Day of Reckoning

Tomorrow at 8am we will commence with the installation of our new furnace and air conditioner. It looks like it's going to be a 2 day job. It also looks like we're going to have to do some cleaning before they get started tomorrow. You see, recently my husband has acquired a new hobby, making soy candles. Yes... soy candles.

As I've mentioned before my husband is fascinated with the idea of alternative fuels. While doing some research on his favorite subject, he discovered that there are many other uses for soybeans besides edamame or producing bio-diesel. A gentleman at Purdue made a brilliant discovery several years ago, he found that you can make wax out of the hulls of soybeans. This in itself is great, but not earth shattering. You see the amazing thing about soywax is that candles made from it are soot free, biodegradable (meaning the wax cleans up with soap and water), burn for much longer and give off way more scent than a conventional candle. Pretty cool.

The other thing you need to know about my husband is that he believes that MORE is better..... always. He never does anything on a small scale, if you send him to the store to buy paper towels he comes home with the supersize 24 pack. Most people have a bike, maybe 2 at the most. My husband has 7, and each has a different purpose, road bike, mountain bike, cyclocross bike, time trial bike, track bike, you name it, he's got it.

So, one rainy boring Sunday about 2 months ago he decided he was going to start making candles. By the end of the day he had ordered 50 lbs of wax, 200 metal tins and enough bottles of fragrance to start a perfumery. By Wednesday most of it had arrived and almost immediately the house began to fill up. This was just the beginning.

As of today we have been through 300 lbs of wax, almost 600 tins and innumerable ounces of fragrance. At one point we had so many boxes of wax my husband sheepishly offered to store it in the trunk of his car. The 600 candles in their nifty little travel tins are stashed all over the house, most are in the mudroom, the site of tomorrows old furnace un-installation.

I am not without guilt in the hobby department, both my husband and I have this unrealized dream to find some way to actually make a living with one our hobbies. He now has candles, and I have my little side business..... making stuff out of old kimonos. Yes, I know this is a strange hobby, it's one I discovered last summer when we first moved here and I didn't have a full time job. I found a place you can buy old kimonos buy the pound. I'd get a shipment of 20 lbs, rip up the kimonos, and then either sell the fabric on e-bay, or make stuff like pillows or scarves out of the fabric. Things were moving along pretty nicely with this little hobby, I was working on a website, selling lots of fabric on e-bay and having a great time. Then came the house..... once we closed on this place everything took a basckseat.... until now. Now we not only have candles stashed everywhere, but our spare bedroom has been overtaken by boxes of empty candle tins, wicks, boxes of kimonos and piles of fabric. It's a truly lovely sight.

Things are moving along though, my husband has been selling his candles on e-bay, and it looks like we may have a big order (more than 20 candles.. yay!) His mom is buying a bunch for Christmas presents, and our future sister-in-law is going to give them out as favors at her wedding in April. Secret Agent Josephine created several awesome logos for the candle business, one using a likeness from a painting done by a local artist, Wendy Kowalski. As we speak proofs for labels with the new logo are on there way by Fedex, and true to his nature my husband ordered ....... 4000 labels, not 400... 4000 labels. Once the labels are done a store in our neighborhood has even offered to sell the candles. I hope so, because if not...... everyone we know is going to get a candle for Christmas for the next 25 years.

UPDATE 11-2-04
Sales of my husbands soy candles have been brisk at the Durham Farmers Market and the feedback from this blog has been great so he made a little webpage with more info on his candles.

Comments

[dragonballyee]

soy candles! cool. my girlfriend would love them methinks. how long do they last for? and how overpowering is the scent? is it like walking past a candlestore in the mall? or more subtle?

i only have 1 bike, a hardtail mountain bike, but i'd like me a cylocycle - sweet.

leave a comment on my site or email me!

Thanks for the note. The little white bungalower asked me to respond - hope that is acceptable blog etiquette. The candles come in two sizes - 4oz and 8oz and the 4's last about 30hrs and the bigs about 70hrs. The scent is such that either candle will fill a room(and maybe the one next to it), but not to the point that you are gagging. We have a ton of different scents, so let us know what your girlfriends favorites are and we'll match you up that way - or you could go to our ebay auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4331304054&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

to see all of the scents we offer.

Keep the rubber side down - hardtail is the only tail!

David

[meg]

I only have two bikes...one mountain and one road. Long time lurker....

I am really interested in finding out about pricing for a larger order - I will be getting married next year and I am looking for some fun (and eco-friendly) favors. The kimono bags just put the finishing touch! Please email me!

[mipmup]

oooo! i wanna take some of those off of your hands! are you selling your kimono items, too?

[Anne]

Very cool. Good for you for pursuing your hobbies and making them work. I think that their uniqueness is their biggest selling point. I make jewelry, but so does half the rest of the world, so I have too much built-in competition.

Good luck with the candles and kimonos!

[SAJ]

I'm so excited! I can't wait to see the final candle product with stickers!

[Jeff]

Soy candles- that is very cool. My wife has always wanted to make candles. I better keep her away from here or she'll get excited and I'll have 600 candles in my home too.