Homemade Rock Candy

When I was a little girl one of my favorite things was to visit fun little family attractions and their gift shops.  Every good gift shop is filled with kitsch.  There are always a endless supply of junk with your name on it (if you're lucky enough to have a popular name) and there is always ALWAYS and generous amount of rock candy.  Beautiful, colorful, delicious rock candy.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered that you can make your own!  Pinterest has opened my eyes to so much! I found THIS pin and used it as my guide.

Want to make your own?  Here's how -

Supplies:

• 2 C water
• 6 C sugar (give or take)
• Food coloring (or Kool Aid packets)
• Wooden sticks (I used BBQ skewers and sanded down the pointy end but you can purchase actual candy sticks HERE)
• Tall glasses
• Plastic wrap
• Clothes pins

Directions:

1. In pot bring water to a boil adding sugar 1/2 c at a time until it no longer disolves in the water.
2. Pour syrup into glass and add food coloring.  If I were to do this again I will use a Kool Aid packet as dye because it will also add a fun flavor.
3. Cover with plastic wrap (this part is probably optional but since I live in the south I didn't need anymore bugs comming around than usual so I covered it up).
4. Push wooden sick through the plastic wrap and clip each stick with a clothes pin to help hold stick upright.
5. Wait a few days and watch the crystals form.  Should take about a week.  Don't be alarmed if you don't see crystals right away we didn't have any until after day 2.

Maggie and I enjoyed making these, looked forward to observing its progress everyday and LOVED eating them.  A great activity to do with your kids!