Cotton candy. © Poppy Thomas-Hill CC by 2.0
Nearly the end of the school year. You want to become a DIY organizer for the summer parties?
Well, here, we tested the cotton candy tutorial from the YouTube channel VitaliUS EN and it works really well! You will all become the little ones’ heroes for the next parties at the beginning of the holidays. School fete, summer music festival, Saint-John the Baptist Day, and traditional fireworks on July 4, you are spoilt for choice to shine. Cotton candy parties to look forward to! We are not far from attempting the DIY candy apple!
Equipment
– A hand drill (preferably mini rotary tool type);
– A jar of jelly lid;
– A large cardboard box;
– A nail and a hammer;
– A sheet of sandpaper.
Design
1) With a nail and a hammer, pierce small holes all around the lid. Beware, the outside of the lid will be very sharp because of the holes; you can then sand down the excess metal with the sandpaper sheet so as not to cut yourself. The central hole will be explained later on.
2) For the central hole, you have two solutions. For the first solution, if you are using a mini rotary tool (and not a drill), you will need an accessory that is usually used to fix abrasive discs (here the disc will be replaced with the jar of jelly lid). Then pierce a hole in the center of the lid, the size of the the rotary tool mandrel.
The second solution is for those who use a “real” drill. You will need a wood screw and a quite thin bracket, 2 to 4 cm in diameter (round or square, it doesn’t matter). The bracket should fit on the drill, otherwise, make sure you reduce the diameter of the bracket to fit the drill. Drill a hole in the center of the lid, the size of the screw, and drill another hole, smaller, in the center of the bracket. Fix the lot together using the photo below as an example.
3) Prepare a large cardboard box and cover the inside with aluminum foil or cellophane. This box will serve as a container for the cotton candy.
4) The recipe for cotton candy is very simple: sugar and water. With proportions of 3 (sugar) to 1 (water), for example 30g of sugar for 10g (or 10cl) of water. Heat the mixture on medium heat. Needless to say that hot caramel is to be handled with care during these manipulations; it is therefore advisable several people carry them out. As soon as the mixture starts to turn brown, activate the drill in the cardboard and delicately pour a trickle of caramel into the lid. The cotton candy appears on its own!
We tried powdered red food coloring (the only one we had at hand) and the result was not very conclusive: the caramel was too liquid and the food coloring had produced lumps, failed experience… But I think that with liquid food coloring or already colored sugar, the cotton candy will look significantly better.
Tutorial inspired from the YouTube channel VitaliUS EN