Candle packaging, creating an enjoyable experience

Happy Monday candle friends.  I want to share with you something that's been consuming not only my thoughts the last few months but my office as well.   As I sit here typing away I'm being tickled by the crinkle paper thats under foot and I have a mess of stickers, washi tape, notes cards, tags and more bits and bobs surrounding me..   I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it all, but loving every minute of it!

Its product packaging and its a whole new adventure for me.

When I changed from vendor wholesaling to offering wholesale priced candles direct to the public I never bothered to change how I packaged or shipped them.   To be honest, I never gave it any thought at all.  I simply did the same thing I did for vendors but on a smaller scale and then I got stuck in the same ole same ole...you know what I mean right?  When you do something so much you don't realize there's another way, a better way, a newer way.  I was so tunnel blind!! and a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know it was a "thing"

In November I started making little changes here and there, offering bits of flair for the holidays with tags and labels, personalized packaging not only for the candles themselves but shipping cartons too.

With the miracle that is a Silhouette Cameo a color printer and a craft store a block away with loads of aisles full of embossing powders and stamps and paper galore, I've been able to make most of my own packaging bits.   The only down side, if you could call it one, because it's been loads of fun....is that it sorta feels like a full time job all it's own and my planner has more scheduling for label making than it does pouring wax!

I've been popping in to youtube to see how other crafters ship their creations and they are full of amazing ideas on how to make packaging pop.  A general search will reward you with the bests ones and all the advise you need.

Here's what I learned.

** Its all about the unboxing experience (make it special)
**  give your customers more than what they are expecting.
** Under-promise and over deliver.
** branding is everything

With all of this in mind, I have a load of work ahead of me and a bit of restructuring to get moving on.

HELLO 2018

Good morning candle friends.  I hope everyone had a lovely New Year!  Thought I'd pop in to share something that I've been obsessed with the past few months or so. 

Creating color palettes!

Its a great way to catch a glimpse of the overall look that I want to achieve and it all starts with the tiniest single drop of dye in soy wax.  While I love every color color schemes I've created for Valentines Day I must say that my favorites are the ever traditional reds and pinks.

I've been in a happy valentine's day mood all morning, pouring hearts and roses and fragrances that make my home smell like a perfumery.

A clean work table

Apparently this is a pretty impressive thing. So said our family and friends from last weekends dinner get together.

To access the covered patio siting area our guests have to walk through the candle making studio.  I usually spend the afternoon tiding up.  (aka, picking up everything on the floor and putting it on the pour table.)   It's usually covered in molds and whatever projects I'm working at the time and some of our friends enjoy spending the evening around it picking wax off molds and inquiring about what I'm up to.

This time instead of a quick tiding up I full on put EVERYTHING away.  And boy did I get an earful.

Spent a few days playing around with soy wax and marbling techniques. Finding the right pour temp has been a challenge but it did give me an idea for some ombre style candles that I want to try out.

I've also been working on some layering techniques using paraffin for watermelon candle designs that I have floating around in my head.

A chunky stained glass candle making tutorial

in fish form

you can do this with pretty much any type or shape of mold. 

the technique would be the same regardless of what type of mold you use  

 choose a metal, plastic or silicone candle mold, or milk carton, cardboard tube..what have you

I started with a few chopped up bits of soy wax

you can use whatever you have on hand, I prefer the ease of cutting soy, but if you have paraffin use it.  

if you're starting with a plain paraffin add some vybar.

 to get this particular look for the candle you want your chunks opaque 

four colors in various shades of blues and teals (ok there's only three there, a lighter blue shade was added later)

this is scrap from wax melts, all mingled together and they smell divine

a mixture of beach daisies, summer sands and coconut milk

fill your mold with your wax bits, don't cram or squish just fill er up to the top of your mold

this particular mold has a little hole in the center that I can easily drop a wick in to

regardless of the type of mold your using, you want to make sure you aren't disturbing the placement of the wick when you add your wax chunks

remember before how I mentioned those wax bits being opaque? 

for your pour wax, you want it translucent, the only wax I know of that has a translucent-ness to it is paraffin

melt it, add a bit of blue dye, 

i'm using two different blues, a lighter one and a dark 

pouring melt point will vary depending on what type of material your mold is.

this mold is silicone, I poured at 190..ish  I like the higher temp, it helps to melt a bit of those chunk pieces, makes the edges softer and bleeds a bit of the color too.

since I only have two hands I couldn't take a proper picture of the next step

so read on

you need to pour both of the colors at the same time. 

yes, that's right dual wield those pour pots

the colors are going to bleed together, but that's the effect you want

now you have to wait

till it hardens

be patient

it'll be ready to de-mold soon

but first 

you want one last pour to make it flat

waiting...waiting....

and done

this style of candle making has a few different names

chunk candles

stained glass candles

crackle candles (although there is a whole different type of crackle candle finish)

call it what you want

the fun part is seeing how unique each candle is when it comes out of the mold

If you make your own candles and want to share your experiences please do,  I love hearing from other candle makers.

Gearing up for the holidays.

It seems like it comes earlier and earlier every year.

I walked in to the super market this morning in need of a few school supplies and they were already setting up christmas wreaths. "But it's only August" I grumbled as I walked by.

Later when I was home and writing out my schedule for next week in my planner I had to laugh at myself.  I've been building holiday stock for weeks!

Summertime candle making

I read recently that September is the busiest month for weddings, which I have no reason to doubt. With the summer heat coming to a close for most the US and the onset of fall in all her splendor makes it a beautiful season for events.

As candles makers in the wedding industry our busiest month is June, where the four of us work near non stop.  I wish, I really really wish it was in November, when the desert lows make the heat wafting off the wax melters a welcome feeling.

Instead we're sweltering back here, the two a/cs can't keep up with the rising heat of the valley sun and the four wax melters set to 112 degrees.

You'd laugh if you saw us today, standing there de-molding roses by the dozens in our bathing suits.  Once those batches are done we'll re-pour, leaning as far from the tables as we can so splashes of molten wax don't bite our bare skin.  Those 15 dozen candles will take a bit of time to harden so we'll spend that down time lounging on floaties in the pool, which is where I'm heading as soon as I finish this post.

If your wedding is in September and you open up a bag of our roses or butterfly candles and you notice a faint fragrance, the tiniest hint of tanning oil or sunblock you'll know your candles were poured by a family in Arizona doing their best to escape the heat.