20111116 candyshop rockcandy process

My daughter tells me that the Thorny Rock Candy Shop gets its name from tiny Thorny Coast, Maine's most famous historical landmark—Thorny Rock, out on the edge of town at the shore. But it's also a play on "rock candy," so the store wouldn't be complete without some of the crystallized confections. But how to make rock candy in mini?<div><br></div><div>This turned out to be the longest quest of the whole Creatin' Contest project. We found no miniaturists making mini rock candy that pleased our very picky eyes (we know our rock candy, yum yum), so the easy way—buying it premade—was out. We also could not figure out what materials might work in mini, to imitate that translucent (but often beautifully colored) look of big chunky sugar crystals. We looked at everything from odd polymer clay concoctions to smashed beads. We were about a month from the deadline and about ready to give up!</div><div><br></div><div>Finally, we found what we needed—glass frit. Frit is a byproduct of stained-glass glassmaking. It's essentially little shards of glass. Stained glass manufacturers carry it in a variety of sizes, hardnesses, and colors, and it seems to be used mainly as glass accents in beadmaking... until now. We bought two tiny pots of multicolor frit (comes in solid colors or in various multicolor packs, but since we needed only a little of a bunch of colors we didn't want to get five or six solid color tubs and have tons of leftovers), and away we went.</div><div><br></div><div>Here, we separate out the colors so we can make rock candy in realistic single colors/ "flavors."</div>