Fort Sumter-PEZ Edition

     The Civil War, the most bloody and violent conflict in United States history, officially started at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. On April 12, 1861, the armed forces of the Confederate States of America fired on the fort, which was still held by the North. The resulting battle ended in the utter devastation of the fort and the eruption of the American Civil War.
     Today, the fort has been taken over by the National Park Service (or NPS) and is a national monument dedicated to the great sacrifices made during the war. You can create your own tribute to the Civil War by making your own model of the fort, out of anything, or in this case, PEZ hard candies.

Photos three and four courtesy of the National Park Service and Fort Sumter National Monument.

You will need: -Three to four 8-pack sets of PEZ candies, preferably chocolate. Store them in an easy to get to container. -Green, blue, and black construction paper. -Scissors. -Glue of any kind (in this case hot glue).

Take two pieces of green construction paper, and line them up in landscape format. Next, fold one of the papers in half "hot dog style" (lenghtwise), and unfold it. Mark the center of the fold on the other piece of paper as shown.

Add a dot of glue over the mark you just made, and add a piece of PEZ.

Measure 8.75 inches up both sides of the paper from the end with the PEZ, and make a mark. Next, draw lines connecting the PEZ and the two side marks.

Glue PEZ along both diagonal lines on the paper. Next, glue candies up both sides of the paper. Finally, draw a line across the paper from the two side marks, and glue PEZ on top. Make sure they are lined up and close together!

Add staggered candies on top of the first layer. Repeat to get four layers total.

Stack three candies in the apex of the smallest corner. Next, glue PEZ on their sides all the way down the two front parts of the wall. Finally, add candies to the top, to create a flat "roof." Repeat all the way around the fort.

Add vertical PEZ along the inner wall as shown. Next, add horizontal candies to the top of the vertical PEZ. It is best to use differently colored candies here to show a difference in structure.

Add another half piece of PEZ to the center of the fort.

Cut the green paper as shown to match the actual island the fort is on. Next, glue the entire fort to a blue piece of construction paper. Finally, glue small pieces of crumpled black paper along the sides of the fort to represent the rocks along the edge of the island.

Congratulations! You now have a PEZ model of Fort Sumter! Have fun with your mini battles!

I am not affiliated with the National Park Service, Fort Sumter National Monument, or PEZ candies. Credit for information goes to them.