New Beginnings

New month - new look - new plan.  Yes, it's greener around here, including the background.  (What?  You think that red background I used in February looked like a brothel??)

Can you believe it's March?  I had so many plans for the new year, so many new things to embark on, most of which I haven't gotten to yet.  Nevertheless, March is my favorite month.  And it was exactly two years ago this month that I started this blog.  Time sure flies.

Not every idea I have for a blog post ever makes it here.  I had big plans for Ice Candles.  Yes, ice candles.

I saw some awesome photos on another blog of something that looked like big blocks of ice, sitting out in the snow, with lighted candles in them.  I was determined to make a mini version.  I would put them out in the snow.  I would take amazing photos.  People would be in awe of me.  Or not....

I took a plastic cup and filled it almost full of water. I then filled a smaller cup with water and put it inside the other cup of water. I played around with different amounts of water until the smaller cup did not sink and stayed near the top level of the water. The purpose of the little cup was only to "make a hole" so that when the ice froze, I could remove the little cup, put a candle in the hole, and have my amazing ice candle.

 So I put my contraption in the freezer and by the next day it was ready to go. But it was a week or more before we had snow. In order to get my amazing photo, I wanted it to be at sunrise, with no flash and just natural light. I went out on the deck at sunrise, with candle, matches, and camera. The ice candle sank down into the snow, so you can't really tell how tall it is. It might as well be some ordinary glass candle holder I bought at the dollar store!


It was very cold and windy that morning. The wind kept blowing out the matches. Even when I did get the candle lit, the wind blew that out too. So I ended up with about a dozen pictures that were either blurry or with no lit candle. None were amazing. My fingers were frozen. I had to get to work, so I abandoned the project. Later that day, most of the snow melted, I let the ice candle melt in the sink... project failed

I'm not sure I'll ever try this particular project again.  But I do know that I plan to use this month to pass along some fun things for all of us to try, hopefully more fun than Ice Candles!