Adonia Belly Dance Creates a Multi-Level Candle Tray for Chicago Wedding Entertainment

Recently, Adonia Belly Dance fell in love with the idea of dancing with a beautifully decorated multi-level candle tray at her Chicago wedding entertainment events. However, after doing some research she found them to be very expensive. Being the crafty person that she is, she set out to create one of her own. In this blog, she has decided to share that process with you.

So let's get started! Here is what you will need.

Cleaning Supplies 
2 Bowls of water, dish soap, brasso, cotton pads, paper towel.

Adhesive 
Hot glue and Loctite metal to metal welded adhesive.

You will also need
A large serving tray, a wide candle holder, small decorative candle holder(s) (optional), candles, vintage necklaces and bracelets, crystals, wire or jump rings, pliers, rubber mallet.

Goodwill and garage sales are a great source for many of the non-cleaning and adhesive supplies listed above. I found all the metal items as well as the candles at Goodwill. I found the jewelry at various garage sales.

 Clean

 Add a little soap to one of your bowls of water and dip your necklaces and crystals in the water. If you would like you can give them a little rub to help clean them thoroughly. Rinse them in the other bowl of water and then lay them out to dry on paper towels. Then, Using your Brasso, paper towels, and cotton pads... Clean and polish your metal items. Make sure you use a little glass cleaner to wipe them down after using the Brasso. You really want make sure the metal surface is clean and residue free.

Anchor Points

You will need a reliably strong way to attach your decorations to the underneath side of the tray. In most cases, you will find a beaded chain and hook closure on your vintage beaded jewelry. Using pliers carefully remove that beaded chain. Then remove each link from the next. You will use these individual links as anchor points to attach the beads to the tray. It's much easier than it sounds. 

After determining and marking where your anchor points will be; on a paper plate place equal amounts of Loctite weld hardener and resin. For reference, my tray (shown here) is 14 inches in diameter and I have placed five equally spaced anchor points on the bottom. For symmetry, I have the same amount of anchor points on all levels of the tray. To continue, the hardener is the white stuff and the resin is the black stuff. Using a toothpick or chopstick mix them together until they turn gray. 

Be sure to do this quickly as it dries very quickly. You only have moments to get the "weld" in place. Be sure to mix very small batches of weld as you will likely only get one or two anchor points in place before the weld dries. I would suggest holding the anchor in place exactly how you wanted it to sit on the tray for a few minutes until it doesn't wiggle anymore. Repeat this until all anchor points are in place. If you feel like you would like more stability you can surround the base of the anchor point (where the adhesive is) with a little hot glue. Just give the weld the about an hour to cure before adding hot glue. Do not use only hot glue only to attach the anchor points or the weight of the beads and crystals may pull the hot glue off during practice or performance.

Once you have attached all anchor points your tray elements will look like what you see below.

         

 

Alignment and set-up

Next you want to determine the exact center of your tray to be sure it is perfectly balanced. This is the most important step!!! Measure multiple times to be sure you have everything lined up perfectly and then mark the radius of the candle holder base on the tray with a sharpie. Double check your measurements. Once you have determined the center radius of where the large candle holder will sit on the tray, flip the whole thing over. Place the tray on the large candle holder upside down and line it up to where it will sit once it is attached to the tray. Using a rubber mallet gently tap a dent in the tray underneath where the large candle holder will sit. Be sure to do this with the candle holder sitting on a soft carpeted surface as you want to be careful to not damage the candle holder. the purpose of creating the dent in the tray is to help increase balance as well as helping you find the center of balance quickly in performance. 

Assembly

 Now that you have everything prepped, measured, and marked it's time to permanently affix these pieces together into a functional balancing candle tray. Flip the big tray back so that it is right side up and leave the candle holder upside down. Mix another batch of Loctite weld on your paper plate. Make this batch about double the size you made the previous batches. using your toothpick or chopstick carefully place a ring of Loctite weld around the bottom edge of the base of your candle holder. Carefully place the candle holder right side up on your large tray, being sure to align it with the marks you made previously with the sharpie. Repeat this step for the third tier, if you have one. Also repeat this step for any additional candle holders that you want to add to the tray if you so desire. Once you have everything assembled give it about 24 hours to completely cure/harden.

Decorating - Making your tray versatile

Personally, I love my costumes and props to be as versatile as possible. I also loved things to match or at least be color-coordinated. So in an effort to get the biggest bang for my buck. I have created a way to change the look and feel of my candle tray to coordinate with my costumes. Here's how to do it. Earlier in this blog I mentioned that we would be using crystals. I would like to suggest that you use chandelier crystals. I managed to find a small chandelier for sale at a garage sale in a quote "well-to-do" neighborhood. You can also find them at thrift stores, flea markets, at lighting supply stores, and sometimes on places like eBay and Etsy. At any rate they are ideal for this project because they are sparkly and beautiful as well as versatile and functional. They are attached to each other with little wire loops. Kind of like fancy jump rings but with an open portion and much more flexible. At each one of your anchor points attach one or more of these crystals. 

Next you'll want to restring your beads onto embroidery floss or another durable string like beading wire. Get them beaded just how you want them and then tie each end to a jump ring. If you don't have jump rings then you can create something similar that will work by just wrapping some strong wire a round the end of a pair of needle nose pliers. Wiggle the wire off  the pliers and clip the long end of the wire and presto! You have a little wire ring to attach your beads to. Tie off  both ends of your string of beads securely to a wire loop or  jump ring. Then simply hang one end of the string of beads on the back of a crystal attachment and then the other end to the next crystal attachment. This is what makes this so versatile: you can easily interchange bead strings that you make specifically for your candle tray. So for instance, when preparing for a show if I am wearing a red costume I can simply change out my strands of clear AB beads for strands of red beads. It's as easy as changing your jewelry and the added beads on the edge of the tray adds weight to the outer edges and changes the center of gravity of the tray therefore making it slightly easier to balance. 

If you feel like the tray is a little slick underneath you can  glue the thin layer of felt that was on the bottom of the candle holder to the bottom of the tray. You could also get stickers that add traction to the bottom of your shoes from the insole section of the grocery store and stick that to the center of the bottom of your tray. Or you can also just crisscross layers of hot glue on the bottom which definitely keep the tray from moving much.

Thank you for reading this blog by Adonia Belly Dance. In another blog post coming up very soon we will be elaborating on this project to show you how to take your candle tray to the next level. So, check back often for more fun blog posts like this one. I would love to see how your basic decorated candle trays look when you complete them. If you have comments or questions or just need some help please let me know in the comments box bellow. If you do not see a comments box below please click here to join the conversation. 

Visit www.vintagebellydance.com to hire Adonia Belly Dance at your next Chicago wedding, birthday party, or special event. Love, your Chicago Belly Dancer! 

A Chicago Belly Dancer Discusses Undercutters in Belly Dance: It's all in your head...

Yes, it's all in your head says this Chicago Belly dancer! I know, I know, many of you may be

thinking that I'm a Loony Toon right about now, but follow me for a minute. When was the last time you heard Nordstrom look at Macy's and say, "OMG, can you believe Walmart is selling their stuff for half-price!" In a more realistic setting, have you even seen Nordstrom or Macy's run a smear campaign against Walmart? No, of course not, and you never will. Neither Nordstrom or Macy's care about what Walmart is selling or the price they're selling it at. Because you see, Nordstrom and Macy's have completely different clientele than that of Walmart. They don't target the same crowd nor do they provide the same quality of products. In essence. you get what you pay for.

So what does all this retail talk have to do with bellydance? Actually, a lot more than you would think. Very often, we hear things like "Can you believe it? So and so did a gig (class, workshop, etc.) for way less than what the rest of us charge. That's just not right." Let's admit it, we have all thought this at one point or another, myself included, and, though frustrating, it is not a very positive or healthy way to approach the topic. Now don't get me wrong, I am not promoting charging less than your area's going rate. I personally feel that if you're going to call yourself a professional dancer you should charge professional rates. That said, it is often very difficult to truly find out what those rates are. Many dancers won't tell you what they charge even if you are simply asking so that you can price your services appropriately for your area. Then there are others who will tell you what they charge but neglect the fact that they will often negotiate that price based on distance, season or holiday, their availability, and many many other factors.

At any rate, I digress, so let's get back to that retail talk. Think of the 'professional dancer' as Nordstrom or Macy's and the 'undercutting dancer' as Walmart. Is it really realistic for Nordstrom to charge Walmart prices? Conversely is it realistic for Walmart to charge Nordstrom prices? Of course, neither would work and for obvious reasons. So why would you ask a Walmart dancer to charge Nordstrom prices? You wouldn't. Yet both Nordstrom and Walmart are both very successful businesses because they market themselves to the appropriate clientele for their specific product.

If you're a Nordstrom dancer and your business is not doing as well as you would like, you really can't blame the Walmart dancer. Let's face it, that clientele would not have paid your rate even if there were no Walmart dancer. It really comes down to this, if you're not getting the amount of work you would like to see you have two options improve your product or lower your prices.

You may be asking, what if the Macy's dancer goes to Nordstrom's location and starts handing out  sale flyers. Isn't that undercutting? No, that is poaching. It is aggressive, distasteful, nonprofessional, and unacceptable, but it is not undercutting. In the end, each dancer charges what they feel they are worth. If you feel that they are worth more, then it is fair to let them know, in a kind way. Perhaps they are just unaware. If they continue to charge Walmart prices then that is their choice, and neither their choice nor yours is wrong.

Webster defines undercutting (undercut) as, "to offer to sell at lower prices than or to work for lower wages than (a competitor)". In the bellydance world we have created this terrible image of a dancer (the undercutter) that is maliciously out to steal all our jobs and is doing so by charging crazy low prices, therefore eating away at the very profession that is bellydance, and creating problems for the rest of us in the process. Yet Webster has no definition for undercutter as it relates to business or dance (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undercutter). So as you can see, there is no such thing as a belly dance undercutter, it's all in your head. Though there are some dancers out there that do go after jobs with the intention of poaching them from another dancer, this is the exception not the rule. Most of the time dancers are just trying to get work the best way they know how, with the limited knowledge available on how best to get work as a professional bellydancer.

The best way to combat declining market rates is to freely share your pricing with others, don't assume everyone is out to steal your job, and educate those newer dancers who show interest in becoming a professional dancer. Just remember to have confidence in your product, always continue to improve it, charge what you're worth, market yourself to the appropriate clientele and you will reach your goals in no time.

Thank you for reading this blog by Adonia Belly Dance. I would love you hear your thoughts on the topic so please let me know in the comments box bellow. If you do not see a comments box below please click here to join the conversation.

Visit www.vintagebellydance.com to hire Adonia Belly Dance at your next Chicago wedding, birthday party, or special event. Love, your Chicago Belly Dancer!

Traveling Tips for Belly Dancers

As a Chicago belly dancer there many opportunities to perform and lots of amazing dancers and workshop opportunities to learn from, and Adonia Belly Dance loves to participate in as many of these as possible. However, There are very few options for getting truly critical feedback that is needed for a dancer to grow. After all, how are you to improve if you don't know what needs work? To get that feedback Adonia has been traveling to various competitions around the U.S. and boy has it been a journey. But, I find that the journey itself can be much more pleasant with a little bit of foresight. Here are my tips for easy travel.

- Always keep the absolute necessities for your show in your carry on! Costume, shoes, powder make-up...etc. This way if your bag is misplaced or doesn't get where it belongs, your covered...literally.

- Check the reputation of your carrier before buying your ticket. I know most air travel is a hassle but some carriers are better than others. I suggest going with Southwest, Virgin, or Jet Blue but NEVER fly Delta. They really don't care about their custumers or their baggage. My Friend Kirah (www.IntrinsicBellyDance.com) once flew in two days early to a competition just in case they lost her bags. They did and she did not receive them until the day she flew out. It was a disaster! Since then I always follow these first two tips.

-To save space when traveling with multiple costumes: Lay your belts or skirts out first then stack your bras one on top of another like cupcake cups.

- When flying with a sword: Get the biggest luggage box you can find and lay it in there diagonally so the whole sword with sheath is in the box. Then stack clothing. Be sure to tuck your business card in the sheath as well with a little note to TSA that you are a belly dancer and this is just a prop.

- When flying with a candle tray with low profile candles. After you pack your clothes but before you pack bath stuff. Put your tray in a plastic grocery bag and then stuff the candle side with as many plastic bags as possible. Then place the tray in your box with the candle side facing your clothes. This will keep it safe during travel.

- Double bag ALL liquids. Be it shampoo, hairspray, or tuna salad... Double bag it! Seriously, you don't want your room to smell like crazy all weekend or your bag and costumes for that matter. ICK! No mater what leaks, it will be a mess and a hassle.

-  Always keep business cards on you at all times. You never know when someone will be curious about what you do. And who knows sometimes it will even lead to another gig or future work.

- When going through security, check your purse for zills. Yes, zills. They will think you are carrying a bombing device of some sort. It happens to me every time I forget. So take them out and put them in your bag. It makes security much faster.

- Last but not least. Be flexible. Things will not go how you plan. Be as organized as possible but be open to a change in plans. You never know what cool things you will see or the interesting people you will meet in your travels. So stay flexible, open minded, and keep a good attitude and you will get there with a great story to tell.




Thanks for reading and please share your travel tips below. If you do not see a comments box below please click here to join the conversation. I would love to hear and see your feedback.

Visit www.vintagebellydance.com to hire Adonia Belly Dance at your next Chicago wedding, birthday party, or special event.