Desertrose

Not sure what I'm doing here with trying to get an actual picture in my post....

Hi. This is my first post here but I have been taking a look at many of the things you guys are making and to be honest it's inspiring me to take a break from candles and get back to making more craft type stuff, which I love to do.

I'm not much of a sew - er really. I'm a bit slap dash "that'll do" but I'd bought a tonne of these cushion covers (four for $5) from the markets and really liked the patterns and colours so I thought I'd try and make a wall hanging from them (As I have TOO MANY cushions around the house as it is.)

I still have a tonne left over so I might make some runners....or something, lol.

Anyway, here's my first attempt at a wall hanging in a sort of moroccan type style (which is my thing....ethnic, indian/moroccan)

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p64/Desertrose010/Wallhanging2.jpg

Yesterday we received a lovely email from a lady who bought a candle from us at that market.

She told us how much she is enjoying her candle and likes it so much that she wants to know if she can buy from us direct.

Things like that just make all the difference.

Tracy

Thanks Steve. Yeah the inside I'm concerned about what with the possibility of fumes or just the paint leeching into the wax itself.

We cover our rustic christmas tins - the outside, with a fine coating of brown spray paint before I do the grungying with craft glue and spices. This holds up fine on the outside with these.

I may have to design a big craft label to go on the outside of these new tins and just hope that the blue on the inside is not too garish.

Tracy

I thoroughly enjoyed the video. First time I've seen how you guys do the swirls.

Amazing and I imagine such a creatively rewarding thing.

I'm itching to try making soap but I know, just like with candles, there is so much research to be done and so much testing and trialing ....and expense too no doubt.

Ahh, one day!

Tracy

Geez, I don't feel so bad now. $435 ( and the rest) must have put a very painful hole in your pocket for that day!

That's the thing though, sometimes these things DO result in something positive and I guess the more you get your product out there and people get to know YOU, well it's all advertising isn't it.

Snowing.....lol! I can't imagine that.

Tracy

You don't lose the feathering pattern if you melt that wax off but it EVER so slightly blurs the pattern. I guess because there is still a very fine layer of wax left over the top of the surface due to melting it. Barely noticable though and way less obvious than the spill itself. You just have to be careful and keep turning the candle in your hand so you don't put too much heat in one spot causing it to melt TOO much away.

A few of my Christmas pillars had spill that was really significant - reached about a third of the way up the candle and I thought darn it, I'm not pouring those AGAIN. This is when I discovered that the heat gun could save it. I had initially tried carefully scraping it off with a sharp knife but this looked even more noticable than using the heat gun.

Thank you for your kind comments about our candles.

I'll add too that the way you have displayed yours looks great!

Tracy

Lovely! You've done well. Palm is such a beautiful wax to work with.

What I do with that little bit of 'spillage" is put my heat gun on the lowest setting and hold the candle straight and melt that little bit of excess wax off....carefully!

Not sure what everyone else does about that but I prefer that it's not there.

Tracy

I just found this.

http://www.apmf.asn.au/html/new_spray_can_technology.html

The title though says non toxic yet later it says low toxic.

Hmm.

We have thirty two lots of wire baskets each containing six blue enamel containers/tins.

I hate the blue (sort of an aqua blue so it's not even a "country" blue.) colour of the tins but it was Richards idea that we use these to make some container candles in.

I've contemplated spray painting (or grungy-ing) the enamel tins a more "rustic" colour but really I'd need to spray paint the inside of each as well.

I'm reluctant to do this as I'm wondering whether the spray paint might leach out into the wax as it's burning and I don't want to create a toxic candle!

Do you think it would?

How do they colour enamel tins/mugs anyway?

I'll post a pic up tomorrow.

I've got to come up with a use for them somehow - even if it's not candle related!

Tracy

The thing is, as somebody said somewhere, is that in a lot of cases making things yourself - crafts, clothing etc, these days doesn't always work out to be as inexpensive as you would imagine.

I usually don't like or follow the "latest fashions" so sometimes I make my own clothes - try to anyway and just purchasing the fabrics can be as, if not more, in some cases, expensive as buying from cheap clothing stores.

Unless you buy things wholesale it can be quite a pricey venture to do or make it yourself.

It's such a shame though because I think back in the old days because things were hand made, number one, they LASTED and two, they were more valued.

Society just doesn't seem to value possessions as much anymore and we just have waaaaay too much "stuff" I reckon.

Except for candles. Can never have too many of those now can we, lol!!!!

Tracy

I like "visiting" flea markets (trash and treasure markets as we call 'em here.) simply to look for rustic old stuff that we can possibly use for our candle making or displays, but yeah......to be sat next to one selling candles is depressing!

Those markets tend to attract people with five dollars in one pocket and fifty cents in the other and their aim is to go home with the five dollar note still in one pocket!

Koala.....oh I'm sure I'll run in to the dirty old man again. I saw him at the nightmare market, but pretended I didn't, lol!

Not that I'm a spring chicken by any means and I'm sure if he HAD of got a closer look he would have seen that and changed his tune.

We've only sold one of them so far.

No doubt though there WILL be fanatical cow lovers who will turn up to our market stalls....eventually.

Tracy

I'm sure you've all had them.

I just wanted to vent about our most recent one yesterday.

Being new to this area we are just trying out every market we can find.

We had an unexpected free Saturday so we thought we'd rush to find "somewhere" to go to sell our candles.

We found one about an hour from us in Western Sydney for Saturday.

$60 a stall - bit steep, but we'd heard that "thousands of people go there."

Ok, so we ring up. We are told we have to ring on Friday at 2 pm ON THE DOT, and it's basically first in first served.

So we ring.....on the dot of 2 pm and of course the phone is engaged for about half an hour. Almost at the point of giving up we finally get through. (Rather weird and disorganised way of booking a stall we thought.)

We ask for an undercover stall as we explain that we are selling candles and as it is predicted to be a hot day we need to be undercover.

Ok, they say and it seems we have got the last undercover spot.

So we turn up at 7 am (Up at 5 am to get there on time)

There is much disorganisation....no one there to direct you or all the other stall holders. Just chaos with vans and trucks everywhere and very narrow roadways.

A nightmare really.

Finally we find our spot - there is a huge van parked IN it and we note with dismay that it is NOT undercover at all.......just next TO the undercover area and we can see that within an hour we will be in full sun and will remain so until late afternoon.

Finally the van moves and we start unloading everything in a real big hurry because now WE are in someone elses way!

Another stall holder lady comes up to us (she wants candles) and tells us we should go and complain..... that we "might" be able to be moved.......though she is not sure because usually you have to go and check out your spot BEFORE you pay (we weren't told that!) and if you are unhappy then perhaps they will find an alternative.

We'd already paid but what the heck we thought we'd go and ask anyway.

So off goes Richard, comes back twenty minutes later and is all excited because yes we can move to an undercover spot.

Only thing is we can't get our car in there so we have to lug all our boxes and tables TO the new spot.

So we start doing that, employing our not so very happy children to help.

When we get to the new undercover spot....well....guess what the stall next to us is?

A candle stall!!!!

Sensing a very uncomfortable situation here I go over to the couple, a guy and a girl and explain the situation and apologise for the unfortunate circumstances....but...."what can you do?"

It was met with a filthy look from the girl and the guy didn't even turn around in his seat.

So anyway, we start moving all of our stuff up there.

I had got to the point where I was beginning to put all the cloths on the table when the grumpy candle girl gets up and disappears.

Next minute I know she comes back and tells us she complained to centre management and they have found us a different spot in the middle of the undercover area.

I'm just a tad peed off by then.

Why wait till we have moved ALL our stuff to go and do that?

I had even told her that our candles were VASTLY different to theirs (which they were - TOTALLY and would most certainly appeal to very different buyers)

Anyway, so with no other choice we began moving all our stuff yet AGAIN!

By this time the markets are open and people are flocking in and we still haven't even set up!

We go to great lengths to try and set up a decent looking stall.

I can't tell you how much we've spent on bits and pieces to display things. Just recently we bought six old very rustic wooden crates ( a bit antiquey) for $15 each that we use to display things (as well as transport things.)

Our cloths all reach the floor, are all hemmed.....we've bought so many different baskets, trays and cupcake stands....you name it, we've tried it all in the name of looking like we take pride in presenting our product!

Our signs are all nicely printed out and laminated.....information leaflets, business cards.......every candle is "dressed" with gingham or string or leather - beads in some cases and hangtags or labels are on every one of them! (Labels with BORDERS on them that have almost caused us to get a divorce!)

It takes a lot of time and effort to make what we think is a very attractive stall - let alone the time it takes to test, test test, and eventually make all the stuff (I'm SURE you ALL know what I mean here!!!)

And there we sat for seven hours in the SWELTERING heat (It was like a sauna in there as there was no air flow because of all the greazy hot food vans and buildings trapping in the hot air) and watched as hundreds and hundreds of people just walked by without even giving our stall a GLANCE!

We discovered too that it was largely a Muslim and Asian community, and I dunno.....I just can't imagine people of those cultures being too much into the "prim country" look.

We were surrounded by hundreds of stalls filled with the crappiest junk you could imagine. Not one other handmade product to be found (with the exception of the grumpy candle people, of which I'm not entirely convinced were handmade anyway.)

Usually I can go to any market and spend money. I'm good at that.

I found myself walking aimlessly around that market with the kids all day because for one - where we were positioned was the hottest area undercover and two - because it was such a tiny space that we couldn't even set up all our chairs so all four of us could be seated at one time behind the stall.

But traversing all the stalls - and there were hundreds of them, I could not find ONE THING that I wanted to spend my money on because it was all so absolutely junky.

It was as though all the two dollar shops ( as we have here - your dollar stores I guess?) were all squeezed in under one roof.

Usually though I can find SOMETHING useful in one of those "cheap shops" to buy, but there was absolutely nothing at this market that I could be inspired to spend a few dollars on.

I took turns taking the kids for walks then I'd come back and relieve Richard (who at one point admitted that he was dozing off in his chair........through lack of oxygen I'm sure.)

We made not even $20 after having paid for the stall cost.

Drinks cost $4 each!!!! and we soon ran out of drinks that we'd brought with us...so you can imagine how much just drinks alone cost us.

For the first time we found ourselves at a market that closed at 4 pm - rather than 2 or 3 pm, so those extra couple of hours were pure torture, lol!

When we finally started packing up along with everyone else I was absolutely disgusted to see the mess all the other stall holders left.

The people behind us who smoked had left food containers, general rubbish and cigarette butts all over the ground!

I confess I am a smoker but I ALWAYS go outside - even in an "open" undercover situation. It looks TERRIBLE (I think) to smoke in your stall, and never mind that, I have consideration for other peoples products. We were right next to a clothing stall. Who wants their clothing that they are selling stunk up with smoke! (Just something I would never dream of doing let alone leaving my butts all over the GROUND!)

Not only that though, when we finally got our stuff packed up - again absolute CHAOS with vans and trucks everywhere and we ended up carrying all our stuff back to the car because we couldn't drive it anywhere NEAR our stall....well, you should have seen all the plastic wrapping flying everywhere.

It completely littered the area.....just hundreds of pieces of plastic packaging from all that made in china junk....and plastic shopping bags.....and peoples RUBBISH!

I couldn't believe what pigs all those people were! Just sheer laziness because there were bins all OVER the place!

Well......Never going there again and a good lesson learned.

ALWAYS go and check out a market before you take the plunge and just dive in blind.

It's really not worth it!

Hand made products are becoming rarer and rarer.

A few years ago there seemed to be a balance of either second hand junk, or cheap junky stuff and the arty/creative hand made stuff. Nowadays most markets, especially the bigger ones are just like this one was it seems.

I find it SO sad because it confirms to me what a throwaway society we are these days!

You would have to be an idiot to think that these dirt cheap products are going to last. They don't!

But who cares these days, when it's cheap enough (is the attitude) to just go and buy another one!

BUT, having ranted about all of that, there IS the positive to look at.

The customers we DID attract were largely very enthusiastic and complimentary about our candles and they willingly took our leaflets and business cards and most wanted to know which market we will be at next.

Today we recieved an email from someone wanting to buy from us direct ( not something we have done in the past) but it is encouraging to know that at least by going to markets and putting our product out there that there will be some people who like it enough to personally contact us.

We did a much smaller (tiny in fact) craft show today and it was completely different!

We didn't make a HUGE amount but the stall holders themselves were just so friendly, the customers were wonderful, very chatty and though there weren't a lot of them they WERE willing to spend on handmade products.

So.....off we go again to the next one on Wednesday.

One we KNOW from experience what it's like. (there is a creepy clothing stall man there who tried to chat me up "come closer so I can LOOK at youuuu!" he said.

I'll just avoid him

Tracy

I so understand where you are coming from flutterbye.

Yesterday we went to a market, a HUGE market with tonnes of people and barely made $20 above our stall costs.

First time we'd been there though and as it turned out it was a market FULL of "made in china" stuff - possibly the junkiest of all junk I've ever seen.

Seems like so many markets are like that these days, and yet people flock to them!

It can be so depressing at times to see people shopping with that "I want cheap" attitude, but what keeps us going are the customers that KNOW a good quality item and are happy to pay for it. And they DO exist. It's just finding them AND the right market.

Don't lose all hope. Maybe take a breather for a bit perhaps?

I don't think making and selling a great product is impossible these days. Harder, yes, but not impossible.

Tracy

I'm discovering that that is the trick.....not to have too much wax in whatever vessel you are pouring with.

Today I used very small recycled tins - of course thoroughly washed (May have contained tinned mushrooms) that I squished to make a spout and that worked perfectly for pouring red white and green very small hearts and stars.

Thanks everyone for all the kind comments. Appreciate it.

Hopefully after this weekend we'll have some photo's of our market stall/s to post up.

Yes the cow candle IS an ice candle. Got the idea here from this board!

Tracy

Well I did wonder about the ziplock bags too!

What you wrote makes sense Stella. "Sealed in by the exterior of the tart or candle".

What we've done now is put the little samples into our smallest jar with a big round label on the lid saying "TESTERS"....but wouldn't you know it, at our last market at least three people asked how much those little jars were and that they would make cute Christmas presents. Grrrr! lol!

We just REALLY don't want to individually wrap anything so I guess with our tarts in the boxes I'll just make lots of them, store the bulk at home in our air tight plastic containers (which are recycled) and rotate them each market so hopefully at least for that day they will remain "fresh".

Call us suckers for punishment but we're really into recycling (as the cardboard boxes we use for display are) and want to stay as far away from packaging with shrink wrap as we can.

Tracy

For some reason we've been having "issues" lately with our palm melts.

We're packaging our mini tart melts in brown paper tin tie bags.

They're doing GREAT kept inside those but for markets we didn't want people unwrapping the bags to smell the scents (thought they would get shabby looking real fast if constantly opened and closed) So we thought we'd display a few sample melts in front of each bag in these cute little rusty tin heart shaped dishes. Looked good, and after each market stall we have put the sample melts into little ziplock bags to store them.

Only thing is.....like the normal sized tart melts I've spoken of here stored in the cardboard boxes, even these that we've been leaving out at markets and then putting back into the ziplock bags seem to again be losing their scent rather fast.

It's hot here now. Could the heat be doing something to them?

I'm really quite confused because this never seemed to be an issue in the past.

Everything that we store in plastic airtight containers is fine.....

The cardboard boxes, as I said have a tiny gap either side of the closed flap of the lid, but not enough, I would have thought to make much of a difference as far as scent loss.

I can't see why this should be happening, but I don't think it's just our noses as I've seen a few customers at our stall having trouble smelling the scents from the sample mini melts in the dishes. I've just been putting those back in the bag and replacing them with the more strongly scented ones IN the bag.

I know once they put them into their melt burners the scent will be strong again...it's just, well, you know, you want your samples to be good EXAMPLES.

Tracy

Thanks. Yes, it's hard to know for sure. I'm suspicious of the cardboard, but then again I don't trust my nose anymore!

Tracy

I don't know where I read this, or maybe I just imagined it or something.......

We are recycling little cardboard boxes to package our individual tart melts in. All done up with nice labels and all and they look quite smart.

Only thing is......either our noses have lost the plot or else the tarts really do seem to be losing their fragrance.

There is a lid......and they are stored closed....a tiny gap each side of the lid but one would think with twelve in a box and stored away in a cupboard that all should be ok.

Just wondered whether the cardboard is the culprit?

Tracy

Oops....I should mention that the tart melts are palm wax.

Both look great! Love the pillar, the colours and effect are very eye catching!

I saw some cute mugs the other day and thought of your idea.

Are you selling them? Will you be wrapping the mug in cellophane? We are having some trouble keeping our little palm wax sample melts that we keep out in the open on our market stall. They seem to be losing fragrance being unwrapped.

Everytime I see a nice container in which to put melts I come to a stand still because I know I'd probably have to package it in cellophane and it's just one more thing I really don't want to have to buy at this point.

Tracy

Hi there. Sounds like my first and only attempt at making soap many years ago. (Like something from a Lucille Ball episode, lol!)

I don't know what everyone else does to melt wax but what works for us is to use an old pot to boil the water and a metal mixing bowl of an appropriate size to sit on top of the pot. This way, a bit like melting chocolate, the steam is heating the bowl rather than it sitting IN the water itself.

(If you DO do it this way you must make sure not to over fill the pot with water or else as it starts to boil it will bubble away and sputter out from underneath the metal bowl. )

While the poured tarts are setting the remainder of the wax (if there is leftover wax) sits quite happily on top of the pot and the heat of the boiled water is enough to keep the wax melted until the next pour is required. Or if need be you can turn the stove on again and get the water boiling again to re melt the wax IF it does start to set.

If you want to save the wax for another day you CAN remelt it but I find this burns off some of the fragrance to re heat it so you might have to top it up with a few extra drops.... Probably best to try and pour it all in one session as it's not very exact to "top up" on the fragrance.

What type of wax are you using?

Basically I guess whatever it is you need to re melt it, pour out the excess and then wipe out as much as you can with paper towel while it is still liquid (Don't burn yourself though!) and then scrub the pot.

The good thing about using the metal bowls for melting wax is that you can always pop them upside down in the oven on a tray lined with baking paper and the residue of wax will drip off as the oven heats. (We do this to clean our tart and votive molds if they get messy.)

A heat gun also is wonderful for melting off excess wax.

We only use metal spoons for stirring as these too can be popped in the oven to clean or heat gunned.

Hope this helps?

Tracy

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

Actually through freecycle we have stumbled across a guy who fixes TV arials and has loads and LOADS of bubble wrap he constantly needs to get rid of ( another case of too much packaging!) so we are gratefully reusing what he finds a major pain to dispose of.

As well as that he has lots of small boxes that we've used to put our individual tart melts in. I made dividers and Richard printed out some big lables for the lids. They are PERFECT for what we need them for.

I just love when things can be recycled!

The pillars held up well wrapped in the bubble wrap at our last market so all is looking good here!

Tracy

That sundae is to die for! Fantastic work and all so beautifully presented!

Tracy