Ice Candle

When the days are cold and the nights even colder, you can make one of these beautiful ice candles. Or you can make a lot of them. They are practically free! Brighten up winter nights or illuminate a pathway with these luminaries created with a block of ice and a tea candle. 




Here's how to make an ice candle:

• Grease the inside of a bucket. 

•  Fill the bucket with water.

• Set outside, away from the house (it's usually a few degrees warmer close to the house).

• Make sure the ice bucket will not be sitting in the sun.

• After 2 or 3 days (depending on how cold it is) upend the bucket. The water freezes from the top and sides, leaving a  hollow at the bottom. 

• Set the ice block on top of a couple of bricks, or raise it from the ground some way. You want it elevated so the fire gets oxygen.

• Set a lit tea candle below the concave bottom of the ice block. 

When the ice melts, water droplets follow the ice walls down and do not drip onto the candle. 

Of course, it must be below freezing for this to work. Temperatures just slightly above 32 degrees F during the day should not melt the ice. If the temperatures are not freezing, or in warmer months, you can do the freezing in a large freezer. Wouldn't that be pretty in summer?

Ice Candle