GinnyRit

I also love WSP and have been using them from the beginning; I don't find their shipping prices to be unusual. A few times they've even adjusted them down AFTER I've paid for the order. Perception is strange, isn't it? On another board I frequent, everybody seems to agree that WSP is one of the best suppliers.

Here's one that was held at our house, so of course we were able to have tons of products out... but it might give you some ideas. Congrats on the party request!

I use the Soy Liquid Soap base from Mill Creek and sell it both as a hand soap (in a pump bottle) and as a shower gel (in a hanging malibu). Super easy and it's really efficient to make two *different* products at one time.

Mine are also $5.00 or 3 for $14.00

I say that I start with a base that includes the proper preservatives and add other ingredients to it (FO and dye) to make it my own. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been asked if I made it; I think it's obvious since it's in packaging that is my own style with my own labels and most people don't seem to care if it's "from scratch". Just like the zillions of people at BBW don't care if it's "from scratch". That said, I have used handmade lotions from some folks here and I DO think they're better than mine. I just don't have the time to master yet another art form right now :undecided

Well I just found soybean oil LOL! I looked at my Kroger brand 100% vegetable oil and it says "Ingredient: Soybean Oil." Guess that's it! I'm headed back out tomorrow to find the palm and lye. Could cocoa butter be substituted for palm oil? And where would one find cocoa butter in the store? Is it in the food department or beauty products? Boy, I haven't felt this clueless in a while!!!

Wow, thanks for all the advice! I'll check again for the soybean oil and lye at Kroger. So should I just forget about the palm oil? I'm not partial to it... it's just a recipe I got from the Miller's soap site that sounded like a good first-timer. Is there anything else I can sub with rather than lard? Sounds expensive even if I do find it

I'm finally revving up to make my first CP soap (yay!). I'm using a recipe that calls for olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil and soybean oil. I found the coconut oil and olive oil at Wal-Mart yesterday, but they didn't have palm or soybean (at least I couldn't find it). I asked a boy stocking the shelves and he looked at me like I was a moron. I'll check Kroger today, but am I being unrealistic in thinking these are carried in stores? My husband suggested the international and mexican food stores... maybe the health food stores? I also couldn't find lye at Wal-Mart. I looked all through the cleaners department. I'll check with some hardware stores too... any ideas? I'm so excited to try CP this weekend and was bummed that I didn't find what I needed. In the long run I'll end up ordering supplies, I was just hoping to get enough locally for a test run.

Ahh, I see your dilemma. I only make container candles so I make the same size batch no matter what the orders will be (I keep candles in stock rather than "made to order"). You do definitely want to make it worth your while. Let us know how things progress!

Very cute! I love your tagline too!!

If the minimum order $$ is a problem, couldn't you be flexible on that? I only have a minimum order amount set up to prevent every Tom, Dick & Harry that has a resale number from ordering from me for half-price. If you know you're going to get some orders, does it really have to be at least $100 worth? If I know the store actually exists and I feel good talking to the owner, I let them know that the minimum is negotiable. That makes them feel like they're getting a deal too. Just something to think about And congrats on the new possibilities! They must be lovin' your candles!

Yes! Do tell! (Fabulous idea with the shea butter BTW)

That's awesome Heather! Good luck with the account!

Any idea where you can get cosmetic grade soy wax? I'd love to do this too!

Thanks for the heads-up Brian!!! I went ahead and got one too!

I take 12 scents of B&B to shows and it's not that big of a deal. We sell 4oz and 8oz lotions in malibu tubes and 8oz liquid soaps in boston rounds. We just have one 2oz tester bottle of every scent. So even if somebody just wants to buy soap, they can still smell the lotion tester. We keep our tester basket around when we're making batches of lotion and refill them then. Definitely have some kind of tester for every scent because otherwise people will just pop the lids off and have at them (sometimes they do this anyway). We used to have full-size testers, but that seemed confusing to folks since they were they same size as the for-sale products. They would pick up a sell-able lotion by accident thinking it was the tester. Good luck at your show!! :smiley2:

As Jennifer said, contact your local SBA office. They're there to help you get started and it's a free service. I just met last week with a counselor; they usually spend about 2 hours with you at a time and can get you started from the very beginning. Find your local office here: SBA Website You can also google and find your state's tax website and business requirements. Good luck!

I have the Quickbooks Simple Start AND the Craft Inventory Software. Kind of a bummer right now to enter some things twice, but I already had the inventory software set up and it works great.... except for not having all the financial data I need. Eventually I'll upgrade the quickbooks so it can handle everything all together. I think the Simple Start was $99.... that might seem pricey, but it's just one of those costs of doing business. It really is indispensable at tax time.

I don't use EcoSoya, but I do use the RRD wicks with a soy/cottonseed blend (KY125). I also don't use the 6 oz tin, but thought I might be able to at least give you a little perspective if nobody else chimes in. I use 4 oz and 8 oz tins. I usually use RRD37 in the 4 oz, but sometimes I have to go up to the 40. I have to use 2 RRD29's in the 8 oz tins because it's just too large of a diameter for one wick. I'd suggest trying the 40 or even the 47.... these are what I use in the 8 oz square mason jars and it's probably close to the diameter of the 6 oz tin. Keep at it!

Best of luck! That's a terrific opportunity!

I see your point in wanting to know what the competition is doing, but it seems like an awful lot of trouble and expense. It would be easier to just do some testing yourself and maybe use them as a benchmark to aspire to. Once you get familiar with making candles, you get a better idea of what they are made of when you see them. For example, most soy candles you see that are perfectly smooth with no frosting are not 100% soy; they most likely have some % of paraffin in them. You'll also get to recognize different types of waxes and techniques.

I use the zinc wicks in my tealights because they stand up without needing any support. They work great!

Yay Alan! It's great to be back!

Hi Stephen and welcome to the boards! I can't really help with your wick questions because I use a different soy wax, but you definitely do want to measure your FO by weight rather than volume. I pour my desired amount of melted wax into my pouring pitcher (usually 3 lbs at a time), then tare the scale back to zero and start adding the FO. I generally use 1.5 oz FO per pound, although you are able to cut back on some of them. Good luck with your testing!

Hey, that's great for only 5 people! And every party is good practice. Just keep at it!