought I had it all figured out. Ya right...

I was going to host thru go-daddy and use mal's e-commerce for my shopping cart and propay premium for my merchant (cuz I wanted the manual credit card payment option). Then I saw I could only use paypal for the free cart from mal's so I thought okay i'll upgrade to mal's premium and use propay. So I'm looking at the list on mal's premium and there's no propay listed. I knew it couldn't be that easy.

By the time I add up all the fees for the monthly stuff and then add in the % plus fee they charge for each transaction, I might as well go ahead and use the DIY website and get all the perks for $20/month ($16 if you pay by the year).

I guess what has been holding me back from the DIY sites is going with "kind of" an unknown server and wondering what the traffic flow is like. I know the sites look great and I can use my own graphics and a lot of people here use them. I guess I'm not questioning the site building, cuz I know I can do that, but what's the service like after you are up and running? Server down time? Traffic? etc, etc, etc... I still won't get my manual CC payment, though I could add it on after it gets running and I find I really need it.

Sorry so long, but I would appreciate any help you all can give...I think I'm going to be bald soon.

Thanks for the link! Next time, I'm all over it!

Bummer... I didn't know about the free gift button either! I'll definitely be ordering from them again so next time I'll do it.

I got spray bottles for body/linen sprays and refresher oils and bottles for body wash and lotion. Just waiting for my other supplies and then it's time to get back to work.

candlebean- were they there waiting? what did you get? LOL

I just placed my first order from SKS Bottles on Sunday night and UPS just delivered it at 10:00 this morning. WOW, that's fast.

Here's the link:

http://www.sks-bottle.com/

So I checked out the shipping for like 4 different places and OBN still came out the lowest.

Just for kicks I tried the shipping to my house (where I usually have stuff shipped to) and then to have it shipped 5 miles down the road to my office and it's almost $2 cheaper to have it sent there!! So I guess I'm having my stuff shipped there from now on.

It's amazing all the factors you have to check out to get the best prices.

Thanks for the responses everyone! You know the saying "you get what you pay for" - I was hoping the quality of the products were the same at all the places, but you never know. I'll get the FCO from OBN since they are the cheapest even with shipping and continue to shop around for the other supplies. Thanks again for your help. You guys are great as always.

anybody?

That is sooo awesome, Congrats. You're officially one of the big guys now. I'm very happy for you - all of your hard work has paid off. WooHoo:yay: Sharing in the excitement is great!!!

I was on the site for Oils by Nature and MMS tonight looking at some prices and oils. Some prices were comparable (ie sweet almond oil) some were quite a bit different (avacado oil) and some were just out of the ballpark (fractionated coconut oil). I was specifically looking at pricing for the FCO. At OBN it is 18.20 for 7 lbs (less than 1/2 lb short of a gallon) and at MMS it is $33.00 for a gallon. Wow, what a difference!! Even with shipping (UPS ground for $10.62) it costs way less than MMS.

Is there a difference in the quality of the products? Or is it really a good deal? I've never ordered from either place before. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!!

Can you tell me the purpose of the borax? Sorry new to the B&B part...

What size are the molds that you all use? Sara said something about using a meatballer. Has anyone tried that?

I've never made bath bombs before and they will probably turn out like Terri's first ones, but it sounds like fun. (sure i say that right now, until I get puffy blobs of goo)

I saw the pics of your bubble drops and they looked fantastic! Do you use the recipe just like it is or have you tweeked it? Yours look nicer than the ones on the website!

Thanks for your help ladies.

So I called BCN and talked to them. They said I can add crothix as long as it's less than 1% and the preservative will be fine.

She also said that by mixing such small amounts I am going to have a harder time mixing and keeping it thick. if I use larger amounts it should mix well and not be too thin. If I mix a gallon at a time at just under 1oz of FO, I should be able to get a good mix with a "super scent" (her words not mine). I asked her about the shelf life of the scented bath wash and she said "1 year".

Hopefully, it won't take that long to sell a gallon of bath wash - LOL. I know that with a family of 5 it doesn't take that long for us to use a gallon of the stuff.

I think I'm going to get some crothix and try it to see if it works (just out of curiosity - you all know how it is - not that I'm looking for a reason to place another order - nope, not me...LOL)

Hope this helps someone else...

Those are beautiful as always! I love looking at your soaps. They are very inspiring.

I have been trying the BCN base for Aloe Body & Hair Wash and I have been following the instructions for the amounts of FO to add, but it always gets runny. AARRGGHH!!! I used 3/8 of a tsp for 8 oz. (as directed on BCN website). While searching for a solution, I have seen where the addition of crothix (liquid thickener) can help, but will this ruin the effectiveness of the perservatives?

Does anyone else have this problem and what can I do to fix it. I can try adding less FO, but I am worried that the scent will not show after showering. I thought there was supposed to be a lingering scent after showering. Is this true or is there only supposed to be scent during the shower and that is what the lotion and body spray is for? Also, will the scent get stronger after it sets for awhile?

TIA, Laura

I make a lot of body sprays with cyclo and FO.

If your bottles are clear, you will find that some FO's altho they work and smell great, they will be cloudy. You will also see that when thery are left sitting around, you will see the FO laying on the bottom. Shake the heck out of them before each use and they are just fine.

I have seen posts to mix the FO with FCO and then mix with cyclo to keep it from clouding up. I haven't had much luck with that on the FO's I have tried. HTH

If you mix your sprays with cyclo and FO's and your mixes are cloudy, then you can add FCO to them to make them clear and mixed without separating.

However, different FO's will take different amounts of FCO. Some may need only an 1/8 of an ounce and others may take up to an ounce or more. (this is for an 16 oz bottle of spray.) You will have to play around with the amounts, but it really does work. You will have a "eureka" moment when the oil clears - LOL.

Make sure that you use fractionated coconut oil. It is a liquid. The regular coconut oil is a solid at room temp. HTH

I also have some competition closeby. She still calls hers Chestnuts & Brown Sugar. I renamed mine to be "Maple Sugar Candy".