ice lanterns and ice wreaths

 

I had planned to make ice art - ice wreaths, ice lanterns and the like - for many many years now. my pinterest boards are full of pins of beautiful ice crafts, but somehow, either the weather didn't stay cold long enough, or i simply forgot... but what is a lockdown smack in the middle of winter good for if not to get started on all these crafty to do lists... 

here is a quick how-to, although i do think it is pretty self-explanatory.

you need: 

- freezing temperatures or space in your freezer

- natural materials like winter berries, twigs and perhaps some slices of clementines

- cake tins, bread baking pans, small buckets

- smaller utensils to put into the buckets and tins if you want to make lanterns (i used paper cups)

- stones to put into these, to prevent them from floating

what to do:

- place the smaller utensils (cups) into the baking pans and buckets and place some stones in them

- evenly arrange all the natural materials and try to make the slices of clementines/mandarines stay upright towards the edge of the pans

- fill with water

- place outside overnight to freeze (or in the freezer if it's not cold enough)

i left ours outside and they were frozen after about 20 hours. I was able to tilt the pans and the ice wreaths just popped out, you can run a little warm water over the buckets in case the ice doesn't come out easily. the paper cups were harder to remove, i will use plastic cups next time!

such a beautiful winter decoration!