Desertrose

Thanks Michele. So you are using a tin opener for the veggie cans? And this doesn't leave a sharp edge at all? Tracy

Also... Do you make a little wire handle for the tins and if so how do you make the holes to hook the wire in? Tracy

Hi there. (Richards wife here) The problem is moreso the little ridge inside the very top of the tin. We are using tins with the ring pull tops. This ridge, although not razor sharp, is still sharp enough in our opinion to be not acceptable for people sticking their hand in to light the wick as it burns down. We've used pliers to flatten the rim, but it looks untidy. Only other option is to find these so called tin openers that don't leave a sharp edge. Do they really not? I don't see how that's possible? Tracy

That is really gorgeous! Such vibrant colours! Well done! I can't wait to get set up in our new house here and start making some more.

Thanks! We've bought a teflon muffin tray today so we'll try making some in that and see how they go.

I presume this is using salt rock crystals? We just added food colour and fragranced oils to our crystal pot pourri - nothing else, and made little sachets to hang in cars or wardrobes etc. We found that the scent lasted up to three weeks before needing a boost of refreshing. However we found that the essential oils lost their fragrance MUCH quicker than the fragrance oils.

Hi there, Just wondering if anyone here makes tarts using palm wax in just a plain round shape - no fluted edges, and if so how they hold up regarding storage, transport and handling. I'm asking this as we have found a gift shop who wants us to make tart melts but is not keen on the ordinary fluted shape (wants them to look a little different, and his shop sells principally "prim" type stuff so the plainer the better he reckons) With votives I don't like the crisp thin edge round the top you get when you pour them and I always trim this and smooth the edges so as to avoid chipping during storage and transport but as he is going to want a LOT of tart melts (to display as pick and mix) I DON'T want to trim and smooth hundreds of tarts! We don't really want to go in the direction of pouring them into foil cups either (if possible) but due to the brittleness of palm compared to paraffin we may just have to if it turns out that they will get chipped and scruffy looking if we make them plain round ones. Any suggestions or advice very much welcomed! Regards, Tracy

Thankyou! I can see at some stage that my husband and I WILL end up experimenting with soap, if only just for our own use or for friends and family. It just looks so wonderfully creative and I'm sure is FAR better for your skin than the store bought stuff. We're in Australia....not that that matters much as far as testing out some of the products from you guys over there but right now we've had unexpected news that we have to move interstate in a hurry so I'm sure at some stage when we get settled we'll be back to do more reading here. Tracy

Excuse me for popping my head in here (having only experimented with candlemaking so far and I shouldn't even be CONTEMPLATING anything else, lol!) but I ventured around in this forum today and saw some AWESOME swirled soap that made me think.........ahhhh.....the creativity!!! Anyway, this might be a really really dumb question, and I hesitate to ask, but as I said, I know NOTHING about soap making....but I see that goats milk is an additive commonly used. I'm thinking...how doesn't this or yoghurt go off? Do all the other ingredients preserve it and stop it from going rancid? Or what specifically? Another question I have, as I see in this list is that it seems more often than not essential oils are added rather than body safe fragrant oils? My daughter bought me some hand made soap from the markets recently...rose/geranium scent, it said. It lathers beautifully....frothy and creamy but even when she first gave it to me all I could smell was soap, rather than the scent. I've found with our scented potpourii that the essential oils seem to lose their scent rather quickly, compared to the fragrant oils. Is this the same case with soaps? I love my soaps to be nicely fragranced, so I was a little disappointed that although my new handmade soap gift feels lovely and moisturising to the skin (and I think I will buy handmade soap from now on!), it just lacks the nice smell to go along with it. Tracy

Thanks. Yes, the layers have to shrink back before the next pour so as to get that spill over of wax effect.

You know Shane, perhaps there's the option of having two completely separate businesses with your candles - one targeting the wider general public and one targeting the wiccan/pagan circles. Two separate labels, different choices of candles or fragrance names.... different kinds of fairs or markets to sell them at....? (or online - separate websites) I doubt you would have the down home country people at a new age type market or vice versa? I don't know....just a thought. I love Starr's suggestion. See, to me I think there's a whole 'nother avenue - creatively, to go down with THAT target market. Richard and I have actually discussed this ourselves recently because well, you have to look at your target markets and decide who to sell to. Who buys candles? We're still trying to figure all that out. Our biggest spending repeat customer is an older man who goes mad for vanilla and frangipani. A guy? I'd have never thought that would be the case. With our new "hippy pillars" I see that it draws many more young people to our stall.....and yet it's the older people who have actually bought them! You never can tell! Anyway, good luck with it all!

I really like the latest one you've done with the border....despite the fact that I earlier said I preferred less colour on a label Purple is a very spiritual/mystical colour so if you ARE wanting to promote that aspect I think it's very appealing (to me it is anyway) I think perhaps the curved lettering needs to be up a touch higher so it's not actually touching the pentagram symbol OR the pentagram brought down a touch and the scent name font a bit smaller. I think the scent name should be smaller no matter the case so that your candle company name stands out more. I know what Trappeur is trying to say and her examples of how to "not scare people away" are pretty good ones, but if your wife is Wiccan and wants to appeal to that market then I reckon you guys, or your wife, should stand proud for her belief system and use the pentagram on the front as you have done! It WILL appeal to those who recognise it and will be valued, I think, if it is displayed in an upfront manner. (BTW Trappeur, I don't think either of those represent anything devilish - but watch out for the star where the single point points downward.) My only concern for you guys is that it will (and I can almost gurantee it will) cause a negative reaction from some people. I recently made a music video clip and in it I showed an image of a pentagram and I was accused of being a satanist by one very misinformed person. I don't follow any set of beliefs, but am drawn to many different elements of many different kinds of religions and belief systems and even though I stated that, still my pentagram was viewed as being "the work of the devil". Was quite confronting to say the least to realise that there are still people out there who are really quite closed minded and even afraid of certain symbols. Tracy

Hi, it seems to me as though you DO want to use the pentagram symbol somehow as it must represent something that expresses something about YOU. At first you had it on the back of your label and now you are trying it on the front. Is there some hesitation about using it I have to wonder? I think if you are thinking of targeting the pagan/wiccan crowd it's absolutely perfect because it represents so much to "those" people and is instantly recognisable to them. (I'd perhaps try it smaller between the writing, like a logo - not cover it with writing....or at least try and centre the writing so it's not overlapping the circle?) But if your aim is for your target market to be much broader then a symbol like that "might" just scare some people (misguidedly so) away. With a scent like "country kitchen" the pentagram seems almost out of place to me. Maybe I'm completely wrong here, but if I were marketing towards the pagan crowd I think I'd be focusing in on the more earthy elements, even to the point of changing fragrance names to give that more earth/nature elements vibe. Whatever the case I think you need to be sure, in your mind and heart about what it is you are aiming to represent and then follow through. That's my 2 cent's worth Oh and perhaps I'd steer clear of a black label with a pentagram symbol as it seems to make the whole pagan element very "dark"....again giving off vibes of negativity associated with that symbol. (colour therapy and all that...) I'd perhaps try a white label with black print or even an earthy neutral colour with black print. I don't see the need for the symbol to be on both the front AND the back of the label either.....a bit of overkill there.

Hi Antonia. Wow,I can't understand why you got such differing results. Sorry to hear that it didn't work out. Doesn't seem to make sense if your layers had cooled enough to pull away from the side of the mold that the next layer wouldn't spill over like that. Where did the liquid wax go? lol! Very strange! At least you were able to reuse the wax though as your colours weren't opposites or anything, so I'm glad nothing got wasted. The cracking IS an issue.....I'm finding with the votives that they are much more likely to crack especially on the top most and bottom most layers, so I've tried to pour those hotter. It's very tricky getting the temperatures right and I guess so far I've just been very lucky! (touch wood!) I want to attempt to make a NON tilted layered candle and see what happens if I have the deepest colour at the bottom and each subsequent layer getting lighter and lighter. I am a bit concerned though about the layers separating with that. I'll give it a go though and see what happens.

It's a tricky one...labels. You want to show (with pride) your business name, and have it be recognisable to customers but you also want to show off your product. I'd have to agree and say that these labels are too big for the jars and completely swamp the candles themselves. Though I love the combination of yellow and purple together I think senses get confused with too much colour on labels. Your eye is drawn to both colours. Personally I prefer more neutral coloured labels - tan and cream, that sort of thing. Just my taste I guess. I do however like your beads. Your previous stick on labels seemed a bit small in comparison but I think I preferred that look as you can see more of the candle colour and container.

I really love the idea of these ( and will at some stage give it a go!) As Richard said though...I have to wonder what the "Aussies" would think of them. Like I said before....they look almost good enough to eat, lol! I have to wonder whether people over here have the same "approach" to things. We're a pretty rugged bunch. I had a very oddball friend once who in trying to get her fire started, in frustration grabbed a pair of old knickers (I kid you not!) doused them with PETROL and threw them in her fire. NOT a great idea....! It got her fire started alright, but I think her arms got a bit singed in the process!

Richard has pretty much explained the process To do this I am using...would you believe it (because it's all we had on hand at the time and since it works I've stuck with it) an unused - brand new cat litter tray, lol, filled with clean kitty litter that I place the molds in, tilted on an angle. (I can fit six at a time) Looks a bit weird I must say having a litter tray sitting on my kitchen bench but so far so good....the cats understand this is NOT for them! lol!! The wick pins we have stuck in place with blue tack (don't want them moving even slightly when you tilt the candle molds) The whole process takes hours! I'd say from start to finish - especially to fill the large pillar molds it can be up to 4 hours! The trick is to do as many layers as possible so you get the nice blend of colours as the excess wax spills over. If you do larger layers the result won't be as intricate, or as "blended". With each layer I turn the candle mold around trying to balance where the colours will end up....you don't want too much of one colour ending up all together in one spot. You really have to wait until each layer is set enough so that if you press on it with your finger you can feel that it's hard. If it's not set enough when you pour the next layer you risk the new pour melting the previous one and the two colours merging. I'd say Richards suggestion of playing with votives first is a good idea! For that you have to sit the votive mold upright first and pour in a small base layer just to get the wick pin to stay in place once that first layer sets.....and then off you go with the tilting process! My only concern with votives - as someone else mentioned here in this thread I think, is that because the volume of wax is smaller, and because you're pouring it cooler there "might" be an increased risk of the wax cracking. This seems (I think?) to be only a concern with the very TOP layer - around the edges of the top of the candle, so I am pouring that last layer on the votives slightly hotter....which feathers it somewhat, but that's ok...It looks even more random if a few of the layers have a bit of feathering! Have fun! I can't wait to see pic's if other people try this!

They look almost good enough to eat!

Thanks ! I must admit last week at the markets these candles were what drew a lot of people to our stall - especially the younger crowd. Seems like bright in your face colours really ARE what a lot of people are attracted to?...not all of course, but our regular plain and "safely coloured" pillars haven't had ANY interest at all. I'm noticing too that even our brighter coloured melts (especially the red ones) seem to get way more attention than the less bright earthy coloured ones. Then again one crowd differs from another. You never can tell WHAT people are going to go for from one week to the next can you!

I'm NOT a patient person so this is frustrating waiting for layers to set.....but I'm finding that inbetween pours I'm getting caught up with the washing and general housework....which I oh so "love" doing. Stella, yes this IS so much fun. I'm really enjoying seeing how each one turns out. (Like opening presents, lol!) We've not have any problems with the candles being difficult to get out of the molds so far. It's getting cooler here so maybe that's helping or something. Thanks to everyone for taking a look and commenting and I hope those that do feel inspired to play have just as much fun as I'm having!

Perfect setting for photographing these candles. What a good idea to capture them that way rather than just against a fabric backdrop. They look great!

Scented....It was me who dubbed them "hippy" candles and I think you're right...I wouldn't call them "rustic" as such. I think they're just so different from what we've done thus far that Richard just doesn't know WHAT to call them, lol! Richard is the principal "wicker" here so I'm sure he will comment about that but so far, whatever he's been doing has worked out fine. The small air bubbles you mentioned seem to be confined to the very outer layers....where each pour has run down the side of the candle as the previous tilted layer has shrunk back a bit from the side of the mold. We have been dutifully releasing any possible trapped air bubbles by using a knife to poke the wax as the layers set. So far there's been no problem with "inner" air bubbles but I'm curious to see what happens as Richard burns the candle I ruined by unmolding it too early because we're positive it must now have an air pocket inside it due to me pulling the wick pin out too soon and the unset wax dripped out. Just on that point too - regarding possible air bubbles , I had to learn to be VERY patient making these as I really felt I had to let each layer completely set before re tilting and pouring the next layer. (took forever!) I found that the one time where I grew impatient and tried to pour the next layer when the previous had only formed a hard surface (I could see that inside that the wax was still liquid) that this was when there was a real possibility - no probability I'd guess, of an air bubble forming as when I tilted it...well, gravity went to work! This is why there is so much "spill" because each layer had shrunk back from the side of the mold completely, therefore the next pour spilled over. I'm not sure whether this kind of "spill" lets call it, is desirable or not. I'm guessing probably NOT, but I dont know....I kinda like the effect, especially on a really colourful candle?

Richards wife here Thanks for the comments! At first I scraped all the excess spill of wax that had run down (as the layers shrunk) and the result was a much "neater" tilted layered candle but after seeing a set looking "messy" as Richard put it , I thought it looked much more ...well, "free and random". To be honest it's a good way for me to release the inner hippy in me playing with all these vibrant colours, LOL! I love the anticipation of seeing how each one is going to come out! In fact I got into SERIOUS trouble from dh for unmolding a candle before it was ready (I just couldn't wait!) and ruining it. My only concern (and it may be nothing worth worrying about - but I thought I'd ask anyway), but because I am pouring the palm wax significantly cooler than normal to reduce the feathering I'm noticing now that the candles are getting this slight cracking effect. Just surface cracking it seems, which I rather like, but since I've never done this before I'm wondering whether pouring it really cool like that can actually make the candle REALLY crack? I hope not! Tracy

Chewy...lol! There you go then! Pretty good description. I think THAT must be one of the most common what "not" to do's then..... Too much fragrance! One of the first batches we ever made nearly knocked us, and the kids AND the dogs out!

Chewy? lol! I'm rather mystified by that. I wonder if he means it smells like fruit flavoured chewing gum or something. Maybe just edible? (Some fragrances DO smell good enough to eat!) You'll have to get to the bottom of that one! My dear other half will probably have something to say about his yellow candles soon enough, so I'd better not say too much, lol! Richard likes all the lighter fruit scents whereas I prefer the deeper more exotic perfumy like scents. I suppose in one regard it's good that we have such different tastes because so will other people have varied tastes. We've been using the feathering palm wax so far for our melts.... It seems to be working ok. We WERE looking at trying the soy pillar wax at some point but for now I think we will just stick with what's working. Which wax is the one you wouldn't recommend?