Sand Candles
Today we made candles using wet sand as a mold. The tutorial I found after we made them shows a thick layer of sand on the outside of the candle. Our candles have very little sand on the sides, possibly because our sand was wet? The sand was good a consistency for making sand castles.
Ham (6) likes candles and fire. There is an Ojibwe legend that if you do not keep part of the umbilical cord in a little bag made from 2 circles of leather called an “indis maski mod
,” then the child will be forever poking in the fire looking for it. This is Ham. We do not have Ham’s but still have Wingman’s since I heard this legend before Wingman (3) was born. We will see if Wingman gets more interested in fire since he does not have the same fascination as Ham. There might be something to the legend.
Back to candles, the first time Ham made candles was at Echoes in Time. They used beeswax and it smells so good. On the right, Ham is melting some of the beeswax from his candle so he can add it to our sand candles. This is our first time to make candles with the kids and now I wish I had not waited so long! We used a baked bean can, as a makeshift double boiler, to melt tea light candles in boiling water. We formed the mold in the sand with a cookie cutter. We reused the wicks from the tea light candles. So simple and so fun.
And it wouldn’t be imperfectly perfect if I didn’t show the molds that we over-filled and lost the wicks and tried to fix.
Here are other great ideas for candles: Secular Charlotte Mason Seashell Candles and CandleHelp Sand Candle Tutorial
I love this finished candle burning the dark. So pretty. Ham really likes it too. He cropped the picture.
How to Make Candles by Ham (his words)
1. First take any size of candle not bigger than 6 inches or fatter than 3 inches.
2. Melt the candle with fire from a fire barrel or a stove.
3. If you have a sandbox, take the sand into a small bucket or barrel or just use old plastic molds for candy. Pour the hot wax into the mold.
4. Wait for it to cool and harden.
5. Remove candle from the mold and remove the sand with your fingers.
***Ham wrote this for Grama, he said. He asked me to type it and read it back until it sounded just right to him. Before bed he read #1 to me but was too tired to read it all. Learning to read is hard work and late at night is not the best time for him to try. A spontaneous Language Experience Approach like this is a great method for him. He did have an easier time reading unfamiliar words since he wrote this himself.
