Carol M

Beautiful, as usual; but I would expect no less after the great pix you've posted before. You're the Palm Queen:D

Some of my favorites are: Bonsai (IFT) Olive Blossom (BnL/BCN) Rockin' Rio (MMS) Pure Seduction (WSP) Also, some kind of a cucumber/mint would be good Just too damn many good ones, though; that's the problem:D

I hadn't heard anything about that either, but that's great news. They did have some wonderful oils. I think the owner had some health problems and they just weren't able to keep up with things and they got behind.

Bluegrass has some great oils, but many people have had to look for replacements for them due to chronic oos issues.

I used to use Astor V. It's a different type of wax (texture a little weird), but it did have good scent throw; plus, being able to get it in pellet form from Alabaster was nice. If I remember correctly, I used zincs and cd's both successfully. I got disgusted with the metal molds, so I use a straight paraffin/4627 blend now and pour the 3 oz votives in Dixie cups. I'm going to give that silicone-type mold from BC a try if they ever get it back in; I've been checking almost daily for two weeks and it's still oos. Hope it's soon, cause I desperately need wick stick'ums also. Ginger, if you nail it down to a few sizes you'd like to try, pm me and I'll send you a handful if I have them. Don't have any low smokes, though; sorry.

Wildfire is wicked strong:D

Is something like this what she is talking about? http://www.candlesoylutions.com/closeup.asp?cid=18&pid=884&offset=0 If so, I don't think they would have been made by dropping wax onto a flat surface; the top is too rounded for that. A mold of some kind was probably used, imo. I did a version of these one time and bought a mini chocolate chip mold to use, and I thought they turned out cute. The shape was slightly different with a little point on top, but I didn't think that mattered. I got over it quickly, though, and sold the mold when I saw how difficult it was to keep from overfilling the cavities and the drops having little "aprons" around the edges. Later, I read that to prevent that from happening, you use a wide blade like a pastry scraper and remove the excess wax before it sets up. If I still had the mold, I might try it again.

Yes, apple pie essential oil:cheesy2:

Thank you, Vicky. I will look around for a gel candle to buy; I did try some years ago when they first came out (Glade, I think). But I wasn't making candles myself at that time, so didn't pay much attention to how they burned.

I was thinking I might like to try some of the gel chunk candles with wax overpour that I've seen. So I was looking up all these old threads trying to get some basic information. I'm a little confused by this, as I've never worked with gel at all before. Is the 1/8" to 1/4" buffer only for all-gel candles, or would I need to have that with combination candles, too? Doesn't seem like it would be a very pretty candle if it had all that hang-up. Thanks in advance for any information on this.

Thanks for the information; I'll keep checking to see when they get back in stock. I'm pretty skeptical about the wicks sold to go with the mold, though. A 44Z sounds way big to me for a 2 oz paraffin votive, and that seems to be the only size she has with the 15mm tabs. I've got some of those tabs around somewhere, so I'll do up my own for awhile and look for another source for other sizes with 15mm tabs.

I most always have good luck with HTP 105 in regular jelly jars and container palm. You must poke relief holes, though, to avoid the craters beneath the surface. I actually do more than that because I'm so paranoid about air pockets.:embarasse After the top surface of the candle has formed a crust (not too thick), I take a wooden skewer and basically bash in the center of the top to make sure liquid wax flows down into the craters. I repeat this once or twice during the cooling process then smooth the top out with a heat gun. When I used to just poke a few holes, I had trouble keeping them open and when I did the repour to fill them in, sometimes the new wax didn't go down into the holes. Others do it fine, though, so maybe I just wasn't doing it correctly. Most of the palm jars I have made were with Palm I from Candlewic, but I have done a few with Glass Glo and HTP 105 worked in those also. Hth a little.

What is the price of the mold? It's out of stock right now and no price is listed. I'm very interested in trying one of these; am totally fed up with crooked wick pins. When I try to straighten them, I think I've got it, then they turn out to be worse than ever somehow; it's nearly impossible to tell if they're straight or not until you've already poured the wax.

Antonio, it is my experience that, if you use the mini muffin foils, about any wax will do (unless you plan to peel the paper off like Holly). In that case, or if you want to use the metal tart molds, you would need to go with a wax that is made for votives so that the tarts would unmold easily and not be as messy to handle.

I use both layers, as well, and don't notice the paper not turning loose from the wax. But if you don't want to leave the paper on, have you considered looking for silicone mini muffin molds and using those? The pleats will be perfect every time; no worry about cups that get out of round or are uneven. You may have to wash in between scents to get rid of any lingering smell, but I don't think you'd have the wax residue problem like sometimes comes up with the metal tart molds (unless a very soft wax was being used). I haven't tried these myself, but I know that others use various shapes of silicone molds to make tarts.

I realize I said syrup pitchers, but I guess restaurants actually use them for cream; they'd be too small for much syrup:rolleyes2 Yes, they were very handy, especially for lip balm. It cools so quickly and gets too thick to pour easily. When that happened, I would set the little pitcher into a saucepan of water that I kept simmering on the stove and it would melt it back down in just a few seconds; they were much better than the paper cups in that respect.

I use a Dixie cup to pour into embed molds and lip balm tubes. Just pinch one side to make a spout. I also used to use the little stainless steel syrup pitchers; they had them at WalMart for about $2.50. Then they stopped selling them and the ones I found at kitchen supply stores didn't have as defined of a spout, so they made a mess. That's when I started using the paper cups instead; just pour and toss.

Well, since they're the Reynolds brand, I wouldn't be surprised if some regular grocery stores had them. Might want to try that before making a special trip.

Thank you, Keshia. I pass right by a DT on my way to do a job that I have on weekends; I'll stop in and pick up a couple to test, if they're in stock. This is a good price on a heavy container with that capacity and any time you can avoid shipping $$, that's icing on the cake.

Maybe try setting the bottle in a bowl of hot water and gently shaking the bottle periodically to warm all the oil. Sometimes vanilla-based oils have to be heated before they will even mix into wax properly, so maybe this is along the same lines.

Holly, you can also usually find the Reynolds mini muffin foils at WalMart; my tarts are around 1.1 oz when made in these. I think you get 48 for about $.97. Possibly you could find them cheaper online, but this way you could at least try them out first before buying a bunch.

Sounds like I need to make it a point to go to DT more often; those are really cute containers! If you're using them as filled votives, about how much wax do they hold? I'm assuming the 3" is the exterior measurement, and if they're "heavyweight", then the walls are probably pretty thick; are they 3" high, as well?

I haven't ordered much from them, either, mainly due to the shipping cost issue. When I order, I like to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck. If I see that I can add another bottle or two without the shipping going up, I will usually do so. On the other hand, if I find that one bottle pushed me up into a higher increment, I'll weed one out. With suppliers who don't give shipping up front, that's not possible.

It's also very reasonable at Atlantic Spice. I think $4.50 or $4.75/#

It's not just Glass Glo; it's palm in general. I've had that several times with Palm I from CW. Just the very bottom part left in the jar when the candle is finished, though; never had it happen otherwise.