Twoscentsworth

Okay, I just have to ask......you say you are "measuring" your wax.....are you weighing the wax or just putting it in a measuring cup? There is a difference in measuring and weighing. The easiest way to weigh () is to get a big baggie (gallon size) set it on your scale and add the wax (I use a dog food scoop) until you hit a lb. or however many lbs. you want and then pour that into the Presto....that's if you are using soy flakes. If using slab wax, then I just set the chunks on the scale until I hit the lbs. I want... also, depending on what type of wax you are using, one lb. will give you up to 20 oz of liquid...except plain soy, it's closer to 16 oz. If you are weighing the wax and are still coming up short I would like to have one of those foil hats too please.....with a chin strap if possible. thankyou. edited to add stuff

Boy, I remember being worried I would not have enough stuff to fill up a space and I ended up not having enough room....and I don't think I had as much as you do !!! I think you will be very surprised....also you can display it very creatively to make it look like more if you need to...also, take some greenery (ivy vines, single flower heads etc.) that you can use as filler if you need to. Hope you sell out!

While our mall fees are much more reasonable you do have to be there for ALL mall hours....9 to 9 every day but Sunday and then 12:00 to 6:00 so be sure and check that out too. Definately see how much negotiating room you have...they won't give unless you ask/tell them. Also, how much traffic does that mall get? It could be a very good thing (or not lol) good luck!

Heather, do you have some "ground" space? Here is an idea for your melts, it can also be modified to fit on a table top....get some peg board, you can do it with one piece for table top with two pieces you can do one standing and probably one small table top. Cut the pegboards in half and attach three of the pieces into a triangle using tie wraps in the holes nearest the sides to hold them together. This creates a free standing unit that people can acess from two sides and you can use the back side to hold extra stock. It is easily set up and taken down (just snip the tie wraps) and is relatively inexpensive. If that takes up too much room for you, then you can cut the pegboard to a usable table size and using a piece of 2 x 4 cut to size screw the pegboard into the bottom of the 2 x 4 and then use another piece from the top of the pegboard down to the table. The home depot and Lowe's will cut these things to the size for you. HTH and isn't too confusing.

according to the USPTO web site a federally registered trademark is not valid outside the US however a tm can be registered internationally. Have no idea which countries recognize a tm or not.....if you read up on the Madrid Protocol you might find out, just tooo much legaleze for me Do not know how other countries do their tm's but here if you are the first to think of something and put the tm after it it is yours ,unless someone beats you to the punch by officially registering it first which is where you have to be careful. If you have the money to oppose someone registering it first then you should go ahead and register it IMHO. At any rate, with the advent of the computer age I would think it best to not mess with anyone's trademarks, international or not....just a can of worms probably best left unopened LOL and if Yankme has a branch in Italy they probably have attorneys there too and believe me will jump on anyone they find using their tm's. Very nice of you to do a list of their tm'd names, I would love to have a copy of the list. My email is my screen name @yahoo.com. thanks.

Oh Cindy, that is not good. Hope you got the name of the gal that didn't do what she was supposed to at your bank.....you might even think about finding another bank. Ours was very good about immediately stopping any transfers, flagging the account etc. While I do have a Paypal account I don't have any cards or bank accounts tied to it and am very glad I don't !!! don't think I will be dealing with them any more either, it just is not safe.... and yes, I know lots of people have never had a problem and I used to be one of them:cheesy2: everyone should wonder just how long it will take for them to get to you???? Francie

Rascal, we do not have a Paypal account, our bank handled it for us. And, this thread was started to warn/inform about doing business with vendors who use Paypal as their only authorized payment account. Of course you should use common sense when using any form of payment but this was directed at people who use their cards on-line. and I see another post where someone has had a problem....gee, doesn't this say something to you?

If this is a silicone mold you don't want to poke a hole thru it. Instead once your wax starts to set up, place a wooden skewer or a metal shish kebob skewer into the wax until it hits the bottom of the mold (which is the top of your muffin). when the wax has totally set up you can pull out the skewer and then insert your wick. You may have to insert the skewer into the top of the muffin just a bit to open the hole up. HTH

You are very welcome. First let me say those candles look scrumptious those big dollops are what's holding you back....it takes a lot to get that high a meltpoint wax melting....what if you just put a dollop in the middle of the wicks? Once the wicks get going and start melting the wax it might work out. The tin will also eventually get hot and help some. thanks for the pictures!

Let me try to clarify a few things....an atm/Visa card was used on a SECURE site, with a REPUTABLE vendor (just like you) who uses Paypal to accept payments. Within minutes of each other five different sites using Paypal as their form of accepting payments had made charges to the checking account....so the charges read "PAYPAL a vendor name and the amount...one of them was a bail bondsman LOL LOL...so someone got out of jail this way. I do not know who or how they got the number from a SECURE site....but someone did. The bank is checking into it but so far we still dont know. It could have been the clearing house or a hacker. That's why I'm giving you all the heads up...we don't know how we just know it happened. If it happened to us it could happen to you....we have been purchasing off the internet for over 5 years and this is the first time we have had a problem....so I am just suggesting that if you make a purchase on line with an atm/Visa (or MC) you keep an eye out on your checking account to make sure if it does happen you can catch it quickly. That's all....I'm not blaming anyone because I don't know who to blame I'm just telling you what happened. The information is just that and you can use it or not. I would want to know if something like this happened to someone else so I could keep a close eye out....when you are on a secure site you don't think it will happen but it apparently can.

I'm always a bit behind but eventually show up I agree with almost everything said.... you have a great product presentation but not enough of it out....but I don't mean in the scent category. There is such a thing as having too many scents. For craft shows I would limit the number of scents to take...people get confused when you offer too many and they usually want to move on to take in more of the show. Get 'em in, get 'em to buy and move 'em on...that's my motto 24 scents is a lot to take, IMO. People usually want to sniff the candle to see how it smells. You might want to have smaller jars for people to smell set out in front with a sign that says "smell me" or something. I have been doing craft shows for more years than you are old, most likely LOL. I own my own shop and now do one juried show a year. I have found that people do not want to walk into a booth or tent...unless a tent is the only option. What has worked best for me is to set my tables up at the front of the space, leaving enough room for people to come up to the table and still have enough room for people to walk by. Most people will not stop if your space is 2 or 3 people deep but they will probably come back to see what the attraction is. I do not know of a single show that will allow you to burn a candle. These are fire marshall regulations.....that doesn't mean people won't do it but I advise against it. If you have electricity, take an electric melter. My best advice is to try something different at your next show and see what happens....then try something else the next time. After several shows you will know what will work best, not only for you, but also for your customer base. We can give suggestions and tell you what works best for us, but it all comes down to what is best for you and your area. Also, I only noticed one size of candle.....I would also suggest you do an 8oz size or even a 4oz size that you can price really well. A lot of people won't take a chance on a larger sized candle, but once they buy and burn one of yours (because they are wonderful, right?) they will come back and buy more and the larger sizes. It's all marketing strategy and you have to find yours. Wishing you great success. Francie

You can also try dipping/coating them in gel first...let it set up around the embed and then insert them in your container. Also, Jazzbo has a good method of pouring the gel in layers. There is a post about this here...try a search.

Embed wax is generally made with a high melt point paraffin, sometimes as high as 200degrees.. Gel wax generally has a higher melt temp around 275 degrees so the embed wax needs to have a high melt temp. J-50 has a melt pool of abut 128 degrees sooooo....you can see where a problem might develope. Find out from the person/place that sold you the embeds what type of wax, any additives and the melt point of the embeds are. That might give you a clue. Plus the fact that you placed an embed over the wick is probably where your problems are. Try it without placing the embed over your wick and see if that will help. You can still use the embeds if you keep them to the side of your container. They may not melt but will still look good. edited to add info.

Even if you have no Paypal account, if you use someone who does to pay for your goods you could have big trouble. My DH used his business atm/Visa last week to make a purchase from someone who used a Paypal account as a means of accepting payment. This morning we discovered that FIVE unauthorized charges were made to his account for a total of over $700.00 so somehow someone got his card number. We have had the charges removed and a new card issued.....BUT I want to give everyone a heads up, to be extrememly careful about using someone with Paypal only and to check your statements on line before you get BIG trouble. Francie

Thanks Trish ! Customer "service" like that really gets me fired up . I think established business people should be setting a good customer service example for those just starting out. Believe me, if you start out treating people that way you will not make it....and if you manage to hide your butt until you are established and then let it show you won't be growing your business.....and back tracking and trying to say "you didn't mean it" just doesn't cut it. Be a man, stand up and apologize. JMHO Sock Monkey...you are very eloquent and articulate not to mention correct on every point.

Usually I don't have time to reply here, if I do it's to try and help someone out. This thread just slays me though and I have to put in my 2cents. As a candlemaker and a small shop owner, just as a business person what this man from Fancy Candle Jars has done is apalling....from his first email to his customer (or potential customer) to his attempt to redeem himself on this board. If anyone owes anyone an apology he does. This is where customer service has slid to....from a snotty, disrespectful email to the same as a post on this board. I hope that all of the future shop owners, on line store owners, anyone here is selling or is going to sell their product in the future will realize that this man has lost a lot of future and present customers because of his "customer service" and will never be as condescending to anyone they deal with. While I agree he has a right to give his point of view he would have been better off if he had worded it differently or simply had not bothered. All he did IMO was make a bad situation worse and to show his butt....which isn't a pretty sight at all. Edited and my thanks to Trish who nicely "saved" the day.

Tambien Wanda, una mezcla es mejor. Sugiero el IGI 1260 del acoplamiento antedicho. Espere que esto ayude y bueno suarte ! Francie

hola ! eso no vale. echar una mirada a http://shop.candlesandsupplies.com/candles/category.asp?catalog_name=candles&category_name=Embed+Wax&Page=1

Tracey, this is the wax I use and I will tell you what works for me. I use RRD wicks and I wick up one size from what the wick chart suggests...if the FO is very light then you can usually use the recommended size...if it is a very heavy oil with a lot of color you may have to go up two sizes from the recommended. If you want to stick with the CD's then I suggest you wick up one to two sizes with them also....possibly more with heavy fo and color...but the best advice I can give is to find one wick type and stick with it. The RRD's will mushroom but they also give a good throw and I have them trained now

and I have to say that Jazzbo makes the BEST embeds ever...I buy my cherries from her when she will sell them to me :) I make everything else myself, that's why I don't put any in the middle of the pie...and once someone lights it it all globs together anyway, so why waste the embeds? but then I also color my gel very dark too....just a matter of personal taste and how much time you want to spend and how much profit you want to make of course, now that gel has gone up and shipping too I might reconsider

Since it's an elementary school you might want to take somethings in the school colors...and do they have a mascot or a special name? I would try and find small and very inexpensive things to take that the children could buy....like key rings etc. If you do any M and P soap, you might want to try the fish in a bag...bet you could sell a ton of those.

If your heart isn't set on boxes, you can put the tart warmers into a cello bag, put the tarts in the top of it and tie with a ribbon or raffia and then into a gift bag. If the tart warmers aren't electric you can put the votives in the bottom of the warmer. Or, you can find small baskets, put in the tart warmer and add the tarts around the warmer and then cello the basket...

Cello is nice and crisp and makes a great presentation....the polypro is not as crisp, is more flexible (doesn't wrinkle like the cello) but IMHO doesn't look as nice either. That's why cello is used for gift baskets. I think you can get the polypro cheaper also. It really is a matter of preference and while I do use the polypro a lot because I can get bags at Big Lots, I would rather use cello.

They are a combination of gel and embed wax. You can buy kits or molds to make your own. They aren't difficult but you do have to be careful about your pouring temps. We always called them candle pies I use 3 small gel zinc wicks, hot glue them to the pie tin. Add a small amount of the gel, roll it around the tin to coat sides, then add the crust (the gel helps the crust to stick to the tin) then I add more gel almost to the top, then add the embeds, then top with a bit more gel. It depends on the look you want. HTH

There are several things that could have caused the cloudiness, one is the sand, could be the polarity of the fo (sometimes it will stay clear for some time before it turns cloudy), it could be the embeds....but my best guess would be the sand. As far as I know there isn't anything you can do except remove the gel and pour new gel in it but you would need to seal the sand first. Even then, after a year you still might get cloudiness. Disappointing I know.