Vio

OMG that is very pretty! Very, very pretty! Congrats on doing a great job on the first try!

Just By Nature is the place I ordered from. I also got my melting pot there at the same time, since I was going to be paying for shipping anyway with the USA shipping charges.

Here's the madison jar I'm going to use. The 12 oz one. I'm getting it somewhere else though. From a local candle making supply place. http://www.yessupplyco.com/products/studio_capri_madison_jars.htm

Oh man. Thanks for the warning on the heat gun! I didn't see Ace's but if mine has issues, I'll be sure to check Ace's out thanks!

Oh boy I think I'm on the right track! LOL Dana you're asking questions is helping this noob as well! Thank you! I never asked about the container sizes here, because I read 3 inch diameter could be tricky to wick. It's good to see I've absorbed a lot of what I've been reading here. 3 inch is the size, where most people say it gets tricky. I chose the 12 oz madison straight sided for my planning. They're 2 1/2 diameter and 4 1/2 tall. From what I've read, if you go too tall, the wick can start to act funny as it burns down, so I was thinking a 2 1/2 medium to low jar would be a good place to practice at.

LOL OH boy is it good to see another total noob! Dana, I've been reading for about a month now, and comparing prices. I'm really very lucky to be able to buy my wax locally, when I finally get to that point. I'm not expert, and have yet to even make one candle yet, but I have hit a zillion links in my price comparisons. Have you done the research yet on the scale you'll need? The thermometer is another thing I found a challenge. Also, even though from what I'm soaking up, a heat gun can fix some boo boos, but you don't want something that could blow so hard and hot it will damage the wax if you have to heat a top or two. I just today got my scale, and my thermometer. Here's the thermometer I got. The probe can be used, carefully not to get it gobbed up with wax, to read the wax and alert you when the temp you want is reached. I found a place with the best price, that ships free. http://www.kitchenkaboodle.com/product_detail2.php?sku=DTTC-S!316&multi=1 Here's the pdf file for the instructions and what it does. http://www.cdn-timeandtemp.com/pdf/products/DTTCen.pdf Here's where I got my scale from and I got the best price I could find on it. 27.00 and there was 1 left when I bought it. It was new but the box had a dent in the top corner, so they must have considered that a flaw. The scale was fine and I test it and it works extremely well. Normally 44 "Quick Supply" http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&me=A3FF7JBZJ31X4M. They have a few now for 31.00. The MyWeigh 7000 which is considered to be a great scale for candle and soap making, because it's got plastic shields that protect the face from being ruined by wax and dyes. http://www.amazon.com/My-Weigh-KD-7000-Digital-Kitchen/dp/B000EVHHJC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3FF7JBZJ31X4M&s=generic&qid=1195955340&sr=1-1 And the heat gun I got. Two speed and heat settings. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96289 Came out to 16 with shipping. Those are the bargains I've found for the basics, so far. See what you can get locally, and utilize that source, and check if they carry what you need first, then shop online, so you save on shipping. If you need to buy anything online from a candle supply place, try and do as much shopping there as you can in one order, to get the most out of shipping. For instance, I priced the lowest price on a 4 lb pour pot, but since I had to order something from another online candle place that specifically had something else I needed to buy there, I bought my pour pot there and actually saved money, since the shipping there with a few things in cart didn't go up much adding the pour pot in. If I had gone to both, the cheaper pour pot would have cost 8 dollars to ship from the place with the best price on the actual pot. A hint...always use google for what you're looking for, and put "free shipping" after it to see if you get any hits. edit: I already own a deep fryer/crock pot, and will use that as my double boiler. I know you can heat wax directly in that, but since the element is really located within the bottom, don't want to risk any scalding, so doing double boil method. Pick up a cheap crock pot that can be set to like 200 degrees or less and find something or buy a double boiler maker so your pouring pot doesn't touch the crock pot/fryer directly.

I'm interested! I have yet to pour even 1 candle, but I'd love to make a pillar like that for decoration. It really is beautiful!

Turn the jar upside down and place it on something like paper towels. Get some wd-40 and use the straw attachment, to squirt some stright down into the thread area. Let it sit a while then try it again. It might work. That stuff is flamable so be careful to wipe everything after lid is open, so it's not a fire hazzard. Wash lid and wipe glass down well. That might work. That stuff helps get threaded screws that are stuck, out.

The woman I spoke to, assuming is was Laura, said their fragrances are all tested in soy. They won't even sell ones they haven't tested. I like that a lot. Thanks for the tips and I'll be sure to post what scents I've tried and how I found them to be as well. I can't wait to try this!!! I'm really excited!!! The first thing I'm going to do is practice melting and pouring, without anything added at all. I'll take a stab at a wick I think might work. Going to use the premier wicks from Laura. Cotton braided. One step at a time. I want to do this right.

Cool! Thanks for the advice!

I've read a lot here, and see where it's recommended that USA added to C3 will help the wax behave a bit better. I have yet, to order my wax or pour even one candle, so total noob here. LOL I am trying to place orders first for anything I'm not getting locally, so I can give time for shipping, and will get wax next week some time. JBN's soy additive's shipping, doesn't vary all that much and starts at about 8 dollars to ship ground to me, for the first pound of USA. I plan on testing one candle at a time, and since I have to pay for the shipping once already for one pound to have on hand just in case, I'd like to ask the guru's here for advice on how much to order to have on hand should I need to use a Tablespoon per pound of C3, which JBN says their pound will do 35 pounds of soy. Will this stuff degrade over time if I only need to use say 1/2 teaspoon per pound, and I buy like 3 pounds? If I'm buying 1 and there's a chance I do need it, it's cheaper to buy a few than to go back and pay the 8 dollars again on a new order, so figured it couldn't hurt to ask others what they think.

Thank you very, very much Stella! I gotta go to bed now. Man is it easy to lose track of time just reading here.

OMG I'm so happy I found this place. You don't know how happy. I've been reading here every night all week for the most part. Studying things I think are important. Right now I'm reading about the coconut oil thing. What a thread. I want to do this right. I am not going to order anything, unless I feel like I have some idea if it should be used or not. The only things I have ordered so far and should get any day, is my candle making scale which I managed to get the good one for 27 dollars instead of the average price of 44 dollars. Lucked out and found a new one on Amazon. The one with the protective shield. And I got the digital thermometer with the probe, for 24 dollars and free shipping. I am going to be using that thing a lot, to watch temperatures. Oh and a dual temperature heat gun for 9.99 w/shipping 16. My head really hurts with all I'm learning here. Really happy I found this place.

Yes Laura is the person who I'm going to buy my wax from at Natural Artisan. I think I talked to her on the phone the other day. I wanted to know if they would ever carry GW444 since I thought that wax was best. After talking to her, I realized how naive I was in believing the old triple scented thing. If it was Laura, she was very nice to this naive gal, and helped me understand the true ratio thing, and now I'm going with C3. I can't wait to place my order, but I know I'm still not quite ready yet. I don't want to walk in there and make a fool of myself, by asking anymore dopey questions. LOL I guess asking her about the data sheet isn't a dopey one though. Thanks for the advice. I did find this info on JBN http://www.justbynature.com/How-to-C-3-wax.html The next thing I think I have to wonder to ask or not when I order my supplies, is what is the flash point of the candle use only FO's. From what I read, I wouldn't want to have a fragrance oil flash point that's lower than my wax's melt point, or it will just stink the house up while I make them, and my candles won't smell. That info isn't listed on the site, and I don't know if it's standard that all candle only fo's are all like a 200 degree flash point? I just really, I don't want to be annoying. LOL She did say all of their FO's for candles have been tested in soy, or they wouldn't even carry them, so I was happy to hear that, and she said I was wise to ask it. I just feel very ashamed at asking about the triple scent thing. LOL Don't want to do something like that again.

I've hunted high and low for this thing. I've searched the internet through Google, and can't find it on Cargill's site. I hunted it down info in the forum as well, and came across this post, http://www.candletech.com/forums/showpost.php?p=554688&postcount=39 , and it mentions there's one that exists. Anyone have any idea where I can find it? I'm brand spanking new to candle making, and soy, and my local supplier has this wax, and I'm going to place an order really soon, and want to learn as much as I can about it. I've looked for days, and can't seem to find the actual data sheet.

Oh great! LOL I will be using this wax soon, when I order my supplies. I've read where some coconut oil helps a little. I think like 1 tsp or so per pound of c3. Don't go by what I'm saying because I've yet to make one candle, but in researching c3 so far, I've seen a few mentions of a tad of coconut oil helps smooth tops and help adhesion.

LOL I know. They should call the pinecone one pretty house burner candle. LOL

I just found this candle technique! Ewww!!! LOL This is what it looks like. http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=146

Is this the list you are looking for possibly? I'm doing wick research right now and was checking the posts on the forum for any hints, and came across this post, at the same time I'm also reading this list I found at wick-it. Hope it helps. http://www.wicknclip.com/recommendations.html#p700 And here's the types of wax they're good for. http://www.wicknclip.com/products.html

Wow! That is truly an amazing looking work of art! I wouldn't want to burn it because it's so beautiful. Beautiful candle!