Year: 2011

Fire and Ice Candles

You Will Need:

  • Pillar Wax (IGI 4625 works great!)
  • Metal Candle Mold
  • Wick Screw
  • Mold Sealer
  • Wick Holder Bar
  • Pouring Pitcher
  • Double Boiler or Wax Melter
  • Crushed Ice
  • Bucket or Sink
1. Wick your mold and prepare your wax as usual. Refer to our Pillar Candle Instructions for help.

2. Crush up pieces of ice until they are about 3/4 inch in size. Spoon the ice into the mold until it is almost full. Leave some room beneath the rim of the mold so that the wax has room to completely cover the ice.

3. Quickly pour your wax over the ice and into the mold. Try to pour all over instead of in one spot so that you don’t melt a hole through the ice.
4. Allow the wax to cool and ice to melt completely. Then turn the mold upside down over a sink or bucket to dump out the melted ice water.

5. Remove the mold sealer and wick screw and gently remove the candle from the mold. Handle the finished candle carefully as it is very fragile.
6. Trim the wick to about 1/4″ and allow the candle to dry for at least a week before lighting. If you light the candle while the wick is still wet or damp, it can cause sputtering while it burns.

7. Enjoy watching the beautiful designs on the candle as it burns!

Flip Flop Cookies

Use oval shaped cookies, frosting, rope licorice and flattened gummy worms to make these cute flip flop cookies.

Present them on top of a tropical dish towel in a pan of graham cracker cumbs. Too cute!

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Brownie Pizza

Brownie Pizza 
Gooey and packed with chocolate, brownies are always a big hit with kids. This brownie pizza is so easy to make that even preschoolers can help stir the batter.
Ingredients
  • Your favorite Chewy brownie batter
  • 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
  • 2 1/2 tbsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Red food coloring paste (available at kitchen and party supply stores)
  • 6 oz. white chocolate
  • Assorted candies
Instructions
  1. Prepare the brownie recipe, with one exception: Instead of pouring the mixture into a rectangular or square pan, pour it into a lightly greased (and clean!) 12-inch pizza pan.
  2. Bake, in an oven preheated to 350 degrees, for 20 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool.
  3. Meanwhile, mix up the red frosting “sauce.” In a large bowl, cream the confectioners’ sugar and butter.
  4. Adding the sauce Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of red food coloring paste and mix until you have the desired shade (think tomato sauce). Use a spatula or knife to spread the sauce evenly over the cooled “pizza.”
  5. Now you’re ready to add the toppings. For white chocolate “cheese,” roughly chop or grate (adults only) white chocolate.
  6. Sprinkle it over the frosting (your kids may want to add extra cheese). For other toppings, add M&M’s, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or any other favorite candies.
  7. Use a pizza cutter to slice the brownie into 16 pieces. Present it in a pizza box (ask a local pizza parlor if you could have or buy one).
  8. Serve the Brownie Pizza at an after-school gathering, a pizza party, or–most fitting–a Brownie troop meeting. Serves 16.
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Sky Lanterns

After watching the movie “Tangled” and seeing some cool fireworks, I’m inspired to provide the instructions to make Sky Lanterns. After doing some research, I’ve found some debate as to how ecologically safe and fire safe they are or are not. Having covered that– here are some instructions.

Things You’ll Need

2 yards of tissue paper
Scissors
Elmer’s glue
Universal Paper Shield Flame Retardant Spray
String
4 dowels of 3/32-by-18-inch balsa wood
Candle wick
2 fishing hooks
Hot glue gun
Rubbing alcohol
Long match

1
Cut out two 2-foot-wide and 3-foot tall rectangles from tissue paper. Spray these with flame retardant on each side and allow them to dry. Cut the upper right and left corners of each tissue paper sheet. Brush on a thin coat of Elmer’s glue on the top, left and right side edges of each piece of tissue paper. Do not glue the bottom edge. Press these pieces together and allow them to dry.

2
Hot-glue two fishing hooks together so that the hooks are upside down and pointing out. Wrap a candle wick string around the fishing hooks to form a ball.

3
Soak two 3/32-by-18-inch balsa wood dowels in a bucket of water for 24 hours. This will make them extremely pliable. Bend these two dowels into a circle and tie them together. Lay two dowels across this hoop so that the dowels intersect the hoop vertically and horizontally. You can also purchase pre-made circular dowel wood from a craft store.

4
Cut four lengths of string into 6-inch segments and spray with flame retardant. Tie all four of these strings to the hoop. Tape the tips of the string inside the tissue paper bag.

5
Soak the ball of wick in alcohol. Have a friend hold the bag up and slightly open as you place the wick ball on the hoop frame. Carefully light the wick ball with a long match. Allow the bag to begin to inflate with hot air before letting go.

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also see: http://blog.skylighter.com/fireworks/2008/11/how-to-make-chinese-sky-lanterns.html