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Sunday, November 18, 2012

Amandles

Making candles has its ups and downs. Despite the fact that Drew has to deal with the constant wax mess I'm creating and his perpetual fear that I'll burn the condo down... there is a certain joy to candle making known only to those wonky enough to give it the old college try.

The picture in the book is what the candles should look like. Lemon/Orange candles were a "down" moment. 
Creating 20 unique rock candles for my friend Bryana's wedding was a definite "up" moment. We also made candles out of invitations for a few of our friends that were married this summer, another up.


The first Amandle craft sale...an up, and a down...

I've been filling mason jars from the wedding with wax every weekend. I also started making these gourd candles:




I definitely overestimated the demand for these candles.

First, I made about twenty candles.

Then, Bry and Kristen were due for a girls' night. I decided I'd take advantage of their free labor.

Bry and I ran to Target to pick up some gourds to carve and transform into pumpkin candles.

"So, two bags or three?" I asked as I picked up the little gunny sacks of gourds.

"Ummm, I was thinking one would be plenty." Bry responded.

We compromised on two. *I'd like to note here that the "free labor" idea did not pan out as these two ladies just sipped on their wine and watched me carve the pumpkins.


So now I had about 45 gourd candles...

But that didn't stop me. I picked up two more gunny sacks of gourds while grocery shopping with Bonnie.

Bry and Kristen were wise enough not to offer to help. Bonnie wasn't so lucky, she had no choice- I just gave her a spoon and told her to start scraping.

Seventy gourd/pumpkin candles later, I was ready for my very first craft sale.  I thought I was going to be rich. I was planning to sell the candles for $5 a pop, or maybe $3 at a minimum. I thought they would go like hot cakes.

I'd only been at the sale about 5 minutes before I reduced the price to 3 candles for $5, or $2 each. By noon, I had sold one gourd candle.

Drew joined me for lunch and immediately struck the prices even further. He changed the price of gourd candles to $1 a pop, and still we couldn't get rid of them.

Turns out, people don't really want to buy candles that will eventually rot. We made $45 whopping bucks, whoo hoo! Looks like my family will be getting mason jar candles for Christmas, and I'm sure my Thanksgiving spread will look even better with about 30 gourd candles to spruce things up!

I did manage to spend most of the profits buying crafts made by my coworker Alyssa. I can't post any pictures of them here because I'd be spoiling the surprise for their intended recipients on Christmas day!

Ending on a positive note, the name "Amandles" received rave reviews. Now I just need to work on the product!



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13 comments:

  1. Those invitation candles are awesome! So are the rock ones -- very cool!

    The lemon one looks scary, though...

    I like "Amandles" as a name, too -- very clever!

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  2. I think the gourd Amandles looked adorable!! I love the creativity! What was wrong with those people? Also, hooray for friends you can force in to labor. We all need them!

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  3. I think these are all so cute! And, for sure Amandles is an awesome name. I'm very impressed with your candles!

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  4. I think the gourd candles are kind of cool. I would have bought a few of them!

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  5. Bravo for trying! I was concerned about the rotting before I got to the end of the post, too. I'm not much of a candle person. I have lots, but I always forget to light them. I've stopped buying them.

    I love mason jars. They're magical. Your candles are beautiful.

    http://truthfully.ca

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  6. Oh, they look so cute! Sorry you didn't sell more of them - but you're right, your Thanksgiving display is going to be stellar! I'm sure some friends would love them as Thanksgiving gifts, for their tables too, don't you think?

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  7. Sorry for the disappointing sales, but those gourd candles will look so cool on your table tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  8. I would have thought the gourd candles would have sold, too! I didn't think about the whole rotting thing. What a bummer! But be proud of your work, anyway. They're awesome :)

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  9. I think those gourd candles are very cute! I really like the mason jar candles, though. And "Amandles" is really clever!

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  10. Those gourd candles are super cute!
    I made candles once, snow candles. You need a thick layer of fresh snow, weather below freezing. Get a slim cup or cylindrical object and shove it in the snow and remove, to make a cast. Pour the hot wax in, with the wick dangling in place and let it set. It barely melts the mold but you get kind of a semi smooth stucco texture.

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  11. I totally would have bought the gourd candles! I hate having things lying around, so a gourd candle would be cute and then I could throw away the remnants when the outside rotted. You are so creative and I love Amandles too!!

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  12. I would buy gourd candles, too! It's not like you're keeping them forever, they're just for the holiday table, right? VERY pretty.

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  13. I would have bought your gourd candles too - I thought they were perfect for Thanksgiving. The name Amandles is perfect - catchy, easy to spell and remember and identifiably related to the product. Love it.

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