How to Build a Snow Candle

Amaze your children and neighbors with a yard full of snow candles. Smaller and more manageable than a snow fort or even a snowman, even the smallest of children can help you create snow candle. This winter time fun creates a beautiful glow and lasts for an amazingly long time. See whose snow candles burns the longest.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Candles
• Lighter or matches
• Snow

1. Choose appropriate weather and snow quality. It should be cold but not exceptionally windy. The snow should be moist for good packing but not too powdery, dry or slushy.

2. Pack snow into snow balls, making several snowballs measuring about 5 inches across. The key is to pack them tightly and make them a uniform size. You'll need approximately 20 snowballs for each snow candle.

3. Protect the wick on the candle with a cone of paper to keep it from getting wet while placing the snowballs around the candle. If the wick does get wet, it might take several tries to light the candle once assembled.

4. Place the candle in the snow and press some snow around the base to secure it.

5. Set a ring of about eight snowballs around the candle, leaving only a small space between each snowball.

6. Pile about six snowballs on top of eight and so on until you have a small igloo of snowballs with small spaces in between. Leave the top open for one last snowball. Too much space between snowballs means your candle might blow out and too little space means your candle will not get enough oxygen to burn for long.

7. Remove the paper cap from the candle.

8. Light the candle inside using a match or lighter before adding the last snowball on top. The candle should not touch the top snowball. The flame should be in the center of the igloo.

9. Admire your handwork. Note which snow candle burns the longest so you can recreate the height, width and space for next time.

Tips & Warnings

• Line up numerous snow candles along the driveway for an romantic glow.
• Do not let children light matches or use the lighter. Only adults should light the candles.
• Do not leave lit snow candles unattended. They can burn for several hours so if you plan to leave, blow out the candle before doing so.

[BrightScarf]

on 12/18/2008 Wow, this sounds beautiful...it's quite an inventive idea, thanks so much for writing this!