Making do, with what we have

[Tracy D'Amico]

Do you test the brandy snifter to make sure it won't crack or shatter with the heat of a candle? Just a liability question.

good question - we did. We made this for a demo at a ladies' club meeting last month, and brought it back to the shop to test after. Also have to make sure the leaves inside the snifter are below the flame line.

We also did one with 'water pearls' , even cooler.

 

[Petals]

Tracy, just caught a glimpse of this post and it intriques me... have to take the time to read it all later but have to say I am impressed with the hurricane idea. Can't wait to implement it!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Kim

 

[OB1]

We get alot of 4 and 5 inch phaleonopsis plants , and they always seem to come in terra cotta pot covers...not very sellable in our market. Turns out we cannot get a better deal without the pots so...Suddenly we realized we had over 50 of them piled up, so we purchased a can of lime green, and a can of black paint...After we painted the pots, they flew out the door! All of a sudden they look very high end...(Sold them for 5$ each!)
I noticed that the tangerines in the grocery stores are sold in wooden boxes, so I approached the grocery store, and asked them if we could have all the boxes they discard.
We line them with heavy plastic, and cover the outside with bark and moss...we sell them for 10.00 each, and they fly out the door. We even have cutomers who bring them to us rather than throw them out.
We have lots of customers drop off their unwanted old baskets they have recieved flowers and plants in...we spray them with black tremclad, and reuse them...we give the donors free flowers for their kindness, and sell the baskets for 5$ each...it's almost like free money!

 

[sloan]

Very inspiring thread! I found a huge wreath (came with the shop I purchased three years ago), that was made out of the ugliest, brightest, crappiest flowers ever! I spray painted it today with a bronze colored textured spray paint today. It's gorgeous! Thanks so much for the inspiration!

 

[Lady Biker Florist]

I don't remember exactly where I read this, but one time a lady shop owner had to go out of town for a couple days for some event and her niece filled in for her. Can't remember any details about why the niece was a designer, but when the shop owner returned the niece had used her time wisely and made creative use of shelves full of "what we label junk".

Sometimes it takes an objective eye to see the treasure in our junk!

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

more 'Junk'

Wedding baskets, BEFORE - old school with the ginormous Vampire collar. AFTER - trimmed and will make lovely wedding stands, AND they're waaaay easier to store.

Antique metal creamer - pewter I think, with more 'junk' white silk carns that I have hundreds of. The don't look so cheapo with starfish, shells, other white flowers. The bent rim hidden by tulip leaves. Shabby Chic, right?

Chipped antique saucer & dish - the scrappy ivy leaves are glued over the chips, front & back. All silks were salvaged from a re-do for a corporate customer.

 

[roysecityfloristand gifts]

Tracy beautiful ideas. In fact the creamer looks to have a Jadite (green) base on it, very collectable. Great use of lovely vintage chipped china as well.

Years ago in Victoria magazine, I read of a very successful shop somewhere in NY that used vintage containers only. The work was amazing.

Great idea to set your shop apart...that is using vintage containers instead of the same old glass.

This style would suit your beautiful house (shop) too.

 

[flower fiddler]

Tracy....god only knows what you're capable of with a roll of duck tape. Great inspiration for the catch-all shelf we all seem to have in our shops.

 

[DistinctiveFlorist]

Tracy, did the collar come off the wedding stand easily enough?

Wanda

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

Tracy, did the collar come off the wedding stand easily enough?

Wanda

surprisingly, yes. I figured we had nothing to lose, since I couldn't rent them as is. Cut the vertical ribs, just above the metal basket, all the way around, and the collar drops right off. I think he used old worn wire cutters to snap the ribs. Seems sturdy too - we had thought it would continue to shred, but the paint holds it together pretty well.

 

[OB1]

Being the terrible spendthrift that I am, I found another good idea today.
I was loking for something cheap, or free, to deliver a few hand-tieds in fr a wedding tommorrow, and came upon a huge box of plastic jars that we had saved from artificial snow. (Snow-Real) I prefer to re-package it in our own containers, so it looks more like a custom Mill Street product. So here I found a hundred or more sturdy plastic jars.
I covered them with about 8" of Aspidistra 4" wide ribbon, and I can't believe how great it looks. I'm sure I can sell each one for 3$ each and make a sturdy profit. They will look awesome with a couple of amaryllis and hypericum. Just thinking out loud.
I wonder if it would work with tomato soup cans?...Hey, that cost of goods just came down a bit more!

 

[TGDragonfly]

I'm ready to do my year end cleaning and will go through my stock and pull out all my onesy twosy ceramic containers and pour candle wax in the converting them to candles. I save up all my used pillars from events but buying wax (flack form I recommend) is the best way to go because melt time is faster that block but more expensive. I do buy soy wax because it's a easy sale for green weddings. I love doing this, it's fun. A container that cost me a couple of bucks can be converted to ten. By myself, I can make 100 candles in a day. I usually feed them in multiple centerpiece collections for wedding tabletop decor, but I intend to do lots of them when we go retail.

My new favorite scent is Cherry Tobacco. I love the masculine scents. You would probable laugh at my set up, I have bought the expensive melting pot but never use it anymore. I use two old electric countertop portable burners that I found at thrift stores and aluminum pitchers also found at garage sales so that I don't have to clean because of color changes.

Sometimes I take boring ceramics and glue gems or botanics for a funky look, possibilities are endless. I have a 5 gallon bucket with the clamp lid that I fill with urethane and dunk dip the finished container, it seals everything nicely and makes the finished piece solid looking.

 

[FloralFantasies]

... I use two old electric countertop portable burners that I found at thrift stores and aluminum pitchers also found at garage sales so that I don't have to clean because of color changes.

Sometimes I take boring ceramics and glue gems or botanics for a funky look, possibilities are endless. I have a 5 gallon bucket with the clamp lid that I fill with urethane and dunk dip the finished container, it seals everything nicely and makes the finished piece solid looking.

What a great idea Thom! I would love to give this a try. So you melt "used" candles in the aluminum pitchers? Do you need to coat the inside of them with anything (oil?) to keep the wax from sticking? Or do you just reheat and pour out as much as possible?

This is a great idea for adding unique, handmade products to our shops!

 

[TGDragonfly]

You don't need to coat the pour containers. The coating melts when you use them again. Over the years I have tried various color mixes, you buy small color blocks and experiment till you get the right color, so I have several various containers for each color. My colors of preference are white, amber, pastel pink, those three are best because they compliment anything and everything. You will need a boil pot to but they are easy to find for water.

There are several candle making supply companies online that you can pick from that provide great service and affordable supplies. Most companies offer customer service and I suggest you call them and tell them what you are doing so that they can advice you which wicks to use for the best burn. Plus several sites offer instructions which cut out a lot of trial and error. I am enjoying the soy wax blends and are finding them a easy sell for green conscious brides.

 

[FloralFantasies]

For those who want to explore making their own candles, I found this website by Bitter Creek Candle Supply, Inc.:

www.candlesupply.com

Besides selling candle making supplies, it has lots of instructions on not only making candles, but aroma beads, bath salts, potpourri, sachets.

 

[roysecityfloristand gifts]

As a along time professional candle maker, if you decide to try candle making PLEASE
be very careful. It can be dangerous for the novice.

There are very specific receipes for combining ingredients, color, scent, kinds of wax,
heat required, wick size (length,tab,material) etc.

Thom is using a good heat source the old table top electric burners. NEVER use your GAS (flame) stoves. You'll get a big fire ball, and may end up with no eyebrows.

One thing you must never do is empty a wax pot then sit that empty pot back on the hot burner. Gases form in the pot and it will create a fireball that shoots up to your ceiling and sprays wax bits all over the room.

Pouring votive sizes from alum votive forms, and pouring direct into glass jars requires different wax combinations, additives,wicks,heat,cooling time before top off pour etc.

Candle making is fun, but please be careful.

 

[Twila]

This reminds me of the first time my Mom and I ever made candles. We had a fire (or something). Anyway, we spilled melted wax over the entire stove top and counter. Dad was at a meeting when this all happened, so we worked like crazy to get it all cleaned up before he came home. I don't think we ever did admit to what happened. It's one of those memories that I always think of when I do candles (tho it's been a long time)

 

[802pianoluver]

Has anyone ever painted over old ceramic containers that have out dated designs on them? What type of of paint adheres well? Thanks for any info!!!

 

[roysecityfloristand gifts]

There is a new spray paint by Krylon that is made to work on plastics, bet it would work on slick ceramics too.

Also there is a bottle of paint on craft paints made for glass, same idea slick surface.

If you decide to try it, clean the old ceramic, then wipe it down with alcohol to remove any hand oils. The problem with plastics (why Krylon came up with the new paint) is that they have a slick oily coating on them. Learned this from experience when I had lettered over 30 giant megaphones.