doris

God knows if you are sixteen, or whatever, your story seems to change more often than many people change their socks. But if you are 16, congratulations on putting together a business of some sort. What I do have problems with, is all the different stuff you are offering: candles, soap, lotions, b&b, t-shirts, jewellery, jam, jellies as well as being a "supplier", and you say you are still in school. There is no way that you can do all this stuff well, in your spare time. The old saying about "jack of all trades and master of none" holds true in many instances. You can't be selling any amount of anything because you haven't got the time to do it. Saying that you know the shirts will sell because you made 3 and one sold...that's hardly a gauge of how they will sell. I'd suggest on cutting down the number of different itmes you sell, and concentrate on doing just a few of them well.

And yes, from the little I've looked, you do seem to offer things for sale first and then do the testing afterwards. All we ever seem to hear from you is "I've taken it off my site". You put things on, people from here point stuff out, and then you take it off. Why don't you slow down a bit, and be a little more selective with what goes on.

I don't have a clue if this will help you, but richardspackaging.com has a ton of jars and offices all over Canada. I don't know about prices, you have to phone and get a quote.

Good for you! I don't know what you used, but if you make more, try to use a yarn that has at least some wool in it, they will be much warmer.

Basically, your wholesale price should be at least 2x what your cost is, and retail should be roughly 2x your wholesale. If a jar costs you $8, that would make the retail price around $32. You have to find a way to get your costs down, buying in bulk, finding different suppliers, whatever. Even in the boonies there has to be a way. Good luck.

I have some coconut oil soap superfatted to 15% and it is bubbly, pure white, and hard as a rock. It would probably mold very well, and there are beautiful molds available which would work well for weddings.

I've also heard that sugar added to the lye water will increase lather, I think 1 tsp ppo. I haven't tried it, but plan to, as I also like bubbly soap.

I'm under the impression that epsom salt or dead sea salt should not be used for salt bars.

I make creches out of beeswax, natural coloured and white. I don't wick them. The molds are available from mannlakeltd. They sell reasonably well.

I own 2 books by Susan Cavitch, as well as the book by Melinda Coss, and the Soap Naturally book, and love them all. The only book that I bought that I think is crap is one by Norma Coney. I'm planning on getting at least one of Alicia Gross's books soon.

There is a lot of info online, but I really do like having a few good reference books as well.

I'm sure you will lose some, but by no means all of the properties of these eo's and other oils. I've always had the scent of all my eo's come through, although some do fade after a while.

I found that anything and everything I read helped me. Many of the sites and books say simaliar things which helps instill it in your head. When reading the same thing but with different directions you find what works best for you. I found the "Soapmaker Companion" from Cavitch very easy to understand and read. www.Millersoap.com is a great site also.

I agree. I also find the soapdishforum to be helpful and very informative.

I have 2 dogs and 6 cats, and while I don't mind hair in my house, with us it is a fact of life, I can't imagine selling soap and candles with hair in them. I moved my stuuff to the shop, and I still occasionally find a Lab hair on my stuff. I guess I ooze it, since no one else has a Lab.

A little off topic, but we have a woman in our shop who makes amazing crocheted curtains out of fine crochet cotton. She needs the money, so when someone offered her $150 for a $195 curtain (already a bargain), she accepted it. He said he'd be back. 2 days later he came in and offered $100. I said no. This went back and forth for about 20 minutes, but there was no way on earth that that curtain was leaving the store for less than $150. Anyway, he said he'd be back. 3 days later a tourist came in and bought it for the full price. I was so happy, I don't think we've had a sale all year that made me so happy.

Anyway, stick to your guns and don't undersell yourself. Just because we are small businesses doesn't give other people the right to crap on us.

After reading this thread I just had to try knitting. I went to knittinghelp.com. Boy do I want to pull my hair out...lol. I guess I'm just not coordinated enough!

It's a physcial thing; it is unlikely that your knitting will be perfect or fast from the very beginning. You have to get used to it. It is, however, a very rewarding past-time, and one that can bring you a lot of enjoyment for the rest of your life. Try not to give up on it too soon.

It can take years to learn to do anything well, whether it is drive, play piano, or knit. If you persevere, you will improve quickly. One of my first knitting projects after a lapse that started in my early teens was a cable knit sweater, and I still have it.

I make a neem oil bar, and just live with the smell. Mind you, I don't really mind the smell of neem oil to begin with. If you want to mask it, I would go for something super-strong: tea tree, peppermint, eucalyptus... I also find that the smell changes slightly in the finished bar, for the better.

I'm a partner in a craft store, and having a selection of the same sort of thing is always a good thing. Just because she was the only soapmaker there, doesn't mean that a person buying soap would buy hers, if she didn't have one that the customers wanted. We have a whole bunch of knitters, and among us, several make hats and mittens and scarves; we have 3 jewellery makers, etc. The only thng we would have a problem with is outright copying of another person's product.

summerbeemeadow.com has a recipe resizer. You type in your recipe and the inside measurements of your mold, and it will resize your recipe to fit your mold.

knittingpatterncentral.com has all sort of free patterns, including some for looms, which I think is what a knifty knitter is. Check there to see if she is interested.

I use pure beeswax, bleached square wick, no fragrance, and silicone and rubber molds, except for the votive molds, which are metal. Beeswax already has a honey scent, so you might not want to use a lot of scent, or at least use one that works with honey.

If the only ingredient listed is sodium hydroxide, it should be fine. Have fun!

Many people probably have no idea how a candle should burn. Till I started coming here a few months ago, I had no idea that a votive shouldn't burn a hole down the middle and leave behind a mess. I had one of my votives burning in our shop one day, and one of our partners told me there was something wrong with my candle: the top was completely liquid, and she also "knew" that votives were supposed to burn a hole down the middle.

Mine usually darken, apparently if you keep them from gelling they will stay white.

I was under the impression that the syndet bars developed during wwII when a lot of food was rationed, and it was a cheap way to produce soap. I could be wrong.

I use only EO's, many of them are not that expensive if you buy in larger quantities. I make only soap and bath salts with them, and I find they work very well. Just be sure you buy from a reputable source.

They don't seem to work well for scenting candles, although some people have luck with them.

I think ease in cutting depends on the recipe also. I've had soaps that were hard to cut after 2 days, and others are fine forever.

SherriLynn, I totally agree with you. Music and other noise can be so intrusive, which is why I seldom go to things where there are crowds and "free music". When you have to scream at the people with you to be heard, the "music" is perhaps a bit loud.

Also, one person's "music" can be another person's "torture". I tend to be fairly open-minded as regards music, and I love rock, classical, opera, folk, jazz, blues, reggae etc, but I can't abide country or rap or what I think of as "slut" music. My blood pressure rises when I'm stopped at a light behind someone blasting rap or country; if I had to spend a whole day having it scream at me, I'd be insane. And I love flute music, although what mystical flute music Is, I don't know, but a day full of probably loudly amplified flute music would also probably put me in the hospital. A little respect for other people is always a good thing.