logcabinmomma

OK, First thing you're gonna want to do is find the closest/best supplier to you. Lonestar is a good one- not sure how far from Houston though. A local supplier is a wonderful thing. Shipping costs are crazy so if you can find someone close enough to pick up from is AWESOME. You don't want to pick a wax to start using/testing until you find that supplier- you'll want to start with whatever they carry and make it work if at all possible! Even for my suppliers in my zone, a $40 case of wax costs $60 after it's been shipped to me! YIKES! Here's a list of suppliers, state by state... http://www.suppliersbystate.com/state-listings.php A votive wax would be a harder wax for votives that are poured into molds and then need to be released into freestanding candles that melt into a puddle upon burning (that's why they must be burned in tight fitting votive holders). If you're wanting to just make container candles in a votive holder, that'll work too. But it's no longer a votive, it's a container and you WOULD use your same container wax. There IS a problem with recycled containers, unfortunately. Glass is stressed by high heat and it's just about impossible to tell where and how much without VERY scientific super duper equipment. That equals very expensive... anyway, if you want to be environmentally friendly, encourage your customers to reuse/ recycle the container for other things (canisters, etc). Glass is recycleable... just don't recycle used glass for candles, start with new! -Kristi

We had a septic nightmare last spring and I mixed all of my strongest scents together (cinnamon, bayberry, toasted hazelnut and a few others)... worked great to get rid of the lingering septic smell!!! -Kristi

I'm thinking that many people will go to wanting wickless and electric warmers and also room sprays in the same fragrance as their candles- some of my customers LOVE how you can scent your room and light the candle at the same time and it's like you can smell the candle immediately. By the time the room spray starts to dissapate, the candle is filling the room. Of course, you'll always have your die hard candle people, so no discontinuing of wicked candles either. AND some people around here are only now discovering melts. If I carried a range of electric tart melters, I'd sell alot more melts. -Kristi

I really like BCN's Sage Sweetgrass and Cedar... so fresh and clean and nice! -Kristi

I remember one scent I was test burning (Ginger Bergamot) that was so strong that my kids kept blowing it out- it would make their eyes water and they started calling it "Daddy's Deodorant"... I never did test to the bottom cause I had to pull the scent. They'd have run away if I started pouring that one in the house. That said, my 7 yo ds's all time favorite scent is LoveSpell... I may have a problem with that one as a teenager... -Kristi

Mine are $8 or 2/$15 and doing well! -Kristi

OK, once I got the Blackberry Marmalade into wax it has a totally different smell- very little spice, lots of real baked blackberry smell. VERY good. -Kristi

Got mine today! Can't wait to test it out- I'm surprised at the amount of spice in it though... but if it's Cranberry Marmalade with Blackberry instead of Cranberry I don't know why I was surprised! I'm digging the white tea and berries too... I like tea scents but can't do musk, and this one is pretty good! Spiced Wassail is a little more orange-y than I thought it would be, but I'll have to get it into wax to smell better! Very Vanilla reminds me of buttercream without the butter... -Kristi

This one cracks me up! And this year for my before Christmas sales (Nov 15th through Dec 25th) I went ahead and lowered prices for multiple purchases... it's actually done really well and now NO ONE asks anymore. It's not really that much lower and people are buying more. -Kristi

Yeah! It'll be fun and you'll do great! I *didn't* wait for the last minute this year, but I have 3 more open house type shows left (I'm going around to a couple DR offices for work-time parties!) and had sold out of several scents that were very popular. I placed my orders in time to make up more ahead of time, but now Bittercreek is sitting on my order for wicks.... sigh... I *love* same day shipping in my shipping zone, but now I'm stuck waiting for wicks... -Kristi

They almost never show the bathrooms except the master- I'm sure it's in a kid's bath somewhere! -Kristi

Yeah! I should get mine tomorrow... UPS is slowing down for Christmas. My order from Alabaster got here next business day, but the order from CandleScience is taking an extra day than normal.... sigh.... I cannot WAIT for this one! I'm also realizing I REALLY should have bought more Cranberry Marmalade when I reordered Pumpkin Souffle. -Kristi

Yes, always. Now if I have to custom order a special fragrance for them or if they come back and order after they've already paid I don't. -Kristi

Lonestar carries (at least they did last I checked) C-3. That's a soy container wax. You could start testing with that one! -Kristi

Spring and fall for the $.99 sale... and I could NOT get them to tell me even a hint about the next fragrances in the works. I tried though! Meanwhile I have white tea and berries, Blackberry Marmalade, and Very Vanilla on my way (oh, and Spiced Wassail). I had to order another bottle of Pumpkin Souffle as I RAN OUT ALREADY!!! AND I have 3 big open house style parties left this season. I also got Lovespell because I am almost out of that and as soon as Christmas is done, it's Lovespell and Pink Sugar season.... ugh. Haven't tried their Lovespell before, so I'm looking forward to it! -Kristi

So I placed an order at CandleScience last week and asked about their expiration date for 464 (I ordered a batch in October that said it expires in March). After calling their GB representative to ask, the low down is that Golden Brands manufactures food products and as such MUST put a manufacture date and a best by date on ALL their products, even soy wax blends. It matters not one tiny bit though unless you're planning to eat it (not recommended!). Just in case anyone else wanted a definitive answer.... -Kristi

Mine's an orangish burgandy. -Kristi

When I first started making candles, I made them in the Ball canning jars that are widemouth and good for freezer or canning use. They are a tempered glass made for extremes and I NEVER had one break. I bought them by the case from Ace Hardware (who carries them year round). And the 8 oz and 16 oz are the same size diameter and opening and makes them super easy to wick... -Kristi

NOTHING!!! I have nothing scheduled this weekend for the first and only weekend in forever! I had a party last night and will have a show next weekend, but this weekend, nada! I have a few orders to fill from last night's party, but I'm waiting on supplies to ship but they aren't scheduled to arrive until Monday! So I'll be busy again next week. Wondering what I should do with myself this weekend... oh, I guess *I* could get ready for Christmas!!! -Kristi

NG has red hot cinnamon that smells just like cinnamon red hots... BCN has Tutti Fruitti that smells like Juicy Fruit gum. -Kristi

How hot are you heating them in the oven? Can you stick a thermometer in there to see how hot they're getting? Perhaps they're getting too hot first? If it's the first they've heard of it, most likely it's something that either happened to only your batch of jars (dropped somewhere or something) or a factor that's happening in your production (heating too hot first is all I can think of). -Kristi

I have a calculator next to my scale and figure out how many lbs of wax I need for each scent. If you have one presto pot (or other wax melting device) that can hold the majority of your melted, unscented, uncolored wax, you can measure out the amount you need for each scent, mix in the FO and color, let cool a bit, then pour into the container. Wipe out the pouring pot with the paper towels and then I douse mine with rubbing alcohol between scents to kill it all off between batches. Then repeat with each scent/color. This way you don't have to wait for each batch of wax to melt before coloring/fragrancing. It goes really fast and you don't need more than one presto pot this way... of course, it's still only for small scale production! Oh, I also wick the containers with RTV sealant several hours before pouring. I line up the containers with the scents I'm pouring so I don't get them mixed up! I also have a paper plate that has all the colors with how many drops of what it took to get to each one written on the plate next to the drip. That helps tremendously! -Kristi

I've only ever had 3 jars EVER break. One was after heating in the oven on too high a temperature (was melting down remaining wax to reuse the jar to test- this jar had been heated and cooled many times already). By the time I got it out of the oven, the bottom had cracked. One was from falling out of the back of my van going to a show (ick). The last was from dropping on a tile floor. Aside from trauma, a new jar should never break. I would contact your supplier and return the entire shipment. It's unacceptable to have jars break while pouring. Even my flimsiest glass that I chose not to carry never did that. How many jars did you pour that 2 of them cracked when pouring? How hot are you heating your jars prior to pouring? Sounds really bad! -Kristi

I don't do any craft shows (I have lots of little kids and just can't do them now anyway), but I do home shows in the area. I'm surprised at how well I'm doing this year. I thought people would be less likely to spend, but I'm doing pretty well. Since I do this as a hobby business, I end up focusing on it mostly between October and December with a little for Valentine's Day and then special orders throughout the year (along with personal use and testing what I will purchase later). One thing I did this year that I think made a difference is that I lowered my prices a little for multiple purchases (ie- 2/$15, 2/$25, 5/$10, etc). These are the prices that I would normally go to about 3 weeks before Christmas when I'm clearing things out. I STARTED with this this year and it's done great. Doing this business full force only at Christmastime is perfect as I don't get burned out and I allow time to be taken away from other important things as it's just until Christmas and then I can focus back on household stuff. I agree that it's scary to be a fulltime chandler right now. Less money for people to spend and more chandlers in the market would freak me out. -Kristi

Very good- great throw and smells just like fresh pralines. I compared it to the real Eggo Waffle Butter Pecan syrup and it was almost exactly the same scent. VERY sweet. -Kristi