Decorating ice lanterns with ice appliques

Ice appliques -- an easy way to decorate your luminaries

The flat surfaces of hexagonal and square ice lanterns invite decoration with ice appliques.  There are many choices, and even ice globes can accept some decorations.

Silicone baking molds are available in many shapes.

A Christmas tree from a silicone baking mold
spruces up the face of a small ice lantern.

 Ice shapes quickly weld to ice surfaces if applied when moist.  Filling the molds to less than full capacity keeps the surface from expanding to be convex, which interferes with good bonding.  A flat or slightly concave surface bonds best.

Tiny cocktail ice "cubes" are versatile
ornaments for many kinds of luminary.

This ice lantern was made in an ordinary
balloon and decorated with many rows of
little ice cubes, in a pattern similar to
"hobnail hailstone" glassware or
Japanese "Arare" ironware.

The last rows were about to be added here.

Silicone molds are available for baking muffins, making candy, producing frozen shot glasses, and of course for ice "cubes" in various shapes.

A plastic party/picnic bowl and a lid for a larger
bowl served as molds for the layered base for
this globe ice lantern.  A double ring of cocktail
ice cubes surrounds the opening at the top.

Snowflakes, stars, hearts, trees, leaves, animals,
gingerbread men, ducks, penguins, and owls are
some of the shapes we have for decorating
ice luminaries.

Stars decorate the rim and sides of
this ice luminary.  

Ice snowflakes surround the opening
on this ice luminary which is also
stenciled with snowflakes and mounted
on a base with snowflake appliques.

Bold, uncomplicated shapes work best for ice appliques.  Detail tends to lose its definition as soon as the ice softens or snow falls on it.  Stars and snowflakes last a long time.  Hearts are good.  Some other shapes look good at first but don't withstand any melting.

These leaves don't stand out well from a distance
because their shapes are too complicated.

This owl didn't work well if I froze it to the full thickness of the mold, but when filled only part way, it remained transparent and adhered well to the ice lantern.  Still, it didn't last many days in the sunlight.

An owl from a silicone baking mold.
A penguin from a similar mold didn't
look good at all, and a full-thickness
owl also didn't work well.

Don't hesitate to use ice appliques for novel purposes.  This ice person has snowflake hair, heart nose and mouth, heart and snowflake sleeves, and an upside-down tree apron.

An ice person decorated
with a variety of appliques

Shot glass molds for making frozen drinking glasses are surprisingly easy to find and make excellent pillars for various ice lantern applications.

Ice shot glass pillars support a
funnel roof on this tower.

Hearts decorate the sides of this Arctic Ice
Lantern, which is topped with shot glasses
and cocktail ice "cubes."

See the separate page for colored ice appliques.

There is almost no limit to the ways to "dress up" your ice luminaries.


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