Seize the moment ~ OT
For those of us that are dealing with bitter winter weather. Here's a fun thing to try. I have ice candles all over the deck. (It's the ONLY bright spot I can hang onto, in this weather)
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Finnish ice candles
•Fill buckets with water and place outside overnight away from the house for maximum exposure.
•Bring buckets into the house when frozen. (The top and sides will freeze first, but you want some water sloshing around under the ice in the very center of the bucket.)
•Gently tip the bucket over a large sink. After a few minutes the candle will loosen from the sides, and you can ease it out. You can also run a little warm water over the bottom of the bucket to loosen the ice.
•The bottom ice will be soft. Use a knife to chip it away and form an opening. Carefully tip candle over, pouring the water from the opening. This is where the votive or tea light will go.
•Return the candle to the outdoors - front steps, along a walkway, or the back patio. Place a votive or tea light in the center and light.
For fun you can add food coloring, leaves, feathers or other materials to the water before freezing. Or try experimenting with freezing water at different temperatures to form bubbles in the ice.
"You have to find some way to be joyful when it's miserable outside. "Making ice candles turns the bitter cold on its head." Ice candles are all about seizing the moment.
The faster the water freezes, the clearer the ice. But some like the way that bubbles and other imperfections formed at varying temperatures can refract the candle's flame.
Use beet juice as an environmentally friendly way to color the ice. Other experiments involve different containers – even soup cans – though 5-gallon buckets work best.
"It's simple, but like anything else there are fine points. For example, hot water actually will freeze more quickly than cold.
"You have to have lasting cold, but the candles will last for several days, even at above-freezing temperatures, once they are made. "They don't disappear right away."
And when they do? "They leave no trace," she says. "There's no storage, no cleanup, no expense, just water and winter working together."