good luck and good riddance

Good things are happening, Soon I will have more money to get supplies I found out why paypal wasn't charging my customers for shipping and can get that fixed. So I say hello to good things and Good bye to all the bad things that have been tormenting me good things are going to happen, I will be happy and financially successful, love will find me and all will be right with the world.

Tip of the day
Gel
If you have a Gel candle with decorations and some how it has bubbled up and you don't like the bubbles turn your oven on to 200 and put the candle on a cookie sheet leave it in the oven for like 20 min then put it directly in the fridge, now if there are things floating in the gel this will make them sink. Thank you enjoy and have a good day.

Rainy days and Mondays

The classic song states that "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down" which I never understood cause I love the rain and Monday's are cool, I always feel on Monday's that anything is possible its a clean slate a fresh start and you can go anywhere and do anything. So today I woke up and looked out my window and took a deep breath of the morning air and thought wow this is a good day and its going to be a great week. I am going to be able to make all my candles and get the shipping working on the website so that I don't have to pay out of pocket for shipping, yeah for some reason pay pal wasn't charging people for shipping. So today I say aloud Thank you for this wonderful day and for the smile that I have kept with me.

Tip of the Day
Cleaning
If you are anything like my parents were or a good friend of mine is you have been at a street fair or in a shop some where and saw I beautiful art piece candle some decorative thing like a molded cat candle that looks like your cat or, you randomly found a candle that is in a mug for a beautiful place you once visited so you put this on a shelf in your home to display it and it looks so pretty but you don't light it cause you don't want to mess up the piece and as with most of us you dust your furniture and maybe use one of those yellow wand things to dust your knick knacks, but you find that after time your pretty kitty candle has turned dull and has a layer of dust and grime on it but you don't know what to do cause you are afraid of messing up the colors or what ever container that the candle is in, but you have to do something cause really its starting to look nasty. Well my friends you don't have to stay up and look for a new miracle cleaner on late night infomercials or just scrap your nice little candle cause your afraid of messing it up. This is a case of simple and easy is the best way to go, now you want to be careful cause well in the case of the cat candle you don't want to get all aggro on it and break of an ear off, so with candles you always want to remember that heat is not its friend but we all know that hot water or steam is the best way to clean so how can we do this.First dish soap and warm water not tepid but about 80 to 100 degrees will work perfectly and you want a washcloth or soft towel you can even use a paper towel, the best thing to do would be fill up your sink with warm water and a little bit of dish soap, then place the candle in the sink let it sit for 5 to 15 min then gently wipe off with cloth, you might need to repeat this depending upon the amount of grime, once its all clean and your satisfied just set it on a dry cloth or paper towel till its dry. Thank you if you have any questions feel free to ask and visit me at papabearcandles.weebly.com if you would like to buy some candles.

The hills are alive

This morning I woke up at like 6:30 not sure why I went out of my room and notices my roommates door was closed so I decided to go and lay back down, so I got back up at 7:30 and went for  a walk, good roommate cause I get back home and he is helping me by cleaning in my room that rocks. What doesn't is the fact that my house is starting to smell like kitty poop ewww it made me realize that I need to put my tips into effect, although it would be easier if they would learn to use the litter box instead of pooping all over the house I am tired of cleaning up kitty poop, and since there not dogs its not like you can rub there noses in it. So I am looking up kitty training, hopefully it will work cause they are cute and I like them a lot. next step is naming them comment with any suggestions, if you go to my facebook page you will be able to see pictures of them.

Tip of the day
decoration
In a world of mass produced candles and home make over shows where we feel like every couple months we have to move everything around and repaint and that for some reason the inside of our house has to look better then the homes on the magazines and the only people making money are the ones selling us how to make everything look better.Well if you are low on funds and you want to Britten up your home, you can accentuate what you have a little flare can make your home or office look new first step people is always clean and dust, I am sorry but you can have the most expensive furniture but if you don't maintain a small level of cleanliness in your home your house will look like it came of parks and recreation magazine, so use that vacuum and dust, that is step one in making your house no matter what your price range is look like a million bucks step two is simple and yes like always it involves candles, what we want to do is create a focal point and no your focal point should be your giant flat screen TV, say you have a decorative vase you can accentuate the vase with a couple of nice candles pillar with a nice color and a good scent. Thank you I hope you like my tips and questions go to papabearcandles.weebly.com and fill out the comment card.

Winds of change

Today I got my new Birthcertificate in the mail, it means I can get a job which means there will be more funds to filter into my candle business, I have been looking for work everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Still taking orders at my website papabearcandles.weebly.com

Tip of the day
maintance
we all like the look of a matted candle they are pretty and have wonderful colors , the problem is like glass or stainless silver, finger prints well guys like those two you can get the finger prints off your candles the same way a cloth and some cleaner and there you go fingerprint free candles. Thank you

Save my house

I posted this on face book and automatically thought about screech from saved by the bell, if you didn't know a few years ago he put up a website requesting donations to save him from being foreclosed upon, I am just trying to make rent by selling candles so go to papabearcandles.weebly.com


Tip of the day
Pay it forward
We all have the mind set even if its buried some where where we see a little trinket and think of friends or family well think about it this way if just 100 people buy 1 of my 15 candles that means I will not be homeless so pay it forward people, my candles are great quality better then those ones that people will go to the chain stores and pay 30 bucks for one candle, and saving me from being on the streets also helps save this little blue orb we live on, so save my home and save the planet cause I only use renewable sources for my candles. Thank you

New day new drama

While I am doing everything I can to try and get everyone I know on board to support http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1206014254/the-worlds-first-pop-up-cookbook?ref=live so my friend/business partner Brandon Chadbourne can get his book started I am also thinking of new and exciting candles. I would like to take the information I got from the mug site I went to the other day and see if I can drum up some business to make some candles for those places, so say I get an order for a Denver candle I can make it scented mountain rain and make the candle broncos colors .

Top of the day.
Fragrances
OK so we all have done this made a wonderful dinner curry or 20 clove garlic chicken, and while it makes our homes smell great while were cooking the scent can linger and, unless we are in gilroy California having our homes smell like garlic all the time not the best, also a turn off if your dating a vampire I'm just saying. So how to clear those out with out having to spraying some heavy scent to mask the other one, and this will also help those with allergies unless you have an allergy to citrus take the peels from lemon or orange, place them in a small pot on your stove top with some water about half way up the pot then place on a simmer you never want to let this come to a rolling boil cause this could be bad. So keep it at a simmer and leave it alone in a little bit the strong Oder will be gone replaced by a gentle citrus scent once that is done to keep the scent from coming back and well to help your disposal if you have one throw the peels down the disposal and turn the water and the disposal on, if you have a compost just throw the peels on your compost. If those options wont work don't leave the citrus peels in the open they have absorbed the Oder's and will release them back into the air if you leave them out. Thank you for reading have a great day.

International

Well I have a small following I looked at the stats and someone from Germany looked at my blog that's kind of cool. I am thinking of new and exciting candles to make I went to a page yesterday that has mugs from all over the US states and city's I figured I could get mugs from there and make a series of candles for the different city's maybe I will advertise that on my website and see if I get any bites from people, my next venture for that will be sports mugs I live in Colorado and once you decide to make residency her you have to pledge your love to the broncos so I figured I could make some broncos candles maybe some KC for my brother, maybe even make some mugs for those raiders fans out there.

Tip of the Day
relaxation
every once in a while we all want those calgon moments where we can just be relaxed and taken away, and with there being spa's everywhere now and the economy being tough, people are interested in bringing the spa experience home, which means bath salts, candles in the bathroom and aroma therapy, well those things are easier then you think, if you go to the store you are sure to find some special bath salts that are expensive but you can simply get some basic Epsom salt which is usually in the first aid area of your mega mart and it has the same effect candles well most of us have a few and that can add ambiance as well as aroma therapy and this can be done with out having to go to a chain store and buying a candle at 30 bucks a pop, and no you don't have to go for the sickly sweet scent of vanilla or clean laundry which may make you think of chores, lavender is a candle I sell and it is a wonderful candle for being beautiful as well as aroma therapy, it will relax you and you will get swept away, so throw some Epsom salt in your bath light up the lavender candle and turn down the lights, don't forget to pop in a movie or something to occupy any kids or spouse you might have so you can have some you time. Thank you for reading post questions or comments and go to papabearcandles.weebly.com to purchase some of my candles if you would like a state candle or a sports candle just fill out the contact me form and I will take care of that for you.

Crania rectal inversion

At one time or another in our lives we all know someone that has this if not our selves. The important question is what measures do we take to not have this happen, well we start by loving our selves those who know me might snicker that I am saying it but it is important, second screw what everyone else thinks be yourself. You may ask Justin what does this have to do with candle making, well apparently still in 2011 crafts are female centric so I get scoffed at when I tell people what I do. Well I am hear to say the nay Sayers can get on there bikes and just pedal there huffy butts out of here, not only do I find my craft therapeutic, but I am good at it I make beautiful candles and I also happen to be a man get over it and enjoy the candle love.

Tip of the day
scents
I have noticed at my supplier that like chips and other things our fragrances are getting more interesting , I saw a dill pickle fragrance, and a Mary Jane fragrance, funny those that smoke that herb make huge efforts to not smell like it but apparently it is a fragrance people like. So I say comment on fragrances you like that might not be common place like rose or gardenia or Cinnamon, peoples let your freak flag fly now if you follow me on facebook the assignment is to post as a comment the most unlikely fragrance you like. I will start mine is obsession for men I don't wear that scent but my Dad did and when ever I smell it I feel wrapped in warmth and its like I have just come home. I am lucky that my roommate has that he doesn't wear it but I can smell the bottle and be happy

Sad

Life is hard a lot. Sadness comes upon you, and sometimes its hard to keep going, but thats what you have to do, keep going. The one day at a time is the best and well only approch, if you think you can do more then that you are breaking the laws of physics.

Tip of the day

Relax sometimes you need to just relax after you have made sure you candle wicks are a safe length, light them and just relax and enjoy the glow of your candles, maybe read a book or watch a movie.

Life as we know it

My bestie/business partner brought us home, well Brought Me home some kitties, I wish I could tell you how cute they are but for the time being they are hiding under his bed. I made some more candles and posted them to the order site, I am going to load some pictures here.

Tip of the day
recycling
Well we all want to be green, I do that by mostly using renewable sources, In about a week I will post I similar tip as a video blog so it might be easier to follow for some written out and others will find the video more helpful. We all have had them from time to time left over pieces of candles here and there or a container candle that didn't burn all the way, so what to do with those you can throw them away or you can recycle them and make a new candle, this is fun to do by your self or if you have kids and you like to do crafts with them you can include them in this first thing is if there is a previous wick find the metal end and disgard it it will only get in the way. What you will need is a microwave, microwave safe container, 2 pennies, thick string or yarn(hemp is the best for this application and can be purchased at most craft stores and walmarts), your left over pieces of candles, a stiring tool(if you have recently had chinese this is a good way to either reuse your chop sticks or a reason not to throw them away. So first you want to stack the 2 pennies and then tie the string around them you want to make sure it is tied in 2 directions so that if you are looking at it from the bottom it will look like a cross hairs, when your done tieing the string make sure there is at least 7 inches hanging from the end of the pennies or if your container is bigger then that make sure you have at least 3 extra inches of string. Now you can take the remaining pieces of candle you have (remember no metal ends we are using a microwave) place them in the microwave safe container, also make sure that you have cleaned out the container your going to use(if you are using a container that previously had a candle in it just make sure there isn't dust in it and no soot around the top, but leave any candle was thats in the container in that container) once you have the pieces of wax in the microwave safe dish you can start heating it up, think of your wax like chocolate, if you put chocolate in the microwave to melt you only want to do short bursts of heat at a time and it may be melted even if it doesn't totally look melted, so place use 30 seconds at a time depending on how much wax you have this could take a few minutes now realize it is not a short cut to just put the timer on 2 min this is a fire risk and you could get burned so just 30 seconds at a time remember to stir each time the microwave goes off, now once everything is melted you are looking for a consistance between a milkshake and hot choco. remember to stir it now take your stiring tool and tie the end of the string which is now your wick to it and place it in the container your candle will be in you want to make sure the pennies touch the bottom but that your wick is taunt if the wick is hanging loose two things can happen one it wont be centered, and two it could form a air pocket which could cause a blow out if your not careful. once you have your wick set you can grab the microwave safe container from the microwave it will be hot so I suggest pot holders then you pour it into its final container, then in about 2 hours it will be fully set and you can cut off the remaining string. We all have the urge to touch the candle or to check the wax but trust me set it aside leave it alone for 2 hours and your patience will be rewarded with a new candle. Thank you for reading and comment or email me with any questions. Also remember to visit me at Papabearcandles.weebly.com if you want to purchase, paypal is live now, also you can send me comments from there, and if you would like you can join my facebook group just search for Papabearcandles on facebook.

Monday morning Blues

Ever woke up and felt a funk and didn't want to do anything but roll over and go back to sleep, well get over it this is all about candle love people.

tip of the day
fragrance
always remember if you want to keep your fragrances fresh if you have a candle that offers covering it such as a container with a lid when your not burning the candle or using the warmer always remember to cover it, also if you are using a warmer and your not going to burn your candle, try to use tweezers to remove the wick from the candle when the wax is melted if your concerned about spilling don't worry about it, but removing the wick will help preserve the fragrance.

happy sunday

So I am pulling for wed of next week for a full launch of the pay site I have pictures of some candles to upload I am making some more samples today for loading the great thing about samples is I can recycle them for other projects of my own. I thank my friend for giving me an idea of flame candles they are interesting to make and once I am successful I will post a pic of one.

tip of the day
good smells
In these days where the air in our homes is 90% worse then the air outside we are surround by stink and dust motes and just gross things, indoor allergies are horrible, and we want our homes to be clean but we also want them to smell nice cause that sterile hospital smell is not always prefered, but most of us don't want the air so saturated with fragrance that we taste is so where is the balance, can we get away with a couple candles or one of those plug in things. Well lets start with those plug in things they are oil in a container with a warmer at the top and some have a fan to help disperse the fragrance I would be lying if I didn't say that I have owned and use such products even thought about making something like this for people using standard warmers cause it would be easy to do, but a few months ago I moved and when I did I had to repaint my old walls where I had used those plugin things a lot and I was discusted by the discoloration of the walls it was bad and at that point I realized that such measures arnd any better for the air quality then simply spraying the masking the oders, its adding chemicals to the air, and as for candles if used properly and safely they do the same thing, unfortunlatly there is no way around adding things to the air so there are a few suggestions to help, first make sure that the air filters in your home are good and not caked with dust then you want to make sure if you have carpeting you vaccum your home or carpeted areas of your home twice a week unless you have like a monster vaccum from like 1985 modern vaccums have filters upon filters to help remove stuff from the carpet and not spit it back into the surrounding air, if your allergies are bad you can get a air filter or try a humidifer, interesting thing if the air is moist what happens is the forign particles will be likely to do two things, first they will become larger making it so that they wont cause allergies cause they cant make it into the system cause they are too large, second and the more likely they will become sturated with the moisture in the air and simply fall to the ground making it easy to clean up. So what do we do, well no matter what if we add fragrance to the air particals are going to be the air, fragrance is simply a chain of hydrocarbons bonded together, so a few suggestions, a warmer get a container candle and a warmer that way you can get the fragrance with out dealing with soot from burning the candle another suggestion, and something I am currently doing in my home and have done for years, and can use simple ingredents most of the time present in most homes so lets say you love the scent of apple pies well all you need to do is get a small pot add water some left over apple cores or peals add some lemon juice or leave it out some clove cinnimon and some confectioners sugar then put it on your stove top and turn it to its lowest setting or you can use this on a warmer what will happen is the liquid will come to a simmer and the fragrance will evaporate into the air the great thing about this is that if you want to continue to use that fragrance just add more water these should last you up to to weeks if you continue to add more water then simply clean out the pot and you are able to create a different fragrance, say you love Itialian food then you can put water in the pot with chopped onion some garlic and some Itialian spices and your home will smell like the kitchen of your favorite restarunt expand your mind and you will be able to make wonderful scents. Thank you for reading my blog remember any questions just comment or email me.

watership down

It has become more difficult to come and post since sprint is doing something with my Internet access, thank God for wifi hot spots like my pool where I'm posting right now. weebly is still a work in progress I will keep you updated.

Tip of the day.
Maintainince
Well the other day I was talking a little about clean up of was I thought I would delve more into that, as always personal life is a mirror for posting so. Spills of wax on hard surfaces or rugs, the latter is more difficult so I will go over the hard surfaces first. As always you want to let the wax harden first that is the key to easy clean up now if it is a big spill you can surround it with paper towels or tissue to make it so the spill will not go any further, once it has hardened you can take a butter knife and simply scrape up the majority of the wax from the hard surface, after that is done you can use the solvant I told you about the other day or you can take a washcloth and use hot water and wipe up the remainder with that now you want really hot water cause you are going to be melting what ever wax is left over to wipe it up, but again you want to make sure that is as small an amount as possible for ease of clean up. Now to those rugs like I had said before if you have a steamer these can be a breeze but if not it can become difficult first things first, you want to let it harden now most of us use rugs to cover high traffic areas on hard surfaces or to decorate if your rug is on a carpet you want to make sure the wax didn't seep through to the carpet if it has use the steps I went over in my last blog to clean that up first, then to the rug. I put it together with the hard surface cause it can be cleaned like a hard surface you just want to add one item. So get the wash cloth with hot water on it use that to dab at the area it should melt the wax now your added item a towel can be a dish towel or a hand towel or even a bath towel but not paper towel cause that will leave a mess, now take your towel not giving the area much of a chance to cool down and put the towel on the area make sure you use pressure it will absorb the wax that has melted, remember don't rub you will only make the affected area larger and instead of cleaning up the wax you will spread it around, it may take a few times but this will get the wax completely off now if it doesn't use a solvent cleaner and press to pick up the wax don't rub. Thank you for reading remember ask those questions so I have more to give tips on. next post I will be talking about recycling old wax to make new candles and be working into interducing my video tips.

Hello to a new day

Today is a lovely day, and here I am with some more candle advise and tips as well as some more information about the building of the paysite where you can purchase. It is up its a work in progress papabearcandles.weebly.com

Tip of the day
Maintaining your candles
One of the most dangerous and messy things you can have with a candle be it container or pillar is a blow out, this happens in one of two ways. You have either burned your candle for to long or let the wick get to long. Now the danger is worse with container cause of flying debries and fire, plus the mess of cleaning up the wax and pieces of glass or what ever you candle was contained in. So always keep your wicks for burning less then a quarter of an inch long, and do your best to not burn your candles for more then 2 hours at a time. Keeping up with these two things will help you avoid setting fire to your home always a good thing as well those gross candle wax puddles that take forever to clean up. Now if you do have a blow out step one is put the candle out remember wax is a form of oil so dont use water to put the candle out you want to cover it with something to remove oxygen from the equation. Covering will also help minimize those messy wax spills. Now if your ready to clean up that mess the best way is steam cause it will clean up the mess as well as any stains and any left over scent(which is good if it got on the carpent and you have pets) if you dont have steam you always want to let the wax harden first it makes clean up alot easier and makes it less likely you will burn your self. Once its hardened you can brake up the pieces, and throw them in the trash now if its in the carpet break up as much as you can, then vaccum up the area before you add any cleaner, the reason is cleaners are solvents and will melt left over wax, now we all know not to use bleach directly unless you have white carpet, so what to do well you can use a carpet cleaner that is made for stain cleaning but if you dont have that simple vinagar, amonia, and warm water, equal parts should do the trick and yes I know vinagar can be stinky but just open a window and the smell will go away. Good luck and remember any questions I am your man.

First things first

In case you don't already know my name is Justin E Bupp, and I love to create art in the form of candles. From the first time I set up the double boiler I was hooked. Although I do dabble in paraffin from time to time, I love naturals such as Soy and Palm as I think they are beautiful. Pictured above are beautiful Starburst Palm candles. They make fantastic and unique designs. Through learning (which is a continual process) the art of candle making I have been educated on a lot of nifty tips so, since I want to teach people, that is what to expect on this blog. Weather or not you choose to buy my products which very from Candles both container and Pillar scented oil blends for diffusers, I will answer any candle question posted to me and I will also be giving advise like ways to recycle old candles and how to make your house smell wonderful even if you have pets or allergies to scents. I will start out with a quick tip say you were at the mega mart or you went to some chain store and spent 30 bucks on a 6 in pillar candle (BTW that's way to much ) and you don't have a stand for it a nice small plate would be a great stand in or if you are concerned about the dreaded drip over then you can simply use one of those plastic wear containers that you can get at your local mega mart for under 5 dollars, the great thing about those is they will catch the drip and make sure there is no over poor, and they allow for you to make the center piece your candle and not what your using to display the candle. So I do hope you enjoy this blog I hope that you will find the pictures that I post beautiful and the advise I give is useful to you and that if you do enjoy both or either you decide when I link the pay area to the blog to buy my candles I will have both stock candles such as white vanilla and red brown cinnamon but I will also be taking custom orders, I also have a PapaBear Candles http://www.facebook.com/?tid=10150251165061778&sk=inbox#!/groups/180084112056637/?ap=1 group on facebook so follow me maybe if I get enough requests I might even break down and do that twitter thing. Thank you for taking the time to visit my page.