Four Year Old + Fire = Fun!

Willow got in into her head that we should make candles.  And it being cold outside and me being rather desperate, I agreed.  Now this could easily have been a crazy idea--I thought all manner of bad might happen.  But it was actually a fun, fairly time-consuming activity and something she could totally handle. 

We got some wicks and put them in some jars.  The instructions said to tie them with a pencil in some way to keep them straight.  I, uh, didn't bother.

We put some soy wax into a double-boiler.  Yep, that is my four year old standing near a gas flame.  She could hack it--and in fact, she was in charge of stirring and watching it melt and make sure it never boiled.

"Got it, Mom!  No bubbles!"

I was busy chopping crayons into small pieces.  We could have used dye, but like most mothers, I have thousands upon thousands of crayon pieces and thought--hey, why not?

We made two batches, one with pink crayons and one with blue.  We added the crayon pieces once the soy wax had melted entirely, and then Willow mixed them in.  And then I poured the wax into the jars, trying to keep the wicks straight, and voila!

And now we dine by candlelight at every single meal of the day.