Balloon Ice Lanterns using regular balloons

Making an ice lantern in an ordinary balloon

Ordinary balloons can be used for making ice lanterns, but they tend to flatten out, and they break fairly easily.  There are techniques for dealing with the problems, though.

The basic principle is the same for balloons as for other ice lanterns:  the outside freezes first, and the place where the balloon sits on the ground tends not to freeze, or to freeze later and thinner than the rest of the wall.  The core remains liquid the longest.  If the balloon is removed at the right time, there will be a globe with an opening into the center.

Choose balloons that are "helium quality" and light-colored
for making ice globes.  Dark colors absorb too much heat from the sun.

Hold the balloon over a faucet and fill it with cold water.
Support it with one hand and squeeze the open end carefully
as you remove it from the faucet.  This can be messy if the balloon
pops or you lose your grip on it.  Keep the end closed while transferring
the balloon into something to support it, such as a thin plastic bowl.
EDIT:
It is less messy to blow some air into the balloon before filling it with
water.  If you have a removable clip to seal the end, you can keep the
air inside while sliding the opening over the faucet, then remove
the clip and turn on the water.  Support the enlarging balloon on
something while filling it, then turn off the water and re-seal
the opening with the clip before pulling the end off the faucet.

This inexpensive thin plastic party bowl from Party City has
fluting that adds a decorative effect to a balloon ice globe.  A
slight indentation in the bottom helps to make a nice edge around
the opening in the ice lantern after the water is poured out of the core.

To make a flat bottom for the globe ice lantern, you can
blow air into the balloon after placing it in the bowl.  This
balloon is closed with a clip (small clips from Ikea would work
but this one is from Wintercraft's balloon ice lantern kit).  You
can also tie the balloon shut.
EDIT:
Although adding the air after filling the balloon does work
well, putting air in before adding the water works better.

After filling the balloon, place it on the ground.  This keeps the bottom from freezing solid.  It is not easy to be sure when the wall is thick enough to unmold.  I often prepare several balloons and unmold one to test whether it's been long enough.  Temperatures around the freezing point -- especially if the sun is shining -- may produce thin sheets of ice extending into the core;  a better ice globe results when the temperature is colder.

This ice globe has been unmolded onto bubble wrap
to protect it from cracking.  The opening had closed over
with thin ice, which needed to be melted through to reach the
liquid water in the core.  It was easily softened by spinning a
metal bowl filled with hot water in the indentation.

This ice globe is decorated with ice hearts applied
around the upper rim.  It is sitting on an upside-down
Arctic Ice Lantern for a base to keep it nearer to eye level.

This simple globe sits on a base that
was frozen in a fluted plastic bowl, and
it is decorated around the opening
with a ring of small cocktail ice cubes.

See the page on using Wintercraft's balloons for making ice lanterns.  They are sturdy enough to need minimal support while freezing, and they can hold a larger volume of water without breaking.

See the page on "punch balloons."  These produce a particularly good, thick-walled ice globe with a good shape for stacking.

Look here for ice globes decorated in the Arare or hobnail-hailstone design.  

Return to the introductory page.