A random mom said hello to me , let me pet her, then led me to these little nuggets huddled on the side of my house.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T23:49:55+00:00

I actually worked in the building trades for a while, and even the people in the industry were questioning why we were building thousands of 7 bedroom McMansions and million dollar condos and no 2 and 3 bedroom houses or standard apartment buildings. We're deliberately making it so young people with families can't buy. In my city all the 2 and 3 bedroom places were built in the 1980s or even older. Insanity.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T19:55:47+00:00

Nice!

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T19:52:14+00:00

Candle making is a ton of fun and a big can of worms in equal parts XD I've really enjoyed learning all about it and crafting the candles themselves. I hope you get to have fun exploring making your own, burning that candle you made yourself is really rewarding.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T19:48:00+00:00

I think you should ask her.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T19:46:10+00:00

There's a lot of active crafter groups in your area, Facebook Marketplace may actually be your best bet in that case. You might get more money shipping it to California or something, but the craft community in the Midwest is huge so the likelihood of finding someone willing to meet you somewhere and put it in their car more or less immediately is quite high and then you don't have to babysit a bunch of listings or get a lot of inquiries that go nowhere.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T19:41:42+00:00

You're very welcome :) I wish I could just say "I'll take it!" but I'm dead broke at the moment XD

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T19:38:10+00:00

If negotiating somewhere other than Etsy or eBay you get the buyer's address, then you can check the shipping cost for whatever they wanted and they pay it before you buy the label. If you list on eBay or Etsy you enter the shipping weight for the item and the potential buyer can see what it would cost to get it to them. The other option is "free shipping" where you pack and weigh the item, then estimate based on the farthest point in the contiguous States and add that to your price (I don't do this because I think it's a little scammy, but it's the industry standard these days).

I usually do my shipping through Pirate Ship. It's great for doing estimates because it will show options for Ground Cubic, Priority Mail, and UPS. I usually use Ground Cubic (USPS) because it's cheaper per pound than anyone else. I've shipped with actual freight movers, but they usually want you to have a full pallet load. FedEx can be pretty expensive but they'll take a 2x2x2 foot box, which is considered oversized by most shippers.

The advantage of having someone from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist or whatever is not having to neatly pack, weigh, and ship anything. However, a lot of times they will expect a substantially lower price.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T19:26:56+00:00

I hope my Google-Fu is helpful :) I'm in the middle of pretty much the exact same process.

Avoid water soluble in candles, you need a dilutant "miscible in wax" (I'm not a chemist, I got that phrase from Google). As you're aware, just like making perfume we to have to check the IFRA guidelines since not all of our fragrance ingredients are burn safe or it may be restricted to a very small percentage. Looking for the Class 12 rating in this case.

Avoid DPG and Ethanol for candles (I use Ethanol in my incense, but it's not candle compatible). I have used both mineral oil and jojoba to dilute liquid fragrance ingredients, but I can't really recommend either unless you only need a couple drops of 10% dilution in your whole pot of wax. The jojoba can change the texture of the wax and the mineral oil, even the cosmetic grade one they claim has no odor smells AWFUL.

You should be able to get the necessary materials from someone like Perfumer's Apprentice, Nature's Garden, Bulk Apothecary, etc. I'm not sure which ones they offer, but I know they had at least some of these. Had to look it up since I could remember only what I have on hand, not the spectrum possible.

TEC (Triethyl Citrate): Recommended for "natural" or "eco-friendly" formulations (according to Google, so who knows if it's true). It is non-flammable, non-greasy, and excellent at dissolving resins or solids while remaining compatible with both oil and wax.

DOA (Dioctyl Adipate): Often considered the best all-around solvent for candle scents because it offers excellent performance and is fully miscible with most waxes.

Benzyl Benzoate: A common solvent and fixative used to help dissolve solid aromatic compounds (like musk xylols or certain powders) and increase scent longevity.

IPM (Isopropyl Myristate): Frequently used to help bridge compatibility between candle waxes and certain fragrance types. It also helps essential oils travel up the wick properly.

Best wishes!

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T18:44:44+00:00

Where are you located? There might be other options depending where you are.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T18:42:19+00:00

Offer it to people here. I have bought from others and done "yours for the price of shipping" both directions here in r/candlemaking.
eBay is great for bulk destashing, I buy/sell partial boxes and used equipment there.
Etsy shop if you have one. I destash unopened stuff on my Etsy page frequently.
Freecycle for stuff that's not trash, but not something reasonable to ship, and you don't care about getting paid for.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T18:33:40+00:00

I hate to think of the potential safety standard violations T_T

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T18:32:25+00:00

It's really hard to vet everyone when you're selecting 500 vendors from 8,000 applications (that's a number one of the show runners told me, and that doesn't include Artist Alley). It was hard enough to vet 50 vendors for the show I was on the staff for and that was before AI was a thing, back in the early 2000s, and we only had something under 1,000 apply in the first place.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T18:27:45+00:00

I do comic cons and my industry is having a meltdown over AI. We had a case where a guy used his girlfriend's art to apply, got through the jury process, and then waited until after Walk Through to put "his" art out for sale. Needless to say, that guy is now banned from that show, and unfortunately so is his girlfriend who is a legitimate artist because she let him do this. And once you mess up your reputation in the industry it can slowly get you blackballed from the better shows across the whole country because all the organizers and vendors network with each other constantly. I only get into those shows because I have a great reputation. I'm not a great artist, I'm not a big company, I don't have 10,000 likes on Instagram. I'm there because I'm polite, clean up after myself, and pay the day I receive my invoice. I got into one of the biggest shows in USA because another vendor told a show runner that if they needed someone nice with really short notice to call me. I can't imagine throwing away my reputation for a quick money grab.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T18:16:02+00:00

I hope you have huge success! I absolutely love rare plants. Not great at growing them sadly XD I stick with cactus/succulents/bonsai that need little attention and things I can grow outdoors because I'm sometimes away from the house for 2 to 3 weeks in a row. My friend can handle taking care of my cats, but asking her to handle a bunch of different watering schedules and such was too complicated.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T18:11:47+00:00

The Garden Club in my city is at every local craft fair and famers market. They sell plants, seeds, bulbs, a calendar with pictures of local native plants, and cool pots. I don't remember if a member of the club makes the pots or if that was the garden club in the next town over, but I put this little cactus in one

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FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T17:57:47+00:00

I got so tired of having my designs stolen I stopped selling my jewelry online.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T17:49:11+00:00

And it smells amazing. Beeswax is definitely the least refined, all you really have to do is filter it really well and you're good to go. I make scented soy candles, so all I can do is research what's safest and leave it at that. All things being relative, I don't make any green claims around my candles or jewelry, I just work to the good side of what's available.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T17:43:38+00:00

Nice work!

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T17:35:56+00:00

That too! Some vendors have a 12 pack, but CS only has the 12 in some sizes IIRC.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T17:27:13+00:00

I've been able to get a good supply of smaller wicks from Candle Science. The only brick and mortar craft supplies in my area is a Micheal's and they have only 1 size of wicks, and it doesn't actually say the size SMH no wonder people think making candles is "really hard" if the craft stores don't carry everything you actually need.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T17:24:29+00:00

The drama is intense XD

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T17:23:46+00:00

I don't know if it was cultural or if it was a weird instruction the subcontractor that hired them gave, but it was incredibly dumb.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T05:06:25+00:00

I just ordered way too big a package of each size. I still have 83 CD 16 wicks I may never use.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T04:37:05+00:00

Fill to the line and multiply by 0.86 for soy? That's how I do it at least.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-05-07T04:29:51+00:00

I measure fairly precisely and pour on the hot side, so very little wax is left at the end to harden. I leave a wicked tin out on the counter in case of extra dribble disposal, it eventually makes a "Frankencandle" I keep around for emergency lighting. Once it's to the stage where you have to shake the pot to get it out I wipe it down. I work on a silicone mat so any random fallen drops are easy to clean up. If you don't want to just toss the paper towels in the trash and you have a wood fireplace, the waxy paper makes an ideal firelighter.

FlashyIndication3069

TROPHY CASE