Ice Candles 101

I had a comment after yesterday's post asking how ice candles were made. I thought I'd give a little tutorial with photos. The process is very easy. Finding the proper materials is the difficult part.

There are two materials required. One is a container that is used to hold water to create a large ice cube. The second is a container that is used to displace water in the center of this cube. Both must be able to freeze and item number two must be able to be easily removed from the ice-filled mold. I started one today and here is what I used. I have a large plastic salad bowl and a container that is used to hold a corn set. It is plastic as well, and floats in the water so I have it filled with rocks to weigh it down.


I'm sure you could come up with some unique containers. The center one is more difficult to find. If the mold is shallow a wine or beer bottle filled with sand or partially filled with water (to allow expansion room to prevent the bottle from breaking) might be used. Soft plastic is better as it is flexible. My molds are all too deep so the bottles don't work.

I have only one layer of water in the photo below. When this freezes I can add a layer of coloured water, let it freeze, add another colour or clear and go on that way making stripes. Or, I could add a material here. Glass shards which I have tons of, marbles or glass nuggets, plastic flowers. Again use your cre8ivity to come up with something that fits your theme. Clear is perfectly fine too. When the center container is sitting in the bowl of water some water will seep underneath and a thin film of ice can form. It is easily tapped out or melted out with a torch.


The hard part is waiting for the freeze. If you know you are going to have super cold temps you can crank them out. If you have a large freezer you can store them during a thaw. Depending on the size of the center hole, a tealight or larger pillar candle can be lit. Of course rain and snow put them out but you may have a sheltered spot you can display it in every night. You can make as many as you can get to freeze and line your walkway with them.

They do melt and this is what I've done with a partially melted one: I made a bird feeder out of it. Until it melts the birds can have little skating parties and invite their friends.


For today's music I went to my Melanie file. I know I just played her on Wednesday but I thought I had her song Candle in the Rain. I do not but wish I did. It would be perfect. I've been singing it in my head since I started the post. The only thing off hand I can think of is Buena Vista Social Club with Candela. I probably have other candle songs but am not coming up with anything quickly. So....... Tonight is supposed to be the biggest full moon of the year so we will have a song for that, Clair de Lune by Django Reinhardt. This is an instrumental - not the song you are probably familiar with. Happy candle making - unless you live in California or Sapin or Florida or Mexico or anyplace that is not freezing.

It's Sunday Again

My ears and my eyes are buggy. I've been burning music and making playlists all day long. I had other plans but kind got into what I was doing and here I am, still into it at almost four thirty. I got up this morning at the new five-thirty. Ah Ha!!! I just figured out this minute why I've been waking at four and four-thirty for the last couple of weeks. My weird little body time clock takes very good care of me. It has been anticipating this time change without my conscious knowledge. I've been waking an hour or an hour and a half early for the last couple of weeks. This morning it was at the exact right time. Wow, body/brain/timeclock!!

I have been trying to make a DVD of latin/african dance for my daily workout. For some weird reason, it is wanting to burn all the songs in alphabetical order. That won't work at all. I have eleven songs from Gotan Project, for example, but want them spread out. I'll probably just keep with cd's if this can't be remedied. This is ironic (and funny) because my big complaint is I would like to be able to sort my music page alphabetically for ease of trying to find songs I am looking for.

Since Latin/African dancing is the last part of what I am into today that is what the music will be. There's so much to choose from. I realized I don't have much Susana Baca on the music page though I listen to her a lot and there are only a few Lila Downs there and I listen to her a whole lot.

Lila is popular on the music page with Quisas, Quisas, Quisas receiving more than twenty plays every month and the Cumbia del Mole getting more than twenty plays between the English and Spanish versions. Of course, her wonderful version of Besame Mucho is the most popular. Here is something very different from Lila. This sounds like American jazzy blues but is sung in Spanish. Have a listen to Quinto Patio and experience the cross culture of Lila Downs. That's exactly what she is too, an American with a Mexican mother who took to the music of her mother's land after she had studied music at an American university. For a selection of Susana Baca I have Encciende Candela. The drums and call-back on this song are fabulous. Both are good for dancing.