【Candy Apples Archives】

This post is Candy Apples Archivespart ofHard Refresh, a soothing weekly column where we try to cleanse your brain of whatever terrible thing you just witnessed on Twitter.

If Hermione Granger had had YouTube access at Hogwarts, she'd definitely watch wax seal videos.

Even with the advent of the World Wide Web, it's still nice to communicate with people the old-fashioned way sometimes. Sure, tapping a text takes just seconds, but writing a letter on paper is a chance to flex our creative muscles and put some real meaning into the message.

With all the chaos of the modern world, it may be nice to take a step back in time and revisit the art of the wax seal. And just like everything else that exists, YouTube has a designated corner for it.

A brief history on wax seals should come in handy while watching these videos. Though letter writing has been around since there were people to write them, wax seals only became popular in the middle ages. They were used as an authenticator for important documents before they became widely used to actually seal letters from prying eyes, according to the brand Kings Wax.

Since the stamps can be personalized to include initials or a crest, there is a very official and personal air about the whole process. Mostly, though, it's just nice to watch slow hands going through the steps of actually making a seal.

First, the wax is chosen, whether it be from a bead, stick, or glue gun. If multiple colors are used, they sometimes they're arrange them in a certain way to achieve a specific look. From there, the wax is heated over a flame in a spoon or directly on the stick. Once it's hot enough, the most satisfying part of the process happens: the wax is poured.

It doesn't take much to make a standard seal, but the size of stamps varies. After about 10-15 seconds, the stamp is pressed into the hot wax for another 10 seconds and voila! A wax seal is born.

If you're just looking to relax and watch someone do something creative by candlelight, these videos are perfect for you. Just be cautious, you may find yourself writing a postcard to a long lost friend and using an old Crayon (melted in a spoon) to jazz it up.

The most famous seals might be those seen in Harry Potter, dropping from the claws of an owl into Harry's hands. Here is 11 minutes of pure Hogwarts-inspired wax sealing for your viewing pleasure:

While sealing a letter with wax requires dexterity and practice, folding letters may also requires some expertise. Now, it's not necessary to fold your letters like they're going to be delivered in lamplight by a courier, but it will add to the mise-en-scèneof it all.

Sometimes, wax seals are just a chance to make colorful things in a simple and soothing way.

So take a step back, and remember a time when correspondence required more than a finger on glass and a digital litter of eggplant-shaped hieroglyphics.