deb426

Sounds like a Scentsy rep.

Your stand looks great. What's the worse that can happen? You sell out too soon. Wish I had that problem at all my shows If you have a crafting friend who makes something different and wants to share some of your space, that might be a solution if your stock gets low. Just clear her or his product with show organizer first. Good luck! And make lots of pumpkin scents for that time of year...and apple scents of course. I can't keep enough pumpkin from August to November.

I've been doing the same, Island Girl. I've been trying to get down to 20. It's really, really hard! One thing that has helped me is to think in categories. I have so many foodie type scents because that is what is popular here but I don't need as many as I have. So I put all of my on-the-fence foodie scents in one category and will rotate them until I run out of each oil. I made a list of my "keepers" and will replace that oil as I run out. In my keepers list, I just list one as "rotating foodie scent" or "rotating spa scent." That way I can use up the oil I have and still keep room to try something new in the future. Another thing I have done is to tweak my batches to have less waste. Now I try to make my batch down to the ounce instead of having 3 or 4 ounces left over. I used to think, oh, I'll make tarts or something. I can still do that with the occasional left over ounce or two but I am being much more careful about waste. This is not my main job so I don't have to make that much money but I would like to make some and I definitely don't want to LOSE money. Time to buckle down and make sensible (or scentsible) decisions when buying, LOL.

My customers do not give a rat's patootie about a little residue. Its all about scent, scent, scent in a container candle. People want strong scent in a decent looking container at a reasonable cost. There are some exceptions, of course, but in general they really do not care about what the container or the wax looks like while its melting. Except for soot and even then, judging by how popular Yankee Candles are, they don't care about that either.

Put Goo b gone on it and let it sit for a couple of hours.

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Don't lick the wax off your finger no matter how yummy it smells. Not that I've done that. Really. I didn't. Not ever. Okay, once.

I don't have my notes with me but I either use an eco 6 or an eco 8 with that combo. Start with the 6 and see how it goes. HTH

1. Keep it simple. Start with one container and a few scents and work with it until you are happy. Trying a bunch of sizes and scents at first will eventually overwhelm you. 2. Find a local supplier for wax and jars if at all possible. You can save a bundle on shipping. 3. Label your testers! You will think that you will remember what wick you are testing and what oil, etc., but you will not remember. Trust me. 4. Don’t sell (or give away) too soon. If your candle isn’t great, you will lose all of your potential customers for the future. Have patience and make a candle you can be proud of. You don’t want to have to cringe when Aunt Mary tells you that your candle was a torch or kept going out. 5. Get a Presto Pot to melt your wax in if you find that you like making candles. It will save you a lot of time and mess.

I usually put a sign out and then price a few random items in the bunch also. That way, if someone doesn't see the sign, they will see the price on one of the items as they look through.

I use 1 oz FO to 2 cups of corn cob. It seems that no matter how long I leave the mixture to dry, once I put it in the envelope, I get little oil spots. Does anyone else have this problem? I have waited a month or more and still have oil stains. Is there anything I can add to the mixture to absorb the oil? Would adding vermiculite help? TIA

Those glass melters sitting way up high on those shelves are scaring me to death. It is not uncommon for tables to get jostled by customers. I've done a gazillion shows and, believe me, things happen. A couple of times I've even had neighboring vendor stands fall on my stand. Moms pushing baby strollers are notorious jostlers. Plus, people like to touch things at shows and they can't touch your warmers if they are that high. Maybe that's a good thing but people may not buy what they can't reach. Just a thought. With respect to your question about how much to make at a show, this will vary for everyone. A hobbyist will have a different goal than someone who depends on sales for their mortgage. Also, expections should change with the season because spring shows are going to be less profitable than fall shows. If you're happy with your sales, don't worry about how much others make or expect. A show can be bad but you still are out there in the public eye, creating name recognition and future sales.

I do not make pillars but a friend is begging me to make a star pillar for her. I already have a few six inch star molds and some IGI 4235 wax which I thought I would play around with. No color but maybe cold pour or rustic. I'll use one ounce pp of scent. My question is...how should this candle burn? Do I ignore the star points? I don't mind testing but I'm not sure what the end result should be. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Deb

Wicking, hands down. Hate it, never found a way to make it better. Just hate it.

Those are gorgeous!

Thanks, Candybee. I have plenty of the 6 foot solid tables but it would be nice to have a sturdy table that folds down the middle for when I want to do something small and just take the car instead of a van. I think I'll pick one up this weekend.

I love, love, love vanilla. I also really like cucumber melon and fruity type scents for lotion.

Maybe you could make the taper out of ear wax. But maybe that's more of a container wax. Never mind. :-)

Oh, good Lord! I'm beginning to think we should just stick a big ole warning label on everybody's forehead instead of our products. "Warning...I am an idiot. I might do something stupid at any given time. Don't give me anything flammable, pointy, sharp, dull, soft, hard, with moving parts, wet, dry, huge, tiny, plastic, paper, or anything that consists of molecules because I might hurt myself or someone else while using it incorrectly!"

I would also check out CandleScience. They have quality oils and fair shipping rates. I've never ordered from supplies4candles so I don't have any info for you on that.

Have you checked out the "Fragrance Discussion" threads? There's a lot of information there about fragrance blends, the best suppliers, etc. Or do you mean actually mailing oils to each other? I guess I'm not clear what you mean.

Candles and Supplies has a good snickerdoodle. Their oils are hit or miss but this one seems to be a hit.

Your website is very nice but your soaps are just gorgeous!

Try Fillmore Container. I think they used to have them. If they don't have them now, they might be able to order some for you. They are very nice to work with.

In addition to Steve's recommendations, I would add: 1. One or two scents to start with. 2. One container size to start with. 3. One type of wax to start with. You get the idea. In other words, keep it simple so you don't get overwhelmed. It will also help with the costs of testing if you limit yourself. Have fun!