Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Can't Explain!
I made 24 of these candle holders to use up an old supply of candles for a craft show last Dec. and sold 1! First show of the year this past weekend and sold all the remaining 23 on Sat. and could have moved more! Years ago I gave up trying to outguess potential sales of small turnings, and now I have to buy more candles to fill an order of 24 more for the Ky Artisan Center. Time to scrounge more suitable scrap wood for this project! 
Re: Can't Explain!
Congrats!
Hey, if you happen to stumble upon a candle maker that makes true 1/4" diameter candles, let me know. I've played with making Sfirri style multi-axis candlesticks in miniature and using brass shelf support sleeves for 1/4" pins as the bobeche. Figured they'd make great birthday candle holders for turners.
I don't drill first, like Mark. Instead, I turn the lower portion and leave a little extra. Then I remount on the other centers and turn a tenon in that extra bit and remount in a chuck with a small set of jaws. Then it is easy to drill straight and accurate using a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock. I usually turn the top after drilling and after having glued in the bobeche/shelf pin sleeve. Then I can just bring up a live cone center to apply pressure when turning the top section.
This order of operation works for the full-sized ones too, though may be better to turn the top before drilling for the larger ones.
Re: Can't Explain!
I’ve had many more misses than hits at shows. My biggest hit was doing bird house ornaments. They have saved a lot of shows. But angel ornaments were a huge miss. I don’t think you can out think the market.