Category: Crafts

Candle Supply Manufacturers

Candles were first used centuries ago as one of the only means of light. However, over the years, the purpose of using a candle has undergone extensive change. Today, they are used more for their decorative purpose than anything else. Candles are manufactured in various designs and styles. The candles add beauty to any room and represent warmth, love, and relaxation. Candles come in fragrant varieties to refresh the mind and body. Candle making has become a popular hobby and a profitable profession as well. To make candles at home, the right supplies are needed.

Many manufacturers sell candle supplies such as wax, wicks, and attractive decorations. These are the most essential supplies that cannot be overlooked. Apart from these, candle supplies also include scented oil required for making scented candles and the different moulds that can be used to create unique shapes.

Candle manufacturers may hire professionals to write articles and reviews relating to different candle supplies. Reviews help determine the various types candle supplies that are needed for soy candles, oil and paraffin candles. They may also provide information relating to supplies that are required for making scented candles, floating candles and electric candles. Manufactures who have websites also state details pertaining to the varieties and types of candles that are popular. Some potential customers may desire to get a special customized candle made. They give the procedure as to how to go about it. They also give directions to be followed in order to make candles at home. People can read this information and then go about acquiring the necessary candle supplies to make candles at home.

Candle Making

Candles are commonly used for decorative purposes. Candles have transformed from the original white stick, to any array of colored, scented and decorative varieties. People also have the choice of purchasing round, tapered and votive candles. They are available in wide varieties in the market. However, people may also choose to make candles.

Ingredients needed to make a candle are paraffin or wax. These are also available with additives such as dye, fragrance oils, shells, beads, etc. A metal mold is used to give shape to the candle. A wick and wick screw are also needed to make a candle.

It is important to create a work area, as melted wax can tend to be messy if spilled. Covering the workspace with newspaper is helpful. While melting the wax or paraffin, it is important to have access to a fire extinguisher, in case of an emergency. It is preferable to use an electrical heating device to melt wax as this prevents accidents. In other cases a double boiler should be used. Once the wax melts temperature rises sharply.

A thermometer should be used to check melted wax temperatures. It should never be left unattended since it may reach its flash point, which is 300o F. The mould should be dry and ready to use. If it is being re-used people should clean remnants of old candles. The wick screw should be fixed with the wick and kept ready to use. People may even purchase ready wick screw preparations. Once the melted wax is at a steady 250 o it is ready to be poured into the mold.

Once the wax is poured in the mould it solidifies after some time. It is advisable not to be curious and touch the visible end to check if it has dried. Even though it may not burn the skin but such an action is most certain to leave finger impressions. Once this process is complete, the new candle is ready for use.

Candle Making Supplies

Candle making can be a fun creative hobby. It can also be a great business opportunity.

There are a number of methods used to make candles. Molds, votives, and containers are three items used to shape the molten wax into candles. The wax itself can come from several different sources. Bee wax, soy wax, and other gel-like substances can be used to make candles.

The type of container or mold used to make a candle usually dictates which type of wax is needed. For example, pillar waxes have a high melting point and are good to use with molds and pillars. Pillar and mold candles are usually freestanding, meaning that they are removed from their containers once they have hardened. Votive waxes have a lower melting point than pillar waxes and are good for use in metal votive candleholders as well as some containers. Container waxes are similar to votive waxes in that the candles created are not meant to be freestanding. Wax for container candles has a lower melting point and is designed be poured into jars or pots used as candleholders.

Aside from the wax and the mold or container, candle makers can add their own personalities to the mix by coloring the candle or giving it a scent. There are an endless number of dyes available to color a candle in any shade imaginable. Truly skilled and creative candle makers can add multicolored swirls and scents to a candle. These soothing aromas are spread throughout the room when the candle is burned. Some of the most popular of these scents are vanilla and cinnamon.

Candle making is a fun and easy-to-learn activity that the whole family can enjoy. Well-made candles can add to the appearance of a room and give off a pleasing smell.

Candle Making Kits

If you have always wanted to make your own candles but never had the time to research the steps and buy all the supplies you need to get started, there is good news. There are candle-making kits available. There are kits designed for grownups and even kids who want to get creative and make candles. The following are some of the popular kits available in stores today.

Gel Candle Making Kit. Gel candles are very hot these days. You too can easily make your own gel candles with kits that usually contain candle gel tubes (there are about eight or so in one kit), twelve bags of wax candle chips, and twelve clear glass candle jars. You can create translucent visual treats that are perfect as home décor or as gifts to special people.

Beeswax Candles Kit. There are a lot of beeswax kits on the market. There are adult kits that allow you to create professional candles out of preprocessed beeswax, and there are also beeswax candle making kits for kids that educate them about bees as they create candles. Note that children’s kits are for 5 years old and older.

Marbled Candle Kit. Ever thought that those candles with fancy marbled designs are hard to do? With marbled candle kits, you just pour once; wait for the wax to cool, and you have your very own spectacular marbled candle.

There are many other candle making kits available either in specialty stores or over the Internet. Just browse around and you will find one that suits your taste and personality. Remember that candle making need not be a lot of work. Buy your candle making kits now and start making beautiful candles for yourself, your family and your friends.

Candle Holders

Candles have been used for centuries and are still in demand, though on a much smaller scale. Over the years the purpose of using a candle has undergone considerable change. A number of candle manufacturers claim to produce non-dripping candles but they may still drip. This can be quite a mess and one may have wax residue around the candle, which may at times be difficult to clean. Candleholders come to the rescue in these situations.

Candles are not always available in ready to use containers. It is important to place the candle upon a safe stand. For this purpose, candlesticks were made available years ago. These sticks are apt for mounting single candles. However, if people need to place numerous candles, a multiple carrier known as a candelabrum is used.

The use of chandeliers dates back to ancient times. They were designed to mount many candles, which when lit, were raised and hung. Nowadays, these are powered by electricity and have built-in cables connected to a power source.

Unique brass candleholders are commonly used in places of worship. Votive candles are designed to melt into oil when lit. This makes it compulsory for these candles to be burnt in holders. Usually votive candleholders are available in transparent or colored glasses and cups, which contain the melted wax, allowing it to burn continuously.

Nowadays candleholders are available in a variety of designs and metals. Candleholders may be sculpted or manufactured from brass, sheet metal or cast iron. People may also purchase holders available in special designs. These include animals, aquatic creatures and special themes. Candleholders are also available in various sizes. These holders not only provide candle space but also add to the beauty of the place they are kept in.

Buying Candle Supplies Online

Collection of candles is a fascinating hobby. People love decorating their homes with different type of candles. For this reason, cheap candles are a perfect option for most people as they can beautify homes at a reasonable cost. Many people also consider candle making an enjoyable and creative recreational activity.

To make candles at home, all the necessary supplies need to be organized well in advance. This is important because the candle making process is an uninterrupted one as the melted wax can solidify quickly. The supplies required are molds, candlewicks, candle dyes and fragrances, brushes oils and containers for the melted wax. Molds are available in different sizes and shapes and are easily available in the market. Candlewicks, which are at the top end of a candle, come in different shapes, widths, and thicknesses. Melted wax is hot and a heat resistant container is required. These too are available in different shapes and sizes and use metals like aluminum. A few oils and brushes are also needed.

These supplies can either be bought at a local retail store or can be easily purchased online. There are beginner’s kits and candle making books to guide people with candle making. However, it is recommended to check and compare the rates before placing an order. A little research helps to explore all the products and companies available, associated with candle making. Their respective websites have a detailed listing of the various supplies offered and the buyers can browse and choose according to their need. However, the quality of the supplies should not be sacrificed for their price, as this will result in inferior quality candles.

Many manufacturers and retail stores have websites for selling different types of candle supplies. Online orders can be placed by using credit or debit cards. Many prefer online stores as they offer the most competitive rates.

Birthday Gift Ideas

Choosing and selecting a gift for a special occasion like a birthday can be quite bothersome. Often, we feel lost, unable to decide among the hundreds of thousands of products flooding the market. However, deep research reveals some great birthday ideas.

Numerous giftware companies fill the market providing both pre-designed and ready-made birthday gifts, as well as customized birthday gifts for all. Real flowers, clothes, gift baskets, electronic goods, crystals, jewels, leather goods, wallets, cheese cakes, toys, bags, home decorators, plants, cookery, books, body and bath products, musical boxes, engraved pens, scented candles, and customized plaque inscriptions besides others.

Personalized birthday gifts can be sought for at companies such as Last Laugh Gifts, Warm Sentiments, and Books Unique. Last Laugh Gifts provides a customized wine label with your friend’s or any other person’s picture on it.

Vermont Teddy Bears also provide teddy bears to be gifted on birthdays.

Patagonia Gifts also has a wide range of customized and pre-designed gifts for men and women. Letter openers, cross cufflinks, leather and silver cuff bracelets, and much more are all available at the aforementioned company. Red Envelope, Things Remembered, Generous Gems, Sundance, Bears in Chairs, Connection Channel, J.C. Penny, Personalization Mall, and Limoges Jewelry are some examples of companies which provide other customized items such as pens, rings, pendants, or necklaces.

Companies like Bodum, HoMedics, Cyber Café Center, Love is a Rose, Pyjamagram, AARP, and One Share also have great unique gifts for women. While Bodum and HoMedics deal in electronic goods, Love is a Rose provides beautiful crystallized roses in gold.

Gift baskets make good birthday gifts too. Some examples of gift basket companies are Wine Country Gift Baskets, Gourmet Gift Baskets, Warm Sentiments, Green Mountain, Nostalgia Baskets, and Book Baskets. Especially for men, Well Baskets, LLC has some truly delicious food baskets.

Birthday Flower Arrangements

If you have a friend or relative’s birthday coming up and you don’t quite know what to give her, flowers could be a good idea. If you can’t choose the flowers, leave it to a florist, he will ask you questions about the birthday girl and select the flowers accordingly. Besides sending on beautiful flowers, florists’ websites also send fruit baskets and personal care items as birthday gifts.

If you’ve decided on flowers, you can choose flowers specific for her birth month. If her birthday is in January, send her carnations; in February, violets; March, jonquils; April, sweet peas; May, lilies; June, roses; July, larkspurs; August, gladioli; September, asters; October, calendulas; November, chrysanthemums; and December, narcissuses.

For younger women and girls, your flower arrangements could be based on a flower theme for her birthday party. You could create large paper blooms, perhaps of sunflowers, and do up T-shirts with flowers in thumbprint designs and get them to carry cake and confectionery bouquets.

Begin with the party invitations and design them in the shape of large flowers with each petal bearing all the details of your party. Make these cards with a sheet of card paper from which you will need to cut four-inch long petals. Now, cut a 1.5-inch diameter circle from the remaining sheet. In each petal, punch two holes, one in the center and the other at the narrow end. Pile up all the petals and cover them with the circle, ensuring that the holes are in line with each other and stick them together with tape. Open each flower and write the details of your party on each petal.

Birthday E Cards

As part of the convenience brought by the internet is the ability to send out electronic cards or e-cards. As long as you have an internet connection, an e-card allows you to send out greetings in the comfort of your own home, anytime, anywhere. You can find internet sites that offer services for free, or those that simply ask for donations to keep the website operational, or actual greeting card sites that require you to become a member before you can download a card.

Delivery

E-cards utilize the e-mail technology to deliver the card. Most of the services send the card immediately after you press the send button on the page, but there are selected providers that allow you to select the date of delivery. There are some sites that send the actual card directly to the recipient in the form of an e-mail, but usually what is sent is just a link pointing to the actual location of the e-card. The link usually points back to the provider. Once the card is viewed by the intended receiver, a notification is sent back to the sender.

Types of E-Cards

The basic type of e-card is a static image. The image usually includes depiction of a gift, a party celebration, banners, a birthday cake, birthday candle, party hats, wine glasses, or anything that is related to birthdays. You have the option to include your own message or send it as is, just including the information for the sender and the receiver. If you include a customized message, depending on the e-card and the provider, the message can be written on top of the image on the predefined space, or it would be placed outside of the image.

Another type of e-card which is growing in popularity is the animated card. This type of card would have the same set of contents as static images, but areas of the image are moving and there can also be inclusions of sounds and background music. The message is usually embedded in the card and cannot be customized. If there are additional messages aside from the preset one, it would be placed outside of the animation.

Disadvantage

The only disadvantage of sending an e-card is that there is no way to save the card. Although providers do not immediately delete the card right after it is viewed, but the cards are kept only for a limited period of time, so eventually the recipient can no longer go back and appreciate these cards.

Bedroom decorating

People find their ways at the end of a tiring day to the bedroom. Your bedroom has to be peaceful and away from the noises and distractions. Proper planning is required so that your bedroom could be the ultimate place to relax yourself. Your bedroom should not only be airy, but also see to it that too much sunlight does not enter inside during daytime. Such arrangement is necessary for all those people who work late nights and try to catch up on their lost sleep.

Keep all the distracting items such as the television, radio or even the computer away from your bedroom. Your bedroom should be equipped to completely let you relax and remind you only of your home.

Your bedroom should be painted with cool colors such as blue or green, as these colors are very soothing and can help you better relax. Colors such as red or orange would only excite you and should be avoided in the bedroom. Make your bedroom have a “personality” of its own. Try using one of those wall-hangings, paintings or one of your favorite posters. Decorative pieces could also be a great addition to your bedroom.

Curtains or blinds not only help you control the amount of sunlight into your room, but also give you a great feeling when you look at its designs. Venetian blinds make your bedroom look cooler and they allow just the right amount of sunlight to come in.

You need to choose the right form of lighting to give your bedroom the finishing touches. A lamp or spot lights can help create the right atmosphere for your bedroom. Your bedroom is now the place to retreat. Of course, you can always add your own decorations to this room to give it a personal touch.