Hello, I read your post and use to buy & sell Party Lite candles. I stopped using them when I found out that Party Light candles are not all made here in the USA which we did not like since we had no knowledge of the quality of the materials used in making their candles. We agree, Party Lite had a nice scent throw but the soot is far too much for our liking. We couldnt help wonder what it was doing to our lungs. So to find a healthier alternitive to burning candles, Many years ago, I became interested in making my own candles. I have sold them in my own retail locations for years. I have made all sort of candles using many types of waxes. Overall (next to beeswax) we prefer soy wax. There is no dispute that soy wax is a much cleaner wax to burn. We have had great results from our soy candles and our customers come back for more. We found that measuring our fragrances by weight, not by volume gave us a better scent throw. We also found that buying a higher quality of fragrance oil also worked well for us. At times, depending on the fragrance, we have used 1.5 ounces (by weight) of fragrance oil per pound of wax. Keep in mind, wax is like a sponge and can only hold so much fragrance oil. Too much oil and you can get the opposit effect and have a poor scent throw. It is important to mix the fragrance oils very well to make sure they bind to the wax. Without aggitating, we mix ours for about two minutes. Hope this is helpful. Debbie

Always used Briwax on ours. This finish is kind of a pain to keep up--it looks trashed unless recently waxed. The waxing requires a LOT of elbow grease to buff out grease, scratches and water marks with fine steel wool before applying the wax. You can A) Use a tablecloth for everyday and save some labor time. B) Wax every few weeks (depends on usage, of course) C) Just let it go and it will eventually get SO bad that all of the marks blend together. My mom did this with hers and it was fine. Kind of like marble etching on the counter.... It is a unique and beautiful finish--just annoying to keep up.

I think you can preserve fresh flowers using glycerine. I believe you stick the cut end of the stem into the glycerine and let the plant take it up like water. Google for real directions. I've seen pressed flowers sealed between sheets of wax paper, then ironed to seal. kind of like paraffin...

There are 3 ways that I can think of; dipping, molding or rolling. Dipping or molding candles requires you to melt the wax. Rolling requires you to get beeswax sheets and roll them around wicks. This is the method I use, as it is the least messy and calls for minimal equipment.