Starla's Candle Making Best Picks

My pick of the best places on the web to go to for candle, crafts, instructions and some fine "mom and pop" wholesale shops. In no way do I receive any money for the links, nor am I advertising for others. It is strictly what I like.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Soap Manufacturers

Hey, Lisa.....did you see those muffins in the pic below?

Have fun in LasVegas! I am so jealous.


For those of you looking for bulk buys in the soap making sections, check out this shop. They have 25 pounds of baking soda for .85 a pound.

No, I don't know why you would need that much baking soda......unless you live in a college dorm. They carry dead sea salt, foaming bath butter and soap by the gallon.

You can tell I'm not a soap maker.

Brown Primitive Candle Muffin


If you are looking for a muffin candle, then take a look at these! The color is right, the look is right, the size is perfect! See the little blueberries on top? This is how a muffin candle should look.
See, Carnation Candles is one of those cute litte shops that no one would ever see. Hidden in http://www.countryroadcrafts.com/ .
I would have liked to see an "About Us" page, so I didn't feel like I was all alone on their site....know what I mean? I didn't get a "connection" with the crafter, but all in all, their products were perfectly country cute and what a perfect muffin. Doesn't get any better then this.

Painting Angels on a Candle


If you are looking for the candle painting medium, look at this DecoArt page. It list what shops in the different states that carry their products. Nice....a company that helps you find what you are looking for without a lot of clicking from page to page.


They have a nice project library with an adorable Primitive Country Angel, that I think was submitted by Contact Kenna and Donna at Kenna & Donna Designs, P.O. Box 214, Williamsport, IN 47993-0214; (217) 269-3279; fax (765) 764-6202; dmalone@comwares.net. At least this was written at the bottom of the page and I can't think of another reason DecoArt would do this.
Cudo's to Donna's Designs if this was their creation. How country cute! Love it! Love it!

Friday, February 09, 2007

I've purchased metal molds here forever.

This shop has been in the biz long before I was born.......I think! Anyway, I have found for purchasing metal molds, they are the best, in my humble opinion.

They won't let you show one of their mold on my blog....why? I don't know. Silly to stop people from telling others about their products, but then people are silly. Go figure.

Anyway, if you are looking for good, cheap metal molds or some nice cheap plastic ones, here is the place.

They have always been honest, shipped fast, and were courteous in phone conversations. AND all that was before the Internet....if anyone remembers way back when!

SORRY , THEY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS SOMETIME IN 2007. YES, I KNOW THIS POST WAS BEFORE THEN.

Cool 60's inspired candle.

On my daily exploration of the internet, a colorful 60's inspired taper candle caught my eye. Located in New Zealand, shipping cost would prohibit sales here for the small retail business shop, but I thought they were worth a look-see.






Called Kotare Candles - www.kotarecandles.co.nz/dinner-candles.html


Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Wax Embeds


Been a long time since I found a site that impressed me with their wax embeds, but here is one.....a pickle! Not only a pickle, but green beans, corn on the cob, tomato slices and a bussel basket of other veggies too! Don't forget the celery and carrots...HA!
Site is too cute for words. Go there, quick and get your veggie fix.

Something candle different!

Ok, here are website that have a little something extra to add to their candles. Take the WaxWizard, nice array of candle choices, packaging looks great and I love their "real" wedding cake candles. Take a look if you are in charge of a wedding this year.

With Terri's Log Cabin Crafts, what I like most is the gingerbread man she has placed in the center of her candle pies. No crust, just a little gingerbread man. Her pages load a little slow...no doubt all the background. It doesn't help when a page is so slow to load...good thing I am patient today.

Here you go. While looking for embeds, I found Dazzel Dust made from glass, so it will go perfect with your candle. Comes in a grungy brown color and a sugar color. Now, how do I get it to stick on the outside of the candle......hum?

Impressed with the candle pie photo.

I was impressed with this web site's photos of wax candles.

SITE IS GONE http://www. suppliesforcandles.com/gpage.html

The candles looked fantastic, but the website did not seem as friendly as the pie...you know what I mean?

I wanted to click on the pie photo and have it take me to the supplies and instructions for making the pie or, at the very least, take me to a page where I could purchase the pies.

Irritatingly frustrating! This makes it hard on the potential customer.

But their creations......perfect in every candlemaker's dreams.

Candle pie website get a nod.

This website Art and Soul, gets a nod for being able to actually make a nice looking candle pie. And I was impressed with their Hot Apple Dumplings.

I have seen these made before and it does take some creativity. Not so much in the actual making of the apple dumpling, but being able to get the color right is the hard part.

The actual dumpling is a scoop of wax wicked and plopped onto a square cut out of wax, then folded to shape, followed by a drizzle of wax syrup.

But the color....you just have to have that special touch.

Professional Packaging

I am going to have to, once again, mention Candle-Licious for the professional packaging. Look at the heart tarts on this page, nothing fancy about the tart, nor the packaging...really, but it looks "professional".

This is actually just a plain zip lock bag with a simple label on the front.

You can find just about anything you need at Nashville Wraps, I like their treatment of customer - (although I still don't have a link to my site in their link section...ahem...I'll ask again the next time I make a purchase......and the next time...and the..well, you get the drift...)

My main point is packaging, it doesn't need to cost you an arm or leg, but it does need to look professional, appealing and easy to understand. See my page Professional Candle Packaging
for more of my ramblings on the presentation of your craft.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Fantastic Primitive Molds


I just purchased a primitive mold set from this lady. I love them. As soon as possible, I will be making tart/melts using these.


She sells her products on Ebay, I do not know if she has another webshop or if Ebay is the only place she offers her molds.

Yes, her molds are copyrighted, as they should be, but you can make soaps and candles with them for resell.

She answered my emails with a quickness!

Making Cinnamon Bun Candles


I am looking for directions or any information on how to make a candle that looks and smells like a cinnabon. They are offered on other web-sites but are too small (4" diameter). I would like to make one (or look into purchasing one) that is atleast 6" in diameter or larger for a centerpiece. Can someone help me? Thanks.

mc
maria

Answer:
Take this recipe and do a slight variation. Pour the thickness the same, but slice wider strips. I think this will be what you are looking for.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Painting on Hurricane

Great information and a great primitive look for painting on hurricane candles. If the thread stops working, let me know. There is a picture of her finished work. Awsome!

She basically says, she sprays her candle with a varnish - mat finish. Gives it two coats of the nat finish, letting it dry inbetween. Sprays a double thick gloss varnish, lets dry. Then glues rice paper on the hurricane, then paints the paper. Finishing by coating the entire candle with modge podge and sprinkles sugar glass.

She has a photo of her finished product. Really, really nice.

Painting on Candles

This probably is the best set of instructions, I found anywhere for painting your pillar candles. Of course, they don't tell you how to get your candles a primitive color for painting your primitive sheep and houses on, but that is one thing you will need to experiment with on your own.

Anyway, if you were thinking of doing the painting yourself, see these instructions first.

No nasty popups or downloads.

Real Primitive Candles

When I think of "primitive" candles, I think of the "1776" sort of primitive. I found a candle shop that meets my stringent rules for primitive.

They actually paint folk art sheep and other designs on their candles. Beautifully done. And the best part is they sell wholesale.

This is a heads up....if you are looking for a new candle idea or wanting to purchase wholesale, check them out.

I am sooooo jealous!