Build The Best Sand Castle With Tips From The Pros - Redbook

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Media Platforms Design Team

Build the best sand castle on the beach.1

4 Rules of Castle-building

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Use moist sand. Squeeze a ball of sand in your hand for a few seconds. "If the ball stays together when you roll it around in your palm, it's perfect sand for a castle," says Justin Gordon, an award-winning professional sand sculptor in Massachusetts. "The best place to find this sand is below the tide line," says Gordon. Start with a densely packed mound of sand. To get the best density, build up the mound gradually: Add 6 inches of sand, pack down firmly with your fists, then pour half a bucket of water on top. (You can never add too much water; any excess will just drain out.) Repeat until you've reached your desired height.Shave away sand in thin layers. This way, you'll have more control when you're carving design details. Plus, it's easier to take away sand than it is to add it back.Work from top to bottom. You'll lessen the chance that falling sand or an ill-placed knee will ruin your work. As you create finer details like windows and stairs, blow away excess sand using a straw.2

Build towers.

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You'll need:

funnel
shovel
Can You Dig It Sand Tools Super Deluxe Sand Sculpting Kit ($35; canyoudigit.com).

Household tools work too, though not as well: putty knife, butter knife, melon baller, two 5-gallon buckets (one with the bottom cut out), straw.Place the bottomless bucket upside down on one side of the sand mound. Fill it a quarter full with sand, then pour in half a bucket of water. Pack in more sand until the bucket is full. Remove bucket and repeat process on the other side of the mound. For the tower roof, pack sand tightly into the funnel, place funnel upside down on top of the bucket-shaped tower, then remove by wiggling gently from side to side (see photo). Repeat on second tower. Use your hands to gently smooth the tower and roof into one shape.Advertisement - Continue Reading Below3

Add details to towers.

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With the medium shaper, carve roofs, walls, and windows (pictured). Leave sand behind on the side of the left tower for stairs.4

Make a wall.

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Smooth sand between the towers to form a wall. Flatten the top with the medium shaper. Then, use shaper to make slits along the top of the wall: Drag tip of tool across top, digging down ¼ inch per drag (pictured).Advertisement - Continue Reading Below5

Make a wall.

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Repeat until the slit is about an inch deep. Clear away sand from the wall's sides with the sand wedge hoe, the largest tool in the kit (pictured).6

Add details to wall.

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Using the corner of the small detail shaper, outline a doorway in the middle of the wall (ours is 4 inches tall and 2 inches wide). Drag the corner of the small detail shaper along the wall's face to create "stones," going roughly ¼ inch deep.Advertisement - Continue Reading Below7

Create steps.

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Using the edge of the sand wedge hoe, start behind the top of the left tower and smooth out a 4-inch-wide ramp that wraps around the tower. Starting at the top, press sand wedge hoe into sand ½ inch and drag wedge across ramp to flatten out step. Repeat.8

Make an arch.

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Dig out the doorway in the middle of the castle wall. Go about halfway through, then dig out the rest of the door from the opposite side. (If you dig only from one side, the wall could collapse.)Watch Next Advertisement - Continue Reading Below