Shirlee

Hi Everyone! Thank you all for your good thoughts & prayers! My surgery went well ... no cancer Tomorrow I have my postop appointment & I'm hoping my doctor will tell me it's okay to walk around more than I have been allowed to as well as stand more than I've been allowed to. Of course I'm going to ask her if making tarts would be too strenuous. I can't imagine it would be! I know I have another almost 5 weeks to "rest." Kind of puts the kibosh on Christmas decorating this year unless I want to run around at the last minute pulling things out of closets & putting things on display which I don't think I'll want to do I posted this over in the FO section but I'll ask here too ... has anyone tried the TCS The Great Pumpkin scent since I tried it with dismal results? I used the TCS container wax when I made my tarts. There's really nothing in the way of scent there ... certainly not the wonderful pumpkin spice scent I was hoping for. Blessings, Shirlee

Hi Everyone! Surgery went well & tomorrow I go to my postop appointment. I'm hoping the dr says I can walk around more & that I can stand on my feet long enough to make tarts ... lol! Has anyone tried TCS The Great Pumpkin scent in their tarts yet? I had less than appealing results when I tried it before going into the hospital & I don't know if it's just me, or if it's the wax I used, or ??? Blessings, Shirlee

I decided to make a separate posting for this because it's actually been mentioned in part in a couple of postings & I thought it would be easier to follow by itself. I made tarts on Sunday using the title wax & FO using 1 pound of the wax & adding 1 ounce of the FO. I followed the directions for the wax, heating to 180, mixing in the FO for a minute & then pouring it into the molds. I used newly purchased silicone molds from Flexible Molds which have an overpowering putrid fuel smell to them. The smell seemed to have settled down a bit but when I poured the wax into the molds it must've released more of it because the kitchen smelled horrible. The molds still have this horrible smell. I cured the tarts in a big glass jar until today. I opened the jar fearing the worst but actually didn't smell any fuel. The tarts didn't really smell like pumpkin either but they didn't smell bad. The odor was kind of faint though. I put one of the tarts into my tart burner to give it a try. At first I wasn't too sure what it smelled like ... certainly not pumpkin & certainly not the pumpkin spice type of smell I was hoping for. They were in the burner for about half an hour/45 minutes & I noticed my eyes were burning. I can't say there's a fuel smell exactly but it does smell weird & nothing like pumpkin. I know it's not my burner. I have used tarts made by other people very recently & have had some given to me as gifts & they have been wonderful ... the fragrance of gingerbread or pound cake or pumpkin spice or holiday scents. I just don't get what's happening here. I had hoped to make another batch of tarts before going into the hospital tomorrow but that's not going to happen & I don't know when I'll be able to try again. Hopefully soon ... but in the meantime I'd really like to know if anyone else is having this sort of problem with this particular scent? I know someone posted that they had a terrible fuel smell from what they think is the wax itself although others love the wax. Please help! Blessings, Shirlee

Thank you again everyone! Blessings, Shirlee

I receivd a response from Ginger at Flexible Molds regarding the horrible smell of my molds. "Sometimes the molds have an odor to them after being wrapped in the box for a few days. You can wash the molds out with hot water & dish soap to speed up the process. The smell does go away." I'll give that a try although she didn't make mention of how long it takes for the smell to go away. rcotao08 mentioned she unboxed her molds from them "a few weeks ago" but they still smell bad. The kitchen had a horrible stench of fuel when I made tarts on Sunday using these molds & TCS container wax & their The Great Pumpkin FO. I've had the tarts curing in a big glass jar since then & I just opened the jar & there doesn't seem to be a fuel smell anymore although I can't say the pumpkin fragrance is real strong. I just popped one in the tart burner & will let you know the outcome. Blessings, Shirlee

The smell definitely isn't a new shower curtain smell. It's more like putrid fuel. I will contact FM as has been suggested & see what they say. I'll post here to let you all know. Blessings, Shirlee

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, & encouragement. I appreciate them very much! I never got any tarts made yesterday ... maybe today since I got a lot of other stuff done yesterday. All I have left to do before I go to the hospital is print out some stuff, get a book or two to read, dig out some handwork, pick up meds, & get my hair trimmed. Sigh! Blessings, Shirlee

Thanks ladies for the info about the metal mini muffin pans. Wish I had known about these before I paid $100 for molds : ( Blessings, Shirlee

Mine are yellow & they are from Flexible Molds : ( Blessings, Shirlee

I made some tarts on Sundy & made mention of the fact that there was a horrible stench after I made them. I was hoping it wasn't the FO but I'm thinking it was the new silicone molds I bought from Flexible Molds. They had a horrible fuel type smell when I took them out of the box. They sat around for a few days before I used them but I don't know ... maybe pouring the hot wax into them just released this terrible odor. My tarts are curing in a glass jar right now so I don't know if there's any problem with them but the molds are smelling something awful. Like I said, it's a terrible fuel smell. I have them sitting out to air & every time I walk by the odor just hits me. I purchased a total of 4 molds & used 2 of them. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Do you know what it is? I've bought silicone molds from other sources before without this terrible odor. Blessings, Shirlee

I have one more batch of tarts I'm going to try today ... hopefully without the putrid results of The Great Pumpkin ones I made on Sunday. Has anyone else given this fragrance a try yet? I'm actually thinking the smell was from the silicone molds & not from the FO. Hope so :smiley2: Anyway, I have one more glass jar that I can store some tarts in (never have been able to get any bags) & that will be the end of my tart making for a while I will be having surgery on Friday morning. I am having a total hysterectomy including a BSO & the dr is concerned there may be lymph node involvement so I don't know how this is all going to turn out but if anyone can say a prayer or two for me I would really appreciate it. I'll be checking the forum up until I leave for the hospital. I'm having a robotic procedure so if all goes well I should actually get to come home on Saturday but I don't know when I will be able to sit & work on the computer. I've asked my husband to send an email to Mary (thank you Mary!) so she can post & let you all know how my surgery turns out. In the meantime, I will be thinking about all of you making wax goodies & I will be looking forward to getting back to it myself soon! Blessings, Shirlee

Sharon Kay ... The molds I'm using were purchased from Flexible Molds. They are silicone I think ... very thick & heavy. The tarts popped out easily & I put them into a big glass jar with a screw-on lid to cure for 3 days. I hope they won't be a total loss My surgery is either this Friday or next Thursday depending on which surgeon I choose. I guess I should explain a bit. I am about 7 years post menopause & 2 years ago had a bleeding incident. I lived in TN at the time & my gyn did a bunch of tests & then performed an ablation. I had to get pelvic ultrasounds every 3 months after that & they were always fine. She said if I ever started bleeding again that I should get a hysterectomy. I started again in early September. After 2 weeks I saw a gyn here who had me get a pelvic ultrasound & when I went for my followup he said it didn't "look good" & I definitely need a hysterectomy. He referred me to a gynecologic oncologist because there might be lymph node involvement Unfortunately when I saw the gyn onc, he said he wouldn't know if there are any malignancies until he "gets in there." Absolutely everything has to come out. My surgery is set for November 4. However, he mentioned that I might be a candidate for robotic surgery & asked if I'd like to talk with someone about that. At first I said no, but then I came home & was doing a lot of research about it & decided to talk with someone. I am going to see a robotic surgeon tomorrow. The robotic surgery is already scheduled for this coming Friday Whichever surgery I decide upon, the other will be canceled. I'm more than a bit nervous about all this but it has to be done. I'll post when the surgery date is set. Looking forward to hearing how The Great Pumpkin works for you! Blessings, Shirlee

Sharon Kay ... I'll be interested to know what sort of results you get with The Great Pumpkin. It's too early to tell but I wonder if the odor had anything to do with the new molds I bought? I used some rubbery molds from Flexible Molds & they had a pretty bad odor to them when I took them out of the box a couple days ago. I let them sit on the counter all this time but they still have that bad odor to them. Thanks for the tip about blending in the FO for 2 minutes instead of 1. I will do that next time. Blessings, Shirlee

My impatience got the best of me & so after doing some research it appeared that 1 ounce of liquid = 1/8 cup. I happened to have a plastic 1/8 cup in my measuring cup set & used it, acknowledging the fact that I would never be able to use it for cooking again. I melted 1 pound of TCS container wax, added some colorant, & as the directions for that wax indicate, I stopped heating it at 180 degrees & added my FO. I used TCS's The Great Pumpkin. I blended it in with the wax for a minute per their directions, tested the temperature again which was now 170 degrees & figured it was a good time to pour. I'm a bit concerned about the putrid stench emitting from my kitchen. I sort of expected a spicy pumpkin pie scent but that's certainly not what I'm getting right now. Is it because I just finished making a 1 pound batch of tarts & so it's all a bit overwhelming now (& not in a good way) ... or did I pour it too soon (would that even make any difference?) ... or is there some other problem here? Sigh! Shirlee

I finally decided that this is the morning to try this wax I've heard so much about. I dug all my supplies ... melting pot, etc ... out of the cupboard but can't find my tart instructions! Can't find a tart tutorial here either. How much of this wax do I melt for a typical batch of tarts & how much FO do I add? I was going to go ahead with 1 pound of wax & add 1 ounce of FO but I'm just guessing here. Don't want to waste the wax & the FO so decided to ask for help before getting started. Hope to hear from someone soon! I'll go do my dishes in the meantime : ) Blessings, Shirlee

Hi Mary! Sadly I haven't done any testing at all. I've kind of been overwhelmed with a few other things here. I hope to do some testing this weekend because Monday I see a second surgeon & if I decide to go with them then my surgery will be next Friday instead of the following Thursday (with surgeon #1) & then who knows when I'm going to get anything done. Sounds like you maybe hit a snag of some sort with your fragrance throw? I'm watching to see what you find out. Blessings, Shirlee

SharonKay ... I have never heard of dipping rag balls in wax! Are there instructions for this somewhere or is someone selling some that I can see a photo of? Blessings, Shirlee

Well this doesn't sound good! Everything is so much more complicated than I expected it to be. In the beginning I just thought "buy some soy, you don't want fake stuff (parafin) for your wax items," had unhappy results tart-wise, then reluctant acceptance that my purchase of 10# of soy ended up being money down the drain (thought it was 5# but noticed on the package this morning it's 10#), then thought "oooo, maybe I can use it for bowl fillers & grubby loaves," & now who knows. Maybe I should take up crochet : ( Blessings, Shirlee

Mary ... I also have some surgery on the horizon so know what you mean about wanting to really get behind making some tarts. I'm hoping to get some made in the next day or two. Best of luck to both of us surgery-wise :smiley2: Blessings, Shirlee

The description says "100% soy wax for pillars, tarts, & votives." Blessings, Shirlee

Since I have almost 5 pounds of soy, which is apparently useless for tarts, I am thinking about using it for bowl fillers & grubby loaves ... maybe even for pillars where you insert a flicker candle in the top. My tarts made from 100% soy always smelled really nice after I finished making them but gave off no scent whatsoever in the tart burner (I used quality FOs purchased from reputable candle supply sites recommended by members here). I'm hoping that the soy will therefore give off a good scent in bowl fillers & grubby loaves. 1. Please let me know if 100% soy would not be a good choice for these items. 2. What is the best source for grubby loaf molds? I've found some on the Flexible Molds site but are there others that would be better/cheaper? 3. Is there anything about making loaves or bowl fillers that I might not know? I'm new at all this having only made a few unsuccessful tarts from 100% soy last year. Thank you for your help! Blessings, Shirlee

CathyinME ... I use the same melter with all the tarts I have & all of them have smelled absolutely heavenly (or, as has been the case with some that I've made, have had no smell at all) with the exception of these 2 I mentioned above with the horrible petroleum smell. I have no idea what could be causing such a bad odor with these 2 totally different tarts (one commercially made & one made by an individual & purchased at a craft shop) but I'll chalk it up to 2 bad batches. Vicky mentioned perhaps the wax got too hot. I don't know if she meant the wax got too hot when they were making the tarts or if it got too hot in my burner. However, they started having this horrible smell within 20 minutes or so after I started melting them so it's not like they sat in my burner for a couple of hours before giving off these fumes. Needless to say I won't be buying these two particular brands anymore : ) Blessings, Shirlee

That's what I had been told too ... that the plastic in the Ziploc type bags sucks the scent right out of the tarts. Someone clued me in on that last year hereon this forum ... thank goodness If you gals go to the Janis Joplin museum you'll have to let me know what it was like. I saw her in concert when I was a teenager (my first date actually!) & had a big poster of her in my room. What a talent she was. It's a shame her addictions ended her life like they did. Blessings, Shirlee

Thanks Ravens & SharonKay! I received my shipment from CS this afternoon. I didn't notice the Fed Ex guy was here until he was at the end of the driveway. He didn't bother to knock at the door ... he just left the box outside the garage. I went out to get it & then had to call my husband to bring it in for me. Holy cow, it was heavy! I don't know what I was thinking when I ordered 2 slabs. I thought 1 slab = 1 pound but I think 1 slab must equal 10 pounds because the weight noted on the box is 24 pounds! What do I do with these things ... keep slicing some off until I have a pound of it measured out? The FOs I ordered from them are Hollydazzle, Sugared Spruce, The Great Pumpkin, Blue Christmas, Christmas Splendor, Christmas Tree, & Gingerbread. I also ordered some little metal tart molds. Has anyone ever used these? I never have & I'm wondering how easy it is to get the tarts out of them when they've set ... do I just pop them out like you pop the melted wax out of your burner when you're done with it? Unfortunately I'm going to have to wait until I get some bags to cure the tarts in as well as some bags to store them in before I make any Blessings, Shirlee

Ravens ... That Amish Harvest scent sounds like it would be a good one. I'll have to send for that when I order my White Tea & Ginger. I love spicy scents so if you have any to recommend please do : ) Blessings, Shirlee