Making beautiful ice lanterns doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. Scroll to the bottom of this page for summaries and links to methods you can use without special equipment -- or for more advanced techniques.
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| A simple ice lantern made in a container from a bulk package of Nonni's biscotti, with ice ornaments made in silicone baking molds. |
I started making ice lanterns during the winter of 2013-2014 and have been adding to my repertoire of designs each season since then. Join me in the next blog posts for a tour of the methods for freezing and decorating ice luminaries of several different varieties.
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| We began with the simplest of the commercial ice lantern molds, from Arctic Ice Lanterns, and for our first season, we just made and illuminated long rows of them. |
There's a book!
Since I started this blog, a great resource has become available for people who want to make ice luminaries or just to understand how it is done. Jen Hedberg's book offers beautifully-illustrated instructions for projects ranging from basic to elaborate.
Ice Luminary Magic is available through the Wintercraft website and at many locations in cold-winter areas.
Our inspiration for making ice lanterns was Jen's display of luminaries more than a decade ago at the Loppet winter festival in Minneapolis, and we learned much of what we know about making them from her. I started this blog especially to offer some shortcuts and beginner information, but if you want to go beyond that -- or just to understand more of the practical science behind making ice lanterns -- get yourself a copy of the book.
Basic principles for most ice lanterns
Ice freezes in a mold along the walls, leaving a liquid core. The last surface to freeze is where the mold contacts the ground or certain other objects. This makes it possible to freeze ice in a mold, pour out the liquid water from the core through the unfrozen ground-contact area, and have a finished ice luminary. The main problem with this method is that the liquid core expands as the freezing process continues, so if you wait too long, the expansion can break the mold or "explode" the ice lantern.It isn't necessary to use two nested buckets with water in between them, although that method is also workable and eliminates most mold breakage. It doesn't produce as nice an ice lantern, however, and getting the two buckets to nest properly is tricky.
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| Freezing begins along the walls in two versions of a basic ice lantern. The bottom tends to freeze last, especially if there is an indentation in the mold there. That makes the simplest version -- seen on the right side -- possible. The picture on the left shows a common, but more complicated, way to make an ice luminary. |
The same principle works for making globe ice lanterns. A balloon filled with water will freeze from the outside toward the inside, with a thin or unfrozen area where it sits on the ground. Break the balloon, and the water will pour out of the core, leaving a hollow that can hold a candle or other light source.
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| Balloons for making ice lanterns. These are from Wintercraft and are extra-strong to hold their shape when filled with water. Ordinary balloons can also be used, but they generally need support from a bowl or other container. |
Many other shapes can be frozen, using ice-cube trays, candy molds, silicone muffin pans, funnels, shot-glass molds, and other objects. If two ice objects are slightly moist, they will weld together in the cold, allowing the production of complex designs and shapes.
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| Freezing ice appliques to decorate ice lanterns. Many shapes are sold for making muffins, soap, ice, and candies. Silicone trays are the easiest to use. |
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| Ice lanterns and decorations can be combined in many ways, "welding" the pieces together with cold water. |
Look here for information on ice appliques and decorating techniques.
At very cold temperatures, stencils can be used to decorate ice surfaces with quick-freezing water.
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| Stenciling on ice lanterns is an advanced technique that requires very cold conditions. |
Click here for more information on using stencils on ice lanterns.
Each entry in the blog describes a different technique, starting with the easiest and progressing to more complicated ones. I have linked to many of the individual entries from this introduction, and if you are looking at the web version, you will find the pages listed in the right sidebar.
You can use containers that you have around home, but there are some molds that are particularly easy.
Each entry in the blog describes a different technique, starting with the easiest and progressing to more complicated ones. I have linked to many of the individual entries from this introduction, and if you are looking at the web version, you will find the pages listed in the right sidebar.
"Bucket" ice lanterns:
"Bucket" ice lanterns: many different containers will produce a serviceable ice lantern, but there are a few shapes to avoid. Nothing should interfere with the ice sliding out of the container, and for the single-bucket technique, it helps to have a bottom that is indented.
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| Good and bad shapes for making single-bucket ice lanterns. |
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| Here is a very simple little bucket that can be used to freeze a small ice lantern. Its wall slopes outward, and it can be filled to below the ridge. There is no ridge protruding inward to interfere with unmolding. |
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| A slight indentation in the bottom delays freezing until last, so that the water in the core can usually just be poured out through an opening there. If is does freeze over, the ice will usually be thin enough to just break through easily. |
You can use containers that you have around home, but there are some molds that are particularly easy.
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| The Arctic Ice Lantern mold is a commercial product that produces a very nice ice lantern with six sides, but the mold is liable to crack if it is left to freeze for too long. |
We have a Flickr album here with many more photos of Arctic Ice Lanterns.
Attention: this is the very easiest, most foolproof, least messy way to make an ice lantern, and you get to eat biscotti. If you want to make ice luminaries with kids, it's a great way to start.
Read about the easiest ice lantern mold here
One commercial product that comes in a very easy mold for making ice lanterns is the bulk package of Nonni's Chocolate Hazelnut biscotti.
Attention: this is the very easiest, most foolproof, least messy way to make an ice lantern, and you get to eat biscotti. If you want to make ice luminaries with kids, it's a great way to start.
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| This plastic bucket of 25 biscotti is the easiest, most crack-resistant, prettiest simple ice lantern mold that we have found so far. |
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| Nonni's Chocolate-Hazelnut biscotti containers (the hexagon is the footprint of an Arctic Ice Lantern for size reference. |
Read about the easiest ice lantern mold here
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| A comparison of the Arctic Ice Lantern and Nonni's Chocolate-Hazelnut biscotti molds for size and ease of stacking. |
Globe ice lanterns
The other major class of ice lanterns is ice globes. They can be made with fairly thin walls, like goldfish bowls, or they can be frozen nearly all the way through, with a very small cavity for a candle. Wintercraft's balloons are particularly resistant to breaking and can be used to make large ice globes.
We make various kinds of globe ice lanterns, but most of them are in the fishbowl shape.
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| An ice globe made in an ordinary balloon in a bowl, with a fairly thin wall, and a "goldfish bowl" shape. |
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| This globe was made using Wintercraft's preferred method, producing a small cavity for the candle, and very thick walls. Rather than turning the globe over after emptying the water from the core, I drilled a chimney down into it (and added a protective cylinder above), leaving a small cavity for the candle. |
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| This fishbowl-style ice globe sits on a base of Arctic Ice Lanterns and is decorated with small ice cubes. |
A fishbowl really should have fish in it! But until I found some ice trays for making fish, and realized that they could easily be welded to the inner surface of a large ice globe, I hadn't tried this very entertaining way of making an ice lantern that's just as fun by day as by night.
Click here for some more fishy ice lantern ideas.
Special shapes for ice lanterns and other ice forms include flames and teardrops, hanging drops, and funnels. Look through the other posts for a variety of ideas.
Look here for flame and teardrop lanterns made in balloons
Click here for hanging-drop ice shape instructions
Learn to make funnel (and hanging drop or flame) roofs for ice castles here
Many unusual shapes can be made by constraining a balloon inside some sort of container. Read about how to soften ordinary shapes this way and to make entirely different constrained-balloon shapes here.
A special case of an ice globe is one that is made in a "punch balloon." It produces a shape that is particularly good for making bases for other ice lanterns and for stacking ice globes to make a "snowman."
Making a snowman-shaped "iceman" is demonstrated here.
Another variation on the classic snowman is a tiny ice figure that can be produced in a home freezer.
How to make a tiny ice figure.
LED lighting can give you a wider choice of colors, keep your ice lanterns from melting when lit, and allow you to light ice objects that don't have chimneys or a fresh air supply. Read about some ideas for lighting here.
For ideas on delaying -- or enjoying -- the inevitable demise of your ice lanterns, click here.
More ice lantern pictures:
Click here for some more fishy ice lantern ideas.
Special shapes for ice lanterns and other ice forms include flames and teardrops, hanging drops, and funnels. Look through the other posts for a variety of ideas.
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| Teardrop with LED light |
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| Hanging drop ice shapes |
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| Funnel roofs for ice castles |
Many unusual shapes can be made by constraining a balloon inside some sort of container. Read about how to soften ordinary shapes this way and to make entirely different constrained-balloon shapes here.
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| One of several ice lantern shapes made by using constrained balloons. |
A special case of an ice globe is one that is made in a "punch balloon." It produces a shape that is particularly good for making bases for other ice lanterns and for stacking ice globes to make a "snowman."
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| A "punch balloon" with an elastic cord. When set on the ground and held up by the cord -- with air blown into it to make a flat surface on one end and the knot end being flattened by the ground underneath, it makes a thick, sturdy globe shape that stacks well. |
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| The punch balloon globes have just the right amount of flattening to look like rolled snowballs |
Making a snowman-shaped "iceman" is demonstrated here.
Another variation on the classic snowman is a tiny ice figure that can be produced in a home freezer.
How to make a tiny ice figure.
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| The base for this Arare ice globe was frozen in a punch balloon. |
The "Arare" or "hobnail hailstone" ice lantern
Two strains of decoration for cookware/glassware draw on icy precipitation for their inspiration -- and those were on my mind when I started making ice lanterns that resemble the Japanese Arare metal teapots or the Bohemian/American hobnail hailstone glassware. It's an uncomplicated but very time-consuming technique that makes a beautiful luminary. Read about it here.
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| An Arare ice lantern made with a Wintercraft balloon and displayed with pieces of Wintercraft's ice glass at the 2016 Middlemoon Creekwalk. |
The "Cut Glass" ice lantern
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| An easier way to add texture to an ice lantern is to wrap a flexible mat with a pattern inside a mold when freezing it. See how to make the "cut glass" luminary here. |
Cookie Cutter Ice Windows
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| Cookie cutters can be used to make ice windows for daytime displays or to set up in squares with a central candle as luminaries. Here's how. |
More ideas for decorating ice lanterns
You can freeze objects and dyes into ice lanterns, but water tends to purify itself as it freezes, pushing added colors and items out of the way.
Read about freezing things into ice lanterns here. Some very beautiful ice luminaries are made with flowers inside them, but I find them difficult to produce and have not continued to work on them.
Although freezing a whole ice lantern with added coloring tends to produce a clear luminary with colored water in the core, it is possible to make ice decorations in various colors and apply them successfully. Click here for information about color for ice lanterns.
For daytime displays, ice scenes can be set up to catch the sun, without needing to be designed to hold a candle. For these, I often make an "ice window" using just a couple of inches of water in the Arctic Ice Lantern mold, which avoids the problem of that mold cracking if it is left too long to freeze. Here is a sampling of ice window scenes.
Other ice scenes such as a fishbowl with fish, or an ice-fishing scene, are found here
Displaying outdoors -- ideas for bases
Bases lift your icy creations up to viewing level, keep them from being buried in new snow, and enhance their appearance. You might want to nestle some luminaries in the hollows, but don't overlook the possibility of putting them on a pedestal.
Ideas for ice lantern bases are here.
Ideas for ice lantern bases are here.
Other ice decorations
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| There aren't many daytime hours in the middle of the winter, but you can fill them with ice objects other than just luminaries. |
An "ice window" frame is decorated
with ice snowflakes and attached to
a base with several ice trees.
Other ice scenes such as a fishbowl with fish, or an ice-fishing scene, are found here
Lighting
If you use candles in a few ice lanterns on special occasions, you'll probably just buy them. If you are lining a sidewalk with ice lanterns and lighting them whenever the weather is cold enough, you might want to pour your own and recycle your candle stubs. Here are some suggestions.
LED lighting can give you a wider choice of colors, keep your ice lanterns from melting when lit, and allow you to light ice objects that don't have chimneys or a fresh air supply. Read about some ideas for lighting here.
Problems, disasters, and catastrophes -- and the inevitable
Really, chill out. There's not that much that can go wrong, in the global scheme of things, because -- you know -- they're all going to melt in a couple weeks anyway, and spring will come
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| They all fall apart and melt eventually |
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For the many little troubles that can interfere with your success -- here is a page of suggestions and cautions.
For ideas on delaying -- or enjoying -- the inevitable demise of your ice lanterns, click here.
More ice lantern pictures:
Since starting to make ice lanterns in 2013-2014, we've posted many pictures to Flickr. You can find our albums here.
How do you keep your hands dry and warm while working with the water and ice?
ReplyDeleteWintercraft offers a very nice warm, waterproof glove on their website, and I have a pair of those. They work great. However, I usually just work bare-handed for short amounts of time, sometimes warming my fingers with a jug of hot water or a towel. Most of what I do is on my front porch, so it's easy to go inside to warm up.
DeleteI love the lantern post. I have sheperd's crooks that I place in pots and aroud my porch to hang lanterns on special occasions. I also have a very large pair on my mantel that I light often....it makes me happy! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete