Candle Making Craft 4u

Decorating your homemade candles sometimes takes a bit of searching around to find the right thing to get the mood that you want in your candle.  When you are adding embellishiments to your candles you can scatter single ones around the candle, set them up in a ring around the candle or several lines down the candle, or even run some swirl patterns over the outside of the candle.

Another way to add some metal embellishments is to blue a type of mesh or netting to the outside.  These can be quite effective on their own or you can add nic nacs to the mesh as well to make them even more individual.

Use a glue gun to glue items to your candles or if you want, the smaller items can be added using a heat gun and just Read the rest of this entry »

When selling any item one very important factor is to make sure that it is displayed well.  It does not matter whether the item is a candle or an item of clothing, no matter how lovely the item is, if it is not display well then the chances of selling it are much less limited.

How to display your candles for selling

Candles are one item that does sell on its own in a lot of cases, especially the bigger ones, so they can be displayed in groupings of style and/or color.  Keep the taller ones further away from the customer and bring down the sizing but in such a way that even the taller ones get a good viewing.  This may mean that you need to prop the back candles up even higher so that they can be seen and admired properly.

Once you have grouped your candles together, use some items like towels, soaps or flowers.   Create a theme with your display.  It may be a seaside theme, a dining theme, a spa bath theme or whatever, but set it up in such a way that you tell your customer that this is the way you could use these candles.

If you do not have a lot of room you just might set up a themed area and have the candles grouped together nearby rather than a large display.

Selling packaged candles

You may decide to sell your candles in sets and to do this they would need to be packaged in groups of say 3’s or 6’s depending on what it is you are selling and on the final retail price.  Do keep Read the rest of this entry »

When setting yourself up to have a candle making business extend yourself so that you come up with original ideas.  Candle making is so much fun and there are so many ways that you can make original pieces on which to build your candle making business reputation.

Search around, see what other people are doing, explore different ways of making innovative candles and have fun.  Here is a link to see some really cool candle ideas.

One point to remember is to perfect one candle style first before you try another.  You may Read the rest of this entry »

Outdoor craft shows are one of the easiest ways to sell your homemade candles.  If you have a home candle making businesss you might find craft shows an easy way to expose your products to the public.  These shows are usually reasonably easy to book into and they offer first hand contact with your customers.  It is a thrill to sell your products straight to the client and you can get terrific feed back from them as well about your candle making craft and what they would like to buy, but can’t. By talking to customers you get firsts hand information about what is lacking in the market place but do be careful not to make a range that only one customer might buy.  If you get several customers asking for the same thing it may be worth trying some out to see if they sell. Read the rest of this entry »

Operating a candle making home business is such a wonderful way to combine a hobby and a business together.  I believe in doing what you ove for a home business so that you get up every morning and enjoy what you are doing.

Making candles for a home business requires some research and it is a good idea to do this before you start making too many candles.

What would you research:

• it would be a good idea to research what is selling in your area
• which are the most popular candles sold
• which designs are the most popular
• what colors are the ‘in’ colors – are they the decorator colors or the homeopathic colors
• what price range is the most popular
• the most popular scents Read the rest of this entry »

One of the problems that candles makers have is the fact that the top of the candles form a dip when they set.  Here is how you can rectify that problem.

To prevent a dip in the top of your candles you will need to top up your candles (do a second pour) when your wax in the mold is cool to touch.  Heat the wax (making sure to give it a couple of minutes good stirring) to approximately 10 degrees hotter than your first pour, then top up your candles.  If you have left your candles to get cool enough the top should remain nice and flat.  But if you do a second pour when the original wax was still too warm the completed candle will have a nipple effect at the top.

Read the rest of this entry »

Have you done your homework and figured out that having candle making as a home business venture is really quite cheap?  Well it is! Isn’t that GREAT!

So many other home businesses are not cheap to set up, but candle making is one that won’t cost a fortune to start wtih.  Even the products you use to make your candles are cheap.  Sure good quality colors and candle making fragrances are expensive to purchase, but you only use so little that the end product cost is relatively inexpensive.

To start with even the molds can be a reasonable price until you expand your range and have a bigger demand for your products where you will need to make a lot to cover the supply needed.

Organizing your finance

You will need finance in the first instance for the following expenses:

• candle making products like wax, wicks, scents, color
• candle making equipment (as listed in our ebook Candle Making – Start with Confidence)
• molds – you may use glass in which case they will sell with the candle or you may purchase molds to keep for making more of the same candles
• trimmings for the candles if you are going to use things like raffia, glitter, embellishments of any sort
• may be display material for a stall or packaging for boxed candles
• promotional material – business cards, flyers, order sheets or whatever you will need for your style of business
• maybe some money spent to set up an area at home for working in
• boxes for carrying your product

Out of the list above probably the most expensive item would be the molds and if you are selling candles in glass molds then you will cost that into your price, or you will be purchasing rubber or metal molds to pour into.

Keep an eye out for pricing your products.

Giving your own homemade candles for gifts is such a lovely idea because the person you give it to realises you had them in mind when you made the candle and that you put some love and effort behind making it. 

From you point of view this is a great idea because you can make something that is unique, you can decorate it to suit the person’s taste and enjoy creating something they will enjoy. 

Decorating your own candles can be done with simple embellishments like raffia and a tag or you can embed petals or metalic symbols into the wax by dipping a candle into more hot wax. 
Another way is to paint the candle with glitter glue and this looks great for Christmas candles.
Or you might try to glue something onto the outside of the candle like autumn leaves or other mementos depending on what you choose.

Candles are also good for giving as you can lay them out nicely in a pretty box with tissue and present them so nicely.

Start planning your next gift giving ideas.

Making your own candles can be so much fun, but it is one hobby that does need some forward planning.

There is a safety issue with candle making because of the fact that candles have a flash point at which time you could have a fire to deal with.

It is also a hobby where you need to be organised because for example, you don’t want to have everything ready to pour and realise that you have not prepared your molds or fixed your wicks in place.

Like any hobby there are successes and failures, but it is all a learning curve and one to be enjoyed.

Candles make great presents and with this in mind you can develop and create some wonderful pieces of art.

Pricing your product right is a very important part of selling.

Pricing is one of the most important parts of making sure that your business is going to make you money.  I have had over 30 years experience in business and I have made some doozy mistakes regarding pricing.

It pays to have a pricing sheet that you fill in each time that you are pricing a new product.  Here are items that must be on your pricing sheet:

• cost of raw material (wax, color, etc)
• overhead expenses – replacement tools, power, phone bills, stationary
• packaging
• car expenses
• insurance
• marketing

It is very important not to forget your time when you are a manufacturer.  In the first instance until you get into a routine you may find it takes you longer but as you get more experienced and even maybe more molds, you can complete more candles in a shorter space of time.   This part of making candles for sale is often a bit of trial and error but experience will improve your time requirements. 

Check out your competition too and see what there prices are.  That will give you an idea if you are on the mark.