birdcharm Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 We've got some holidays coming up here ... which also means gifts to think about, and if you make candles, well, you already know about the sugarplums dancing in your head as to what you're going to try to put together. This is just a reminder that the clock is now ticking. Between getting designs together, scents, and all that other stuff, there is also the matter of curing and test burns ... so, let's see then, how much time do we have to actually make candles? If I start working with my designs this coming week, get some poured next week, let them cure, then test burn, I'll find myself in mid-Nov. with just enough time to either finish projects or do more pours & test burns. And I have experience, lol, I don't know what new crafters are thinking to tell you the truth when I hear that they want to make candles for Christmas gifts and haven't ever made them before, gee, they may in for a rude awakening! 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Reminds me about the saying we have talked about before: fast, cheap or good. pick two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErronB Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 52 minutes ago, birdcharm said: We've got some holidays coming up here ... which also means gifts to think about, and if you make candles, well, you already know about the sugarplums dancing in your head as to what you're going to try to put together. This is just a reminder that the clock is now ticking. Between getting designs together, scents, and all that other stuff, there is also the matter of curing and test burns ... so, let's see then, how much time do we have to actually make candles? If I start working with my designs this coming week, get some poured next week, let them cure, then test burn, I'll find myself in mid-Nov. with just enough time to either finish projects or do more pours & test burns. And I have experience, lol, I don't know what new crafters are thinking to tell you the truth when I hear that they want to make candles for Christmas gifts and haven't ever made them before, gee, they may in for a rude awakening! Most of them are so dumb they don't realize they are doing it wrong. As long as they are following their beloved CandleScience / Standley guides, they will be making pro candles in no time!!! lol 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura C Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 LMAO! you all are cracking me up. 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelleyF Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 (edited) I saw someone saying they were launching this week. They made one set of candles and they didn't test anything and they don't know anything about it. She said she was super stressed because she knew she was going to sell out and won't have enough stock. She said she didn't have any more supplies to make anything else and people were going to be mad. It was not my business to say something but I sure wanted to. I saw another lady buy a pallet of jars and a pallet of fragrances and this was before she sold one item. She said she was making sure she was totally stocked. Then reality hit and she barely sold anything and now she's questioning if she overbought. I feel bad for them actually. I know how it is to dream about making a lot of money. I know that it can come in time. Edited October 27, 2020 by ShelleyF Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 You are so right. This year for my Christmas gift candles I'm doing a large apothecary jar that holds 30oz of wax, using C3, single wicked. Between pouring, testing, choosing scents, curing and more testing, I feel like I'm on a major time crunch, especially since I wanted some of these ready to go by Thanksgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 3 hours ago, ShelleyF said: I saw someone saying they were launching this week. They made one set of candles and they didn't test anything and they don't know anything about it. She said she was super stressed because she knew she was going to sell out and won't have enough stock. She said she didn't have any more supplies to make anything else and people were going to be mad. It was not my business to say something but I sure wanted to. I saw another lady buy a pallet of jars and a pallet of fragrances and this was before she sold one item. She said she was making sure she was totally stocked. Then reality hit and she barely sold anything and now she's questioning if she overbought. I feel bad for them actually. I know how it is to dream about making a lot of money. I know that it can come in time. Consumers are more savvy than people give them credit for. It took me a solid 3 years to build a base because people know how many truly bad candles/soap/you name it flooded the market. it didn’t dawn on me for a while when people asked point blank how long I had been making each product. They don’t want to be your experiment. also factor in how many “things” have been made. When I joined pottery, some people had been “making pottery” for years, but had only been in the studio actively making anything a handful of times. “Active” time counts somewere in there. Ambitious students made more pots in their first month than many who had been at it for years because they sat their rumps at the wheel and worked HARD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelleyF Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 57 minutes ago, TallTayl said: Consumers are more savvy than people give them credit for. It took me a solid 3 years to build a base because people know how many truly bad candles/soap/you name it flooded the market. it didn’t dawn on me for a while when people asked point blank how long I had been making each product. They don’t want to be your experiment. also factor in how many “things” have been made. When I joined pottery, some people had been “making pottery” for years, but had only been in the studio actively making anything a handful of times. “Active” time counts somewere in there. Ambitious students made more pots in their first month than many who had been at it for years because they sat their rumps at the wheel and worked HARD. Thank you TallTayl I to hear this. I have been trying to perfect my products for 2 and 1/2 years. I will admit when I was new I tried selling my products after a month. I do not make candles that is not my idea of a good time. I have never had any interest in that. I was selling while I was trying to perfect everything. I was making a lot of mistakes and I have changed my label 11 times now. I got tired of people seeing all my craziness so I had stopped selling. I am finally ready to go full forward now. I pride myself in making good products and I have tested a long time now. This is definitely not a get-rich quick deal. It is unbelievable how many people on Facebook think it is. I needed to hear what you said because I have felt bad about myself that it is taking so long to get everything right. I mean how many people change their packaging and products completely and their labels 11 times before they decide lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 13 minutes ago, ShelleyF said: Thank you TallTayl I to hear this. I have been trying to perfect my products for 2 and 1/2 years. I will admit when I was new I tried selling my products after a month. I do not make candles that is not my idea of a good time. I have never had any interest in that. I was selling while I was trying to perfect everything. I was making a lot of mistakes and I have changed my label 11 times now. I got tired of people seeing all my craziness so I had stopped selling. I am finally ready to go full forward now. I pride myself in making good products and I have tested a long time now. This is definitely not a get-rich quick deal. It is unbelievable how many people on Facebook think it is. I needed to hear what you said because I have felt bad about myself that it is taking so long to get everything right. I mean how many people change their packaging and products completely and their labels 11 times before they decide lol Don’t feel badly about rebranding. It takes time to find your lane. I rebranded several times, and updated things every single season of Faire as I listened, observed and learned. We are all bombarded with products to buy. When searching Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, etc, not many take the plunge with sellers with few sales and few reviews. We need confidence to exude from our pores so others will believe in us as much as we do. ❤️ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelleyF Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 35 minutes ago, TallTayl said: Don’t feel badly about rebranding. It takes time to find your lane. I rebranded several times, and updated things every single season of Faire as I listened, observed and learned. We are all bombarded with products to buy. When searching Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, etc, not many take the plunge with sellers with few sales and few reviews. We need confidence to exude from our pores so others will believe in us as much as we do. ❤️ That's the thing I'm trying to sell online only. I have Achilles heels in both feet and a torn meniscus in my knee that have not healed and it's been 5 years. It is a struggle going places some days are better than others. Going to the fair is not going to happen I could not go through that. And I know a lot of people buy from those markets. I am hoping and praying that it is not too hard but I am not a quitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 46 minutes ago, ShelleyF said: That's the thing I'm trying to sell online only. I have Achilles heels in both feet and a torn meniscus in my knee that have not healed and it's been 5 years. It is a struggle going places some days are better than others. Going to the fair is not going to happen I could not go through that. And I know a lot of people buy from those markets. I am hoping and praying that it is not too hard but I am not a quitter. Loads of people succeed online only. You just need to pick your target and get in front of those people in that market. Appeal to what moves them to buy. Appeal to their friends so they spread the word. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelleyF Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 24 minutes ago, TallTayl said: Loads of people succeed online only. You just need to pick your target and get in front of those people in that market. Appeal to what moves them to buy. Appeal to their friends so they spread the word. You are a great motivator. I am trying to find out my audience. I decided that wax is not my thing because I cannot pour it sitting down. I need to sit more than I was. So it's hard because the things that I sell aren't as popular as wax. I am trying to sell scented salts, smelly jelly air fresheners, liquid wax melts made from smelly jelly, scented crystals Crystal potpourri, scented sachets and carpet fresheners, and soy drops since I can make those sitting. The great thing about most of this is that I can get some of the supplies a lot easier and cheaper then all the heavy shipping. And I do enjoy making all of these. I have been collecting fragrances like crazy so having a lot of choices I am hoping we'll help me out lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerven Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Those curing times are what sneak up on you. You've selected your container, wax/blend, and FO combo. Now, you're nearly done wick testing. You pour a couple more testers to fine tune or double check; that's another 1-2 weeks of curing. Good, they turned out. Mabe you need to place another order since they turned out so well and you want to make even more... oh, no, processing and shipping delays due to holiday season rush! That's alright, you get your supplies just in time for December. Plenty of time left, right? A week goes by and life gets in the way... another week... and now you have 1-2 weeks left to get those candles poured, labeled, and cured before the 25th. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 58 minutes ago, Kerven said: Those curing times are what sneak up on you. You've selected your container, wax/blend, and FO combo. Now, you're nearly done wick testing. You pour a couple more testers to fine tune or double check; that's another 1-2 weeks of curing. Good, they turned out. Mabe you need to place another order since they turned out so well and you want to make even more... oh, no, processing and shipping delays due to holiday season rush! That's alright, you get your supplies just in time for December. Plenty of time left, right? A week goes by and life gets in the way... another week... and now you have 1-2 weeks left to get those candles poured, labeled, and cured before the 25th. Good luck! This is why most big candle makers do not take Holiday orders after July 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahmarah Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 This is both very motivating and very stressful and I don’t even sell 😅. I poured a round of holiday scents two weeks ago and am doing the tests and will certainly need to test, test, test some more. I was hoping to have a Christmassy candle to gift on Thanksgiving for close family but I’m going to give myself a plan B if it doesn’t come together in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs7979 Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I think I probably made a mistake trying to do Halloween candles this year. I did get the candle system down in plenty of time but it seems like it's pretty niche thing as opposed to later holiday candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 7 minutes ago, prs7979 said: I think I probably made a mistake trying to do Halloween candles this year. I did get the candle system down in plenty of time but it seems like it's pretty niche thing as opposed to later holiday candles. Some people LOVE Halloween all year round! Market to them 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs7979 Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 5 minutes ago, TallTayl said: Some people LOVE Halloween all year round! Market to them 😃 This is an excellent point. Maybe I can get supplies in a sane amount of time after the holidays. 😬 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StandleyHandcrafted Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 On 10/25/2020 at 6:16 PM, ErronB said: Most of them are so dumb they don't realize they are doing it wrong. As long as they are following their beloved CandleScience / Standley guides, they will be making pro candles in no time!!! lol lol, no one ever said it was easy and you'll be pro in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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