meconella

I purchased a few dozen clear glass tealight holders from them about a year ago. No problems, they came fast, and I was satisfied with the quality. I'd order from them again.

M.

Maybe it's just my nose, but most of the soy wax I've encountered has an unpleasant chemical smell - sometimes mild, sometimes strong. Scents dont cover it either.

People should use and buy what they like, of course.

Can you keep the cooling candles in some sort of smaller, covered enclosures such as large boxes or ice chests so the heat of the candles will keep the area around them warmer for longer? Even a few large cardboard boxes with a blanket or two covering them?

Those are just beautiful. I enjoy re-stringing nice beads I find at yard sales, but yours are in a whole different league. Very impressive.

'Hey you'

'Mmm, where've you been?'

'Tush dreams'

'Day dreams' or 'Day dreaming'

'The stuff of dreams'

'Fan the Flames'

'Closing my eyes'

It's going to kind of end up being what you find on your searches

I can see where it would be great to live near a good supplier. Too bad I dont. Paying sales tax is less than some of those high S/H charges. :rolleyes2

Hi all, I have a number of things I'd like to purchase but dont have to right away. I'm new at ordering things for candles on-line and wondered what you consider the best sales. Not necessarily vendors, but % reductions, S/H, etc.

What time of the year are the best sales for candle goods, and do you have any in particular that you look forward to? Any information would be helpful.

Thanks, Meconella.

I use either two methods. Instead of popcycle sticks, I use flat, thinner coffee stirring sticks and hold them together with a paper clip at each end. For centering you can mark the sticks with a pencil or permanent marker in the center and then outward like a ruler.

The second method is to use a length of metal mini-blind. I punch a hole into the center (large enough for a wick) with a nail or philips head screwdriver, then rule lines equi-distant from the hole outward to aid in centering. I use a paperclip to hold the wick tight.

What would you all consider a good sale? I've only ordered a few things online and dont really know. Is simply free shipping something you would consider good?

And where do you hear about sales? Companies newsletters, or are they usually listed on their websites?

Thanks. Meco

I use two thin flat coffee stirring sticks, held together with paper clips at each end. Easy to pull up and adjust the wick between them.

Thanks Ring, I'll give that a try.

Thanks, not real chocolate, but wax that looks like chocolate.

I can get the color, but am looking for an effective pouring or drizzling technique.

Of course having these in the house will probably make me hungry just looking at them.

Hi, I discovered that I have some fluted silicon molds for baking, and they make wonderful molds for candles. I would like to accent some of these with 'chocolate sauce' (or any other color of sauce) but really dont know the best way to do it - and would prefer not to damage too many by practicing.

I did a search and all I found were recipes for real chocolate things, lol.

I'd be grateful for any hints.

Thanks, Meco

Now that suppliers have us accustomed to the higher prices of wax I doubt that wax prices will come down at all.

If the cost of raw materials come down, prices also will come down if the profits of a company suffer because customers are buying less, as I suspect they are.

Sad to say, in our difficult economic times when people are trying to reduce 'unnecessary' spending, candles might be considered expendable by some, and sales may suffer. I hope not, but think it will be a lean Holiday season for many.

Very pretty. What color did you use?

I really like opaque candles, and have read vybar is a way to help achieve that. I have used stearin and chromium dioxide, but neither is that effective, and too much chromium O2 creates problems. Would vybar -or anything else- be more effective?

The wax I use is mostly paraffin, and I dont use FO's so no worry about binding fragrance.

Thanks.

I probably don't have to tell you, but since your results are liable to be a little unpredictable at times, you have to be careful about monitoring your candles when burning them.

Not to worry. I live in a high danger fire zone and am always aware of any sort of flames. We had a major wildfire come within about 2 blocks this summer, and had to evacuate for several days. Candles are flames.... danger. I never burn anything outside of my view, and all my burning candles have additional fireproof containers beneath them. I'm actually somewhat paranoid about burning candles, lol.

how do you know what wick to use if you don't know what your candle is made of? are you buying wicks or pulling the mystery wicks out of mystery candles?

I'm pretty relaxed about it. Wax, wick, pour, set, light. It works or it doesnt. I've actually had very few failures, esp the past few years. In the beginning I had far more problems, but then I was just beginning everything.

Over the years I've gotten pretty good about visually sizing up the wax that is in candles. Maybe not exactly what it is, but how it will burn. I also have several kinds of purchased wicks, and I do make test runs. And, yes, I will sometimes re-use a wick if it looks good.

I don't know what I would do if I were allergic to FO's. I would probably have a lot more money from NOT buying so many.

Well, there are some fragrances I really like that dont make me sneeze, but it's so hit and miss that I wouldnt want to take the chance of buying any. I was in a store with candles the other day, and when I passed one section, I could tell there was something there I was reacting to. Too bad. Oh well.

Thanks everyone for the nice welcome. I've enjoyed reading a good number of past threads and learning more, and look forward to even more.

Hi elfcat, thanks for the welcome.

I would absolutely love to go wild in some of the candle supply stores and buy a lot of new things. I often will go look at all the luscious things they have to offer, and maybe some day I will. But right now I would be unable to justify the outlay of so much money for something that I consider a hobby and have no way to recoup the expense. I also know that if I were to start....

I was looking at some of the very appealing waxes but would find it hard to justify ordering a few slabs when I currently pay an average of about 10 cents/pound now. LOL, of course there is that unknown element in not knowing what I am getting, but if a used candle has burned well, there is little risk.

As to FOs, I can be allergic to certain scents and now always give the sniff test to the used candles I buy. I get only those that are unscented or non-allergy producing. I would love to be able to use a lot of FO's because some can be very nice, but that likely isnt in the cards for me. I've had to get rid of some of the candles I've made when I was less careful about scent.

And yes, it is very addictive. From the time I saw my first tapers and votives in church when I was a kid, I've been hooked. I've made candles on and off for well over 3 decades and have boxes and boxes of supplies in the garage.

Just loving it.

Hi, I'm new, but have been reading here for several weeks and learning a great deal. I've made candles for many years. I am not a professional and dont have the intent, but love to make a good product for my own use, and occasionally for gifts, with aethetics and safety the two main concerns.

I'm sure most of you will cringe with my supply source, but I am very frugal and except for wicking, hardly ever buy supplies in stores. I shop yard sales and have collected used candles for years. Occasionally I'll find someones old candle making supplies, and will get them too. Over they years I've purchased molds, dyes, additives, even slabs of unused wax, but mostly it's partially burned candles. Fortunately I do not have to make a consistent product.

The downside is I never really know everything about the materials I am working with. But the upside is I end up with some very interesting scents and colors. And the price is right. Just last week I purchased a partially burned 7 pound indigo candle with very appealing scent for $1.

Right now I am making extra large tealights (2 and 3/4 inch wide) in a variety of colors. I got 40 of the larger glass holders at a sale for very little and they are very appealing to me.

Also over they years I've purchased at sales many traditional candle holders, my favorite of which is a pair of very old iron floral holders that require 5 larger tapers each, about an inch wide at the bottom. So I dipped my own to fit. Actually while I was at it, I dipped about 80 or so of them.

Anyway, I'm having great fun, and am very grateful to have found this group so I can learn more about some of the more sophisticated aspects of candle making.