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A
Hodge Podge of Fun Themes and Ideas for Summer
By
Patti Smith
Gel Candle Design Artist
BioMax Candle Supply
www.biomax1.com
ALL
PICTURES AND REFERENCES ARE TO "NON-EDIBLE"
NOT-FOOD ITEMS
All pictures can be "clicked on" to enlarge
their view
Well…. the Midwest has certainly been finding out
the meaning of "Having a HEAT Wave" this week!
So we have put together some fun summer ideas, and hope
you can make use of them in your current line, combined
with your own creative ideas, of course.
First
off…. Centerpieces are always a big hit and great
way to draw attention. They can start with all kinds
of materials…and as you can see below, we started
with a heavy piece of 'extruded plastic' material, normally
sent for cutting and re-claim, however was this 'artist's
delight' … The 'trash and treasure' kind of thing.
:o)
We painted the base and then lined the edge with some
beautiful large teal colored glass 'rocks'… and
then added a couple gel candle miniatures to each side
with a mini chimenea in the center-made of semi-porous
clay so a great surface scent diffuser when warmed by
the interior candle.
We lightly dusted the entire surface with Gold glitter
and formed some heavy-scented stone-colored 'wax' rocks
to lie at random. This has been one of our biggest 'attractions;
in our new Shop…the unusual and unique draws curiosity
always. So remember to use this marketing tool when
preparing your presentations for the public. Lights,
color and scent will bring people to your tables…
your personality and merchandise will then take it from
there.
NEXT…. There is always lots of bowling and sports
for the summer, so we poured a quick "BOWLER'S
TROPHY" candle…
Using
a red sand base, we poured our clear gel, allowing it
to slightly cool & thicken, and embedded two wax
bowling pins and a ball in the center. This design is
super cute and fast. We scented with our CLEAR MIND
fragrance to help with 'Concentration' before the big
tournament!
This candle could also be labeled "BOWLER'S BIG
STRIKE"…. On a cute tag with your company
name and contact information. These little added extras
help spur sales, and give thankful customers reminders
they might otherwise forget.
Our
next candle gets us back to 'Simple Elegance'…
our Lemon Drop stemmed candle.
Remember:
not all of our candles have to reflect 'complexity'…
this helps us to meet the needs of all types of customers.
Choose a pretty piece of stemware, pour clear gel, allow
to cool and thicken and embed a wax lemon slice. We
scented with a nice Lemon fragrance…not too heavy,
not too light.
Another
fun theme for Summer is "LOVE IN THE AIR "
so we made a 'Love 'N Kisses' candle using red wax hearts
and lips along with chocolate wax kisses
.
Again, we simply poured clear gel, allowed to cool &
thicken, and used our embedding tool to randomly place
the hearts, lips and kisses around the candle.
You
can see two angles in our pictures … we glued one
of our script 'LOVE' to the base of our pretty red stemmed
goblet. This makes a great uni-sex candle scented with
our newest scent LOVE SECRETS.
Along
the same line, we created a layered-look candle in a
neat piece of glassware resembling a handled mug.
We
poured grape colored gel in the bottom and embedded
a wax grape cluster. When almost completely set, we
threaded one of our wax roses onto the wick and let
the rose rest on top of the purple gel.
When
the gel was completely cooled, we melted clear gel …
allowed to semi-cool and poured the clear gel over the
rose about an inch above. The clear gel magnifies the
rose and the clear vs. purple gel with the red rose
gives lots of dimension and elegance. We only filled
the glassware about 2/3's full ….to even the proportions
and allow the flame to burn without draft. A very light
sprinkling of our celestial GOLD glitter is the final
magic touch for the surface. We scented with our ever-popular
Wineberries & Roses fragrance.
Lastly… again…Theme Candles are great marketing
tools for you….so make your cute hanging tags using
your company logo and clip art. This 'Froggie"
candle can represent a variety of themes….from
the innocent to the ornery. :o)
I remember dearly our "Froggie Went A Court'n"
book read MANY, MANY times to our son as a young child.
"Leap Frog "is a fun game and theme. Many
schools host a variety of frogs as mascots, and these
little glass frogs have the cutest expressions on their
faces.
We
poured a white sand base, threaded our glass bead onto
the wick just above the sand, for safety precautions,
then placed the two glass frogs on one side, and the
glass palm tree on the opposite. Then we poured the
clear gel, scented with our Blue Lagoon scent, which
is great water -type fragrance. Remember to give a final
tug to the wick to make sure it is super straight and
in line with the trunk of the palm tree.
We hope you enjoy our SUMMER THEMES, and that they help
you become inspired with ideas of your own. Just add
your own individual given-talents… and all the
rest will naturally follow. :o)
July
2001
Dessert Candles & Summer Ice Cream Socials
Yum! A root beer float, a banana split, a raspberry cake
sundae, ice cream scoops, and cherry brownie dessert.
NOTE: ALL PICTURES AND REFERENCES ARE TO "NON-EDIBLE"
ITEMS MADE WITH NON-FOOD COMPONENTS.
This month we get into the REAL fun of candle making...
WITHOUT calories. (yet a WARNING is required
to avoid teeth marks).
Just when we thought we only had to worry about those
'poking fingers' . now it includes 'bites' also. But this
is a compliment to us. Whether ice cream sundaes, brownie
sundaes, banana splits, root beer floats or parfaits...
these are almost toooo much fun to make and also is one
of the easiest. similar to the crusted pies we enjoyed
from last month's newsletter.
There are a variety of wax paraffin pieces, many of which
have holes already drilled for the wicks.
So we just build the wax pieces and add 'syrups' made
from the gel, whip cream (made from any combo of paraffin,
stearic flakes, whitening powders for opaque whiteness,
and gel mixed to the consistency that you want, similar
to the beer heads) and fruit pieces for the garnishments.
The glassware can be any type of dessert plates, parfait
glasses or bowls, and summertime garage sales are the
perfect source for picking up these items very economically.
So keep your eyes peeled for the garage sales signs!
If you are using a glass 'bowl' you will want to have
a base layer of gel so that the dessert pieces can be
higher in the bowl. To do this make some 'white' gel and
pour into the bowl and allow it to set up slightly, then
add the scoops of ice cream on top of the white gel giving
the effect of melted ice cream below.
NOTE: Remember to use this white powder pigment
sparingly as it is very strong and may take a little stirring
to combine and 'melt' into the gel. If you use too much,
it can clog the wick and you would then need to add more
melted clear gel to dilute the white gel so that you have
less pigment and chance to clog the wick.
NOTE: When first learning this technique, make
a test candle in small votive or tea light to be sure
that you get a good burn and to make sure that you have
dissolved the powder sufficiently so that you don't have
bottom settlement of white powder. It really is easier
than it sounds but, like other details in our candle making,
it takes a little experience.
Steps for Ice Cream Bowl:
*Use the white gel as your base in ice cream bowls and
allow it to partially firm up so that you can lay your
scoops of ice cream on top of the white (ice cream) base.
This adds authenticity to your finished candle and looks
nice from the side view.
*We then placed a scoop of Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry
'ice cream' around the dessert bowl, which is in a beautiful
mauve glassware on a short stem.
*We used one wick coming up from the center.
*We then added red dye to the gel (lightly scented with
our Strawberry
Daiquiri fragrance oil (FO)) and allowed it to COOL
to a thick temperature before drizzling over the ice cream.
The wax is a very hard wax and can take the temperature
of the warm gel.
*Next we added a cherry to the center with just a tad
of liquid gel to give it a gloss.
*VALLAAA finished candle!
We did a similar 'build' with the Banana Split:
*Again the white gel (using our wonderful butter crème
vanilla scent) and using three wicks in a banana boat.
*Just add the two banana slices on the sides and the three
scoops of ice cream threaded onto the wicks.
*Pour scented, colored gel for the ice cream toppings
and added the cherries to decorate the tops.
*At this point you can also use some melted paraffin mixed
with stearic flakes and gel to create 'whipped cream'
. allow it to slight harden and scoop it onto the tops
of the ice cream.
*You can even add the little glass seed beads, available
in craft stores, for sprinkles.
Next we have our Brownie Cake Sundaes:
*These are very nice on pretty dessert plates and we all
seem to accumulate many odds and ends of these.
*Place a wick on the plate and thread the fudge brownie.
(By the way all these dessert wax components are scented
with wonderful FO)
*Next thread the scoop of ice cream, pour the gel 'topping',
add whip cream if desired, and cherries to garnish.
*We scented this gel with our
Cherry Chocolates FO. Totally irresistible.
*The problem will be to get customers to actually BURN
these candles.
Take them to your picnic functions and see how many people
come up thinking it will attract ants and/or melt!!..
while you sit with paper in hand taking orders!!!
Next we have taken a parfait glass:
*and filled with gel colored with our maple sugar dye.
*Allow it to almost completely set up so that it can withstand
the weight of the scoop of ice cream.. that you will thread
onto the wick which you have left long so that you have
enough to reach the top of the ice cream scoop.
*We had already added a few chunks of un-melted gel down
into the 'root beer' to give some 3-D dimension.
*You can do a similar thing to make a Cherry or Strawberry
parfait, using red gel and red glass seed beads for sprinkles.
*Our last candle is our chocolate raspberry dessert.
6. Again, start with dessert plate, thread the cake brownie
7. *Add the strawberry ice cream scoop.
*Cover with raspberry scented gel 'syrup' and then dipped
wax raspberries into wet gel to adhere over top of the
dessert candle.
{Easy as 'pie'. .but those were LAST MONTH's articles
right?? . } So.. have a ball with your
dessert candles and watch your customers stand in line
to give you orders. There are just soo many design ideas...
get your dessert cookbooks out and duplicate the pictures.
in wax and gel.
You might even have some local restaurants jumping to
use your finished candles for their Chef's to imitate
the REAL THING for their menus... what better way to stimulate
the appetite!!!!
We hope these cooling dessert candles add a bit of coolness
to your hot summertime days. These are the fun days of
summer. to share with family and friends. and show off
your talents!!!!
And heck, if you really want to spur the comments... there
are little plastic black ants available in the toy stores.
aren't we bad??!!!
July
2000
As those warm summer days start appearing.picnics will
be popular so this month we feature two simple-to-make
summertime candles guaranteed to bring the smiles to
your customers' faces.
First, our WATERMELON GEL CANDLE:
* Use any flat-shaped glassware and install the wick
and pour white sand for a base.
* Then pour the candle, we scented ours with BioMax's
Watermelon fragrance oil (FO).
* Then take 2 or more watermelon tea candles and sit
the bases down inside the sand.
* Leave the watermelon slice above the gel layer for
visibility and appeal.
Customers love these novelty candles for their picnic
tables combined with the long burn time of the gel.
You can also scent with citronella FO to keep those
nasty little critters away.
Super Easy, Super Fast and Super Fun!
Second Design: HUMMER FLOWER GEL CANDLE
The next candle idea for this month uses a wax embeddable
flower blossom.
We chose a pink flower, green sand base for contrast,
and an orange humming bird.
The idea for this candle leaves the hummingbird OUTSIDE
the Gel as a Keepsake treasure. Again we used a flat
piece of glassware (about 2" high and about 4" diameter).
A key to the success of this candle is to NOT trim the
wick ahead of time because you need the length to 'thread'
the wax flower blossom.
* You will use an ice pick to create a hole in the center
of the flower.
* Next Step is to pour the candle about 3/4 of the way
full and LET IT COOL for 10-15 minutes. the gel must
not be hot or you will melt the flower before its time.
* When the glassware feels more lukewarm to the touch,
and has consistency, thread the flower onto the wick
and firmly push down through the gel and into the sand
base.
The goal is to allow the gel to ooze over top the flower
blossom so you have a layer of gel above the flower.
* Now let the candle completely cool.
* You can sprinkle some glitter (cosmetic grade/gel
safe) on top of the gel if you have any slight blemishes
from the wax piece to make less visible.
* Once the candle is cool and gelled, take the glass
hummingbird and push his beak into the top of the blossom
just like he's diving in to collect his treat.
* Put a label on the candle "Removable Glass Hummingbird
for Keepsake". Customers love having the extra treasure
along with their pretty candle.
BioMax sells sets of 6 each birds, flowers and this
particular glass for $10. Also sold are the watermelon
slice candles, 6 for $2, and several flower blossoms
varieties including buttercups, sunflowers and chrysanthemum.
Call 1-800-752-5052 for further details.
And enjoy the summer sun!!!
Patti
and the Crew at
www.biomax1.com
Wick
Reminders
We
recommend that you use only ZINC core wicks--you need
the added heat from the metal core for sufficient temperature
to burn the gel well... a 50s series for up to 3"
opening and 60s series for 3.5 and higher, when you
don't go to three 50s.
The
biggest mistake we encounter: you should trim the wick
to 1/4" for the initial burn, say first half hour.
This is the time that the wick actually 'seats' itself
into the candle. After that, to avoid smoking, trim
the wick back to just a bare 'nub' meaning 1/16th of
an inch. When a seated gel candle wick smokes.. 95%
of the time, it is because it has too much length. People
are used to the height of a wick in paraffin candles
which is too much for gel candles. When you extinguish..
teach customers to do a little wick maintenance.. use
toothpick to remove any wick droppings. Keep the wick
at
the nub height to avoid excessive mushrooming.
This
should help you immensely.
Beginning
& Advanced Videos by Patti HERE
More
Info about the Book & Video Set HERE
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