Top 20 Fundraiser Fragrances Sept – Dec.

One of the most common questions we get asked by fundraising groups is “Which fragrances should I choose for my sale?” In order to help you out with that, we have put together a list of the top 20 scents. These numbers are based on the number of jars candles sold September – December, which is the best time of year for fundraising. The list is in order from highest number sold to least number sold.

1. Spiced Pumpkin
2. Baked Apple Crisp
3. Apple Cinnamon
4. Sage and Citrus
5. Maple Sticky Buns
6. Warm Vanilla Sugar
7. Caribbean Holiday
8. Homemade Pumpkin Roll
9. Sugar Cookie
10. French Vanilla
11. Cinnamon Stick
12. Gingerbread
13. Blueberry Cobbler
14. Holiday Wreath
15. Cinnamon Bun
16. Victorian Christmas
17. Lilac
18. Autumn Harvest
19. Christmas Essense
20. Coconut Mango Splash

What would you like to see?

In a business driven by what customers want, we do our best to come up with new products we think you want. There are a lot of ways to determine what will be in demand and what won’t but the easiest way is to ask… So we are asking, what would you like to see us offer on our site? Let us know, anything from candles to accessory items, and we will do our best to make it available for you at affordable pricing. You can suggest items to us in an email or leave a comment right here on our blog. We are listening.

2009 Wedding Colors

The color trends for wedding decorations have been moving away from strictly white and ivory and more toward bold, vibrant colors. Some examples of these 2009 designer colors are hot pinks, bright oranges, tiffany blue, yellows, and purples. These fresh trendy colors help make the wedding atmosphere fun and bright. Use some modern accessories to give your wedding decor a classy touch. White and ivory decorations will always be part of wedding decorating but a splash of strategically placed color can have a really nice affect. The hardest part of adding these trendy colors to your wedding decor is not going overboard. You don’t want all the guests to need sunglasses just to find their tables. Of course if you are doing a tropical theme wedding then color is the order of the day. So there is occasion to have color as the bulk of the design, it’s your wedding do it your way. We have a very nice line of unscented candles available in these colors to help get the look you want. Start planning your wedding decorations with enough time to make sure you can get what you want, and remember to have fun.

Bridal Shower Candle Poem

We’ve had many customers come into our store with this poem in their pocket, looking for the tapers to go with it. This poem, can be attached to a basket full of tapers or columns in the appropriate colors, makes a wonderful gift for a bride-to-be and her soon to be husband.

A basket of candles that come in a pair,
of all different colors, for you two to share.

The white ones burn first, they are wrapped in white lace,
to celebrate the first night in your new chosen place.

The mauve pair is smaller, and thinner,
they burn with your first company over for dinner.

There are candles to burn Christmas Eve, before bed,
your first Christmas married, that’s why they are red.

The navy candles are for your first fight;
use them to burn when making up all night.

Pink candles will set the mood and pave the way
for your very first married Valentine’s Day.

Now when your first year of marriage is through,
the Ivory anniversary pair will light for you two.

By this time we hope maybe, just maybe,
you could burn the yellow ones on the birth of your baby.

And just when you thought you could put these away;
take the light blue ones for your fifth anniversary day.

Now just one pair left for the big “25”,
the anniversary pair that will keep your love alive.

So congratulations both of you on the start of your “forever”,
may the two of you always be happy together.

And burn these candles just like I said,
but please don’t forget…blow them out before bed!

To make this basket work you need
a basket, a bit of white lace, 1 pair of White candles, 1 pair of mauve candles thinner than the rest of your candles, 1 pair of Red candles, 1 pair of navy candles, 1 pair of pink candles, 1 pair of ivory candles, 1 pair of yellow candles, 1 pair of light blue candles, and 1 pair of silver candles or the color of your choosing.

Open For Questions.

With the many questions we get in regards to our candles and other companies candles in general I thought it would be a good idea to open up the blog for questions. I will do my best to help resolve any issues or answer any questions you may have. I’m sure that “I don’t know” will be one of the answers I use but I don’t plan on making that my favorite one. So if you have something you have been wondering, fire away.

Is The Scent Gone?

When we make our scented candles the fragrance is added to the liquid wax prior to pouring it into the molds or glass jars. So the candle is scented the same strength from top to bottom. This is how most candle manufacturers make their candles. Occasionally we get a customer that says when they first light a candle it smelled but after a while the scent was gone. The easiest way to explain this is the “fish analogy”. If you have ever cooked fish in your kitchen you instantly smell it as it heats up and for a long time after it has been eaten but eventually you stop noticing it altogether. The fishy smell is gone. However, if someone else comes into your home they can instantly tell you cooked fish for dinner. So why can they smell it and you cant? The olfactory receptors in your nose that detect smell become accustom to it and have stopped sending neurological signals to your brain to tell you that fish is in the air. One of the easiest ways to get around this issue is to use multiple conflicting fragrances, one at a time. Burn one fragrance for a while then switch to another and so on. This helps to continually stimulate the sensors in your nose and trigger the signal to your brain. There are some poor quality candles out there that don’t have a very strong scent, you’re on your own to figure those out. Just remember, you can get a great smelling candle without spending a ton of money on a name brand.

Way Too Short?

A few posts back I gave a tip on burning candles involving wick trimming. Today I was getting ready to light a candle in my home and I trimmed my wicks prior to lighting it. Lately I have been burning our new 2 wick 12oz soy candles. I trimmed both wicks but on the second one I snipped it a little too short. I went ahead and lit them both to see if it might turn out all right. In about 5 minutes the short wick was out. I realized I should have included a tip in my prior post on how to fix a candle with a wick that is too short. There are two simple methods to use in this situation. If your candle is a multi-wick candle you can try lighting both wicks and see what happens. If after a few minutes the short wick goes out, simply pour out the liquid wax into the trash, trim the longer wick and re-light them. The second method can be used if not enough wax has been liquified or if your candle only has one wick. Using a butter knife, spoon, or other similar object, carve a layer of wax off the top of your candle and throw it out (or put it into a candle warmer). The re-light your candle, grab a book, and relax.

A Common Unscented Candle Question

One of the most common questions we receive from customers who have ordered unscented candles from us is “Why do my candles smell, I ordered unscented?” I kind of chuckle when I get this question because it actually helps us market our scented candles too. The answer to this common phenomenon is this: The unscented candles that were sent to our customers are unscented. What is happening is that we make both our scented and unscented candles in the same building. We also do all of our packing for shipments in the same area too. The air in here gets pretty heavy with scent from the wax used in our scented candles and it sticks to everything. The packing peanuts and cardboard boxes absorb some of the air saturating them with fragrance. The scent in the air is even strong enough that when we go out to eat, after work on Friday nights, the cooks and waiters/waitresses that know us will come say hi to us while we are still inline because they smelled us walk into the restaurant. So the simple solution to solving the case of the scented unscented candles is take them out of the packaging and use them when you are ready. They won’t give off any smell. The way this helps market our scented candles is if our unscented candles can smell that great, imagine what our scented candles smell like.

Decorative Accents Aid In Home Decorating

Just about everybody, except for maybe college age males, are at least a little bit interested in decorating their abode. It is simple to put together very attractive and affordable displays that can help brighten up you home. We have just recently added a new category to our site called Botanical Accents. It includes all kinds of nuts, pods, balls, and textures in a variety of colors. Adding these small decorative pieces around a display of candles, in a glass vase, or bowl is all it takes to put that extra touch into your decor. Even a college age guy can do it, if he wanted to.

Candle Burning Tip

One of the single best things that you can do to keep your candles burn correctly is trim the wicks each time you light it. Candle wicks tend to get a little too long, the longer a candle burns. Of course there are exceptions. If you like to let your candles burn all day it would good to occasionally extinguish it and trim the wick back down to about a 1/4 inch. If you notice that you candles are burning hot (the flame seems big) you can trim the wick even a little shorter. Some fragrances burn a little “easier” than others like vanilla. Make sure that you keep the wick trimmings out of your candle. There are lots of special cutting tools available that will hold the wick piece so it doesn’t fall in. We sell the Wickman Wick Trimmer which works nicely. A pair of scissors works fine too. Keeping your wick the right length will also help reduce sooting.

Don’t be afraid of your candles. If you notice that the wick has drifted out of the center of the candle, use a knife or pair of scissors to move it back to center while the wax is warm.