Different way to make BT's

So after my first experience in making my own basket testers I ended up buying a whole new set of PT since alot of my jars just looks bad. Many of the labels were ugly due to the water and like 3 of the jars were a little warped. It wasn't a big deal since I made 6 sets...I needed a new set anyways. I got my PT transition kit and it was time to make the transition kits for my BT again. I was only needing to make 3 sets and I didn't want to make my new PT ugly in the first month:-) I searched the forum and found a post where Kris Johnson (I think was her name) talked about the oven method. I was a little nervous thinking it would melt my plastic containers, but I think I read thru 6 pages of comments and just sucked it up and tried it. (I want to add first that many people say microwaves sometimes warp your PT's and a hair dryer just blows the melted wax all over the place...I tried the hair dryer and wasn't happy with that)

I'd first suggest getting yourself organized first. I separated my 3 sets of BT and alphabetized them to make them easier to find. I did the same to my PT's.
So I grabbed the PT and the matching 3 BT and brought them to my counter. I don't own a melon baller so I just used my metal 1/2 tsp. measuring spoon to scoop. The reason I chose the 1/2 tsp size was because the size of the 1/9oz containers matched the size of the 1/2 tsp.

Start by doing shallow scoops. Remember you don't need a lot to get the scent strong enough. This was one of my first ones so it's not very pretty. I soon figured out how big my scoop should be for each container.

I didn't have much spillage over the edge as long as my wax wasn't hanging over the container when I put it in the oven.

I lined a cookie sheet with wax paper for easier clean up. Then I put enough BT to fill the sheet.

My first batch I set my oven at 170 (the coolest it would go...I was still nervous of melting my containers) But it really didn't get very hot so I quit being a sissy and put it up to 200 degrees.

This is after about 5 minutes. Every oven is different so I'd say start with 5 minutes if you are melting the same size and then go from there. As you can see some where still a little more solid than I wanted.

Mine ended up taking closer to 7 minutes. Again, this is just a guide line so always watch your oven. I was SOOOO happy my containers didn't melt. They weren't even hot to handle! A little warm though. I just left them alone while I made the next batch on a new cookie sheet so they could cool enough to close them up. It took about 10 minutes to cool off.

Now...as for my PT...I just did this yesterday so I wasn't really caring about the appearance of these. So if you have suggestions on how to make them "pretty" again please at a comment! The red PT on the left I popped in my microwave for 30 seconds just to melt the left over shavings so I could take the back of a plastic spoon and smooth out the wax. The tan wax on the right is what is looked like before I did anything to it. Right now I'm ok with the dug out part as long as it wasn't choppy looking. I wish I had dug out around the edges more than going down the center so much. But for now I'm going to leave it alone. I think if I have a really warm day here I might put them outside to soften up enough to mess with it. I just really hate "melting" the wax the a liquid form. I just think the less you mess with the wax the longer it will last. Again, if you have any ideas please let me know!

I also saw this on the forum so I take no credit in the cuteness of it! You can find these little snap containers at Office Max. They came in different sizes so I could fit all the "Favorites" into one container and a smaller one to hold the smaller categories. I then printed off what was in the container onto 2x4 labels and put them on the lid.

And I found this makeup bag in the cosmetic department of Walmart. All the containers fit into it with a little room for a bar, car candle and a Room Spray. I wouldn't be able to fit any order forms but I just use a 5x8 binder for my hostess for that.

I hope you enjoyed learning a different way to make BT. I really liked this method better than the water bath! Less cleanup and didn't take long at all. If you have any suggestions for comments please feel free to do so. I can be reached at igowickless@hotmail.com . The containers I bought at www.samplecontainerstore.com They are the 1/9 oz size. You can purchase full sets or transitions from then with labels. They are fast and I've been happy with how my BT's turn out!

(Many of you have emailed me to do instructions of the Plug In display. I'm sorry I suck and haven't gotten around to it yet! I just haven't made any more. So I'm going to be taking apart me current one and taking step by step pictures of it and I PROMISE to get the instructions up here this week! I PROMISE!! If I don't feel free to email me and harass me:-)

New URL address

If you are reading this post then you found my new blog address. The reason for the name change is because I'm a dumb dumb and forgot about using the "Scentsy" name in my title. It's against the rules and it was brought to my attention so I changed to www.ourwicklessteam.blogspot.com

How to make Samples

What you'll need to make your samples: A Brick or other Scentsy Bar, PYREX cup, Cutting Board, Knife, molds.

The first thing I do is cover my counter with wax paper for any spills. I use a PYREX measuring cup (1 cup size) because of it durability. Plastic containers can get very hot and melt or warp.

I start by cutting off one section at a time (1/6 of Brick is equivalent to 1 Scentsy Bar) and cutting into smaller cubes.

Put the cut up wax into the PYREX. You want to do small batches at a time so the wax doesn't have to get as hot and it will go faster.

I put it into my microwave and set my power at 5 or 50% and melt in 1 minute intervals for the first 3 minutes. At this point depending at how hot it is just go another 30 seconds.

Total melt time at 50% power takes me about 3 1/2 minutes. You don't need to melt 100%. Mine got about 90% and after I stirred for a second it melted the rest.

I bought my molds at Michael's. They are small enough to fit into my little baggies and I can get 100+ samples from each Brick. Carefully pour melted wax into molds. You might need a heat pad when handling the PYREX. Especially after many uses it is very hot.

I got 26 molds filled with that one section. Molds can also be bought at the dollar store, Walmart and other crafty stores. I know the Dollar Store sometimes sells the silicone ones and they are usually themed depending on the season. These tend to be too big for my baggies so I just stick with these.

I clear out my freezer and lay down wax paper. (I learned this lesson after I made a mess in my ice maker and had to defrost my freezer to fix it!) Leave them in there for about 10 minutes until they are hard.

Then just turn them over and gently press on them to pop them out. Again I do it on top of wax paper.

Here is my first batch of samples. Cute, huh?

Also at Michael's I buy the little bagettes. I get the 2 x 3 size. They can be found in the bead isle. I think it was around $2.99 for 175 bags. I also print out what the sample is on "return address" labels. They are 1/2 x 1 3/4 size. I buy the Avery brand and download template #5167 for these. Someones made a suggestion to add to your scent label a "warning that says something like, "Warm Me don't Eat Me!!! Candle wax sample". I like that idea so I'll be adding that to my scent label.

One option for handing out is to simply place a label with your info on it and the label stating what scent it is. (my info label is clear but the scent label is white-doesn't really matter just wanted to specify what you were seeing)

Or you can attach it to a business card. Right now money is tight so I don't have alot of business cards so labels is how I'm doing it for now.

Samples are a great way to get your name out there and leaving them a scent will hopefully get them coming back for more. If you get the SOTM/WOTM deal use your brick to make samples. When my customers aren't happy with a scent I take the unused bar back and replace it for them. I then make samples out of the rest of it.

If you have any questions for these please let me know. You can leave a comment or email me at rebeccakern1@hotmail.com If you have a different way in making your samples I'd love to hear about it.

(For those of you wanting to see the "How to make a Plug In display" I'll be putting that up late next week. If you would like to see anything else up here just let me know)

Thanks,

Becca

New Instructions Coming...

I've gotten alot of emails from people wanting instructions on the Plug In displays. I'll be making some more next week so I'll get the pics up by the end of next week. As a side note I didn't come up with these instructions. A gal on the Scentsy Forum had it posted. You can search for plugin display and find her instructions. She has a picture of the finished product just not detailed pics of a step by step which I will do.

I'm also going to be making some samples this week so I'll get that posted sometime in the next few days.

Thanks to all of you who are enjoying my site. If you'd like anything else done on here just let me know and I'll get it up.

Becca

How to make a Peg Board

Some one asked how I made the peg board from an earlier post. I didn't take pictures while I was making it but it is really easy so I'll just explain. I went to home depot and bought a 2 x 4 peg board. It came white but I spray painted it Black. My husband cut it into 3rd's (16 inch sections) then he put some hinges on to connect the peices. You can also have home depot cut the board for you if you can't do it yourself. Buy 4 hinges and attach sections together.



I decided for transporting reasons to tie some ribbon on both ends so it would be easy to carry. The way the hinges were put on the board, it didn't close in on itself easily. I think if I had put them on the back side it would have worked. I'm not sure...but by that point I didn't care. With it like this I'm able to keep some of my pegs still attached while folded. Which gave me less set up time.



The pegs I bought were the 6 inch ones. They hold 6 bars on them. I have 20 pegs that I space out on my board. I could easily have more on but I liked things more spaced out.



When I did my show I think I had around 70 bars on here. I was very happy with the look of the peg board being Black. It matched my Scentsy Table Cloth I got from Scentsy Success.

How to make Basket Testers at Home!!

To get started add enough water to a skillet to come just under the bottom of the lid of Party Testers. I did about 8 at a time. Heat at a low-medium temp. My stove temp goes from 1-10 and I had mine set to 4 the whole time. It took around 8 minutes to melt the PT about 75%. There's no need to melt all the way. Just enough so it is pourable. The bottom melts first so some times I used a tooth pick and carefully pushed down to still solid wax to bring the melted part to the top. I only had to do it a few times.

When they are melted enough remove from water bath and carefully open PT. I used a dish towel to help get a grip on jar. On some of my jars the plastic was really soft so again be careful when gripping and opening not to puncture or spill.

Here the wax is about 75% melted. All I did was slowly pour the wax into the Basket Tester containers. Depending on how fast you are working and how many you melted at a time, you might want to take the skillet off the burner and take one PT out at a time. Otherwise, take them all out and put your next set melting while you are pouring this set.

Be sure to have yourself completely organized before you start melting to wax. It goes much faster than you think! I was doing 2 sets today so I had all my containers in alphabetic order and separated for the two sets. I didn't want to have to go thru and separate the two sets when it was all done. When I was ready to pour I put both containers for each scent under each PT. Then I quickly (but carefully) poured each into the BT's.

I used the lid as a "catcher" for any spilled wax. Once the wax set enough I closed each one and put into the correct pile. By then the melted wax in the PT cooled off enough to replace the lid and put away.

Here's what I used to keep my two sets separated. Behind these you can see my BT's in alphabetic order. That made it easier to find when needed.

Total, it took about 2 hours to make these 2 sets. It wouldn't have been much longer for additional sets. I bought these plastic containers at http://www.samplecontainerstore.com/ They were a GREAT company to buy from! The size I got were the 1/9oz plastic containers. They included labels already printed with the Scentsy Logo on the front with the scent name and code. Also, on the bottom was my info (name, web address, email, and phone #) They will customize your order with your information. I bought the kit that included 240 containers (enough to make 3 sets of BT's) 480 custom labels (enough for top and bottom) for $47.99 if you include the code "scentsy" they gave an additional 5% off order. My shipping and handling was $8.95 which brought my total to $54.54 I got it within 3 days of ordering!!

I stacked 8 pennies to show how big these containers were. They were as round as a quarter (I didn't have any quarters to show that comparison)

The company also had a smaller size but I liked the bigger ones. They hold about 1/2 teaspoon-1 teaspoon of melted wax in them.

This was my first attempt at making my own BT. I've bought 2 sets perviously from Scentsy and love them, but I just can afford the $60 they cost. I think these came out looking very professional and much smaller to mail to my out of state customers. If you have any other suggestions please leave a comment for others to read. I'm a very visual person and while instructions are great, seeing what it's supposed to look like always helps me better!

Any questions please email me at: rebeccakern1@hotmail.com

This is a test

This is a test on Posting your own Blog Post and Pictures. If you'd like to post on this blog then email and I'll give you the private email address that will allow you to do that. That's how I did this post and it worked great! my email is: rebeccakern1@hotmail.com


Rebecca

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