Paul saw two things he wanted to try this winter with ice and this week’s cold spell was the perfect opportunity. Note-while we do have cold winters in New Jersey it’s never sustained long enough to have our dream of a backyard ice rink. Well, this week it’s been below freezing all week and we were pretty excited. First up, ice candles.
Paul filled two big containers (a square kitty litter one and a small wastebasket) with water. Note to you and future us-rinse these containers out first! Set outside to freeze. You want to let it get frozen a couple inches all around. When there is still an opening in the middle it’s ready.
Pour out any leftover water. Put a candle inside and light it! Unfortunately I don’t really have a beautiful at night picture of this. In part because I forgot when we got home and also because I was fiddling with the right sort of candle. These tall red pillars were too tall, the little tealights, too small. I think I’ll put a few tealights in each tonight so the light really bounces around in the ice.
Next, ice marbles. We saw this idea online somewhere. Fill balloons with colored water, set outside to freeze, peel off the balloon.
These took a surprisingly long time to freeze. Happily, some sparkling snow last night made them look very vibrant when we unveiled them this morning.
Go have some winter fun!
* Update: It’s dark out (well, full moon) and we’ve lit the candles. Here they are glowing beautifully!
