PAgirl89

For those who make solid bubble bars, what kind of packaging do you recommend? I made some bubble bars for a craft show coming up and I want to make sure to protect them from the heat. The bubble bars are 2 ounces each and I made them with an ice cream scooper. I was thinking maybe 4x6 organza bags. I tried the 3x4 bags and they don't fit. TIA

To store my tarts, I use the Ziploc Freezer Heavy-Duty bags. To package them to sell, I use clear zip bags from clearbags.com I get the bags with the holes in the top because I tend to hang the bags on a spinner type rack at shows. If you're going with the cups, I get my cups with lids from Rustic Escentuals - http://rusticescentuals.com/2-oz-Mixing-Cups-w-Lids.html

I sell more tarts, clamshell and 2 ounce cups, than anything else I carry. I had a craft show this past Saturday and sold quite a few of my tarts to a lady who is a Scentsy rep. She asked if she could melt my tarts in her Scentsy warmer, which is a common question I get almost every show that I do, and I told her my tarts will melt fine in her warmer. She asked a few questions and sniffed every pack I had on the table before buying. I sell my clamshell tarts for $4.25, 2 ounce cups for $2.25, 4 ounce bag of mini melts (each tart is .30 ounces) for $4.00 and an 8 ounce bag of wax brittle for $7.

I ordered 1 time with Candlewarmers.com but found Vista Wholesale and like them much better. I also order from Colonial Tin Works, but they don't carry the ceramic combo warmers only tin warmers. Vista Wholesale is pretty good with shipping time too and I like their selection of combo warmers.

I see you're from PA, me too! You'll have to register the business with the state of PA and because I didn't want to pay the extra $70 for the fictitious name, I used my own name and am running the business through my personal SS#. But you'll have to decide what's best for you. I would suggest going to this link - http://www.paopen4business.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pa_open_for_business/7176 and reading up on the laws for PA. Since I also have a regular job that pays the bills, and I'm considered self-employed, I pay quarterly taxes. I also pay quarterly sales tax for my candle business. You will have to get a PA sales tax ID # and you can get the tax ID # for the entire state of PA or select the counties you will need. Philadelphia counties pay an extra % of tax so keep that in mind when getting your ID #. I file my sales tax online - https://www.etides.state.pa.us/default.asp - you can pay the sales tax with electronic transfer, personal check or credit card. It saves time and a USPS stamp. As for deductions, anything you use for your business would be considered an business expense. Labels, hang tags, cello bags, wax, dyes, molds, down to your computer, phone and the mileage on your car if you deliver your products. Also can deduct your shipping expenses if you ship products to your customers. You can also deduct equipment, like your melt pots, utensils, tables, and among other things. It really depends on how involved your business is going to be. Craft shows will be another deduction, your fees, display units, mileage, tents ....etc. I also suggest making a list, so you know what's coming in and what's going out. When you register the business with the state of PA, they will send you all kinds of information about doing business in PA. Visit the link above and read about taxes and registering the business, there is some really good info there.

OOB, it smells like the powder that came in the powder puff containers my mom used to have when I was growing up. It's more feminine than baby powder smelling. I like it, but I haven't tried it in candles or soap.

I sell my 2 ounce cups for $2.25 each or 5 for $10. It really depends on the weight of the tart and packaging.

I too try to wait to test burn a couple days to a week, but I was so anxious with these and was quite surprised at the HT with only a 24 hour cure. I did take notice that the flames were smaller with the ECO and LX wicks compared to the CSN wick. The melt pools seemed to be about the same, but I'm always worried about the flame size, I don't want it too small or it drowns, or it be too big and be a flame thrower. These flames today were okay but we'll see how they burn again tomorrow. I made a second group of palm pillars today, same wax, same FO as the ones I'm test burning. I'll keep the new batch till next week and compare notes with the batch I'm testing now.

Herbal Bath Teas made with tea blends from WSP and packaged in their small tea bags. Take out containers are from Oriental Trading. Each box contains 4 tea bags.

I'm testing 3 palm pillars, all 3 are 3" in diameter and made with palm pillar wax from NG. All 3 were made yesterday. 4 hour burn Hummingbird FO - wick ECO 12 Petals of Spring FO - wick LX 18 Lavender FO - wick CSN 14 The CSN wick seems to be doing the best so far and has the best HT. Opinions/suggestions?

I sell both the clamshell and the 2 ounce cup shots, and both sell very well for me. I mostly sell the clamshell type to those Scentsy customers who aren't going to pay $7 to 8.00 per clamshell so they buy mine for $4.00 each. The 2oz cups I usually sell for $2.25 each or 5 for $10. I also sell the wax brittle, which is a pretty good seller too, both at shows and at the country store where I have a display.

That's what I was thinking too. I always put the ingredients on the label and in large enough text to make it readable. I was also thinking that perhaps I can add some sort of signage on my craft table at shows. I don't want my labels misleading. Thanks for the reply!

I am working on making labels for some of my B&B products like milk bath, bath bombs, and other powdered items. I am adding dried flowers and herbs to the recipes and I was wondering what makes a B&B product "natural"? For instance the milk bath recipe has powdered milk (I'm using Goat's Milk powdered milk), baking soda, corn starch and fragrance. The only thing on that list not natural would be the FO, right? Or am I wrong? So instead of it being 100% natural it would be 99% natural, 1% would be for the FO. I just want to be sure I'm adding the correct wording on the labels. TIA

I used an Epson Workforce 520 inkjet printer.

I've been working on labels for my B&B products and I think these turned out pretty good. I'm going with the 2x4 clear glossy rectangle labels for the larger bottles and I think I'm going to use round labels for the lids of the plastic jars. I wanted to go with colored text but because I'm coloring the liquid bases, I had to go with black text. Opinions? Suggestions?

It's been oddly warm here too in PA. 55 here today, but then it will cool off after the sun goes down to about 30. Weird weather for February but I'll take it! I was hoping to put a utility sink in my laundry room and a nice size table to work on, currently working with the kitchen sink and it is becoming a real pain in the butt. I'd like to get some storage shelves for supplies, that would help a lot. Problem being with the laundry room being a limited space, I would have limited space for shelving. I have been fortunate that my parents have been really supportive of this costly addiction/hobby. I think if I offer to put some of my own money into renovating a space, they would be more inclined to lend me the rest. Finding the time and the labor is another story. If my dad is going to lend me the money, he'll want to be the supervisor, and for him to find the time to do that is part of the problem. (Dad has his own business to run) I'm hoping to receive a nice tax refund so that will help.

I'm in the same boat. I have a 2 car detached garage and was thinking of either building a workshop out there or renovating my laundry room and making the garage a walk in retail shop. I have a fairly large ranch home, but every spare room I have is getting filled with candle supplies and made product, I'd like to have my house back! LOL At least if I make my laundry room a work shop, I can close the door and it's out of sight when company comes to visit. Now, my kitchen and living room looks like a disaster area because that is where I do all of my work. The garage is not heated, but does have electric and I'm wondering how much work, um money it would take to renovate it to what I would need to sustain a workshop. I'd prefer to have the workshop inside my house, just for convenience sake, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too long and I'd be wanting a larger work area than just the one 12x12 room. I just renovated the entire house about 3 years ago, and I wasn't making candles at the time, so the carpet and floors are practically brand new, it wouldn't be a good idea to take out the carpet and replace it with other flooring, so I'm limited to the room I use for a workshop inside the house. The garage seems like my only other option, however, I would have to add insulation, heat, and water to the garage. I'm not sure if I want to invest more money in renovating the garage or limit myself to the space in my already insulated and heated 12x12 laundry room. I have to do something, the candle supplies are cluttering up my living space and it's making me bonkers! LOL

I have the same issue with C&S so I switched to the soap bases from Peak. If I'm not mistaken the soap base at C&S is the same soap base sold at NG.

I haven't used KY Para-Soy blend for my tarts, but I do use KY/RE (Rustic Escentuals) fragrance oils for my tarts and candles. They're oils are fantastic in the pillar/tart wax that I use, as well as the 464 wax I use for candles. Rustic Escentuals has great customer service and ships very quickly. I'm sure you'll find them to be a great supplier for oils and wax.

I haven't tried burning them yet and they are a little bigger than the standard 15 hour metal votive cup that most use for making votives. I used a silicone mold for these and I know they don't fit in the glass votive containers I have. If I can't use the glass containers I have, I may have to try to find some small tin to set them in and sell them as a combo.

I made these today, I think they got pretty good for my 1st attempt. I'd like to have more frosting on top, but they look good. Blueberry, Apple, Banana, and Strawberry

I got some grubby loaf candle molds from Van Yulay and I just had to experiment with the larger mold today. Iced Oatmeal Raisin with wax raisins on top (Vanilla Crunch for icing & Grandma's Cupboard from RE/AH for the cake) Lemon Poundcake (RE/AH) scent The smaller mold I got from VY makes 2 grubby loaves like the ones above. I can't wait to test burn these over the weekend. I used (2) ECO 2 wicks for each loaf.

I have my own site, an Etsy shop and I have a shop on Facebook. I haven't gotten much from any of them, most of my sales are non-internet sales. I have the website as a reference and information because I have the website on my business cards and most people ask if I have one. I would prefer a shopping cart on my website, but for now, Etsy will have to do or they can email me. I don't have the link to the Etsy shop on my business cards or on my website, so they would have to browse or search Etsy to find my shop. I haven't really focused on internet sales, but more on craft shows, wholesale and consignment sales.

I get jars & lids from Fillmore Container, they're in PA. http://www.fillmorecontainer.com/

I was looking for a smaller loaf mold since I make small batches of soap, specifically for craft shows. So I was looking for a 2lb to 3lb mold. I've not used the acrylic molds, I used silicone molds before I bought the wooden one. I got my wooden mold at this site - http://www.soap-making-resource.com/wooden-soap-molds.html