Punch balloon icemen

There's an inexpensive toy known as a punch balloon which can be used to make a very useful ice globe, especially for producing classical snowman balls that stack nicely, have consistent thickness, and develop the right shape.  We arrived at this method after trying some ordinary balloons supported in bowls of different sizes -- but that produced elongated shapes that had thin spots, didn't stack well, and didn't look like real snowmen.

A punch balloon (with a football design)
showing the loop through which the
elastic cord is attached opposite the knot.

On the end opposite the knot, the balloon has a loop through which an elastic cord is attached. Blow some air into the balloon (optional - - it can also be added later) and fill it with cold water from the tap. At this point, the elastic cord is down. When there is enough water in the balloon, add some air if you didn't do that at the beginning. This is to produce a flat end, so decide how much air to add depending on how large a flat area you want. Tie a knot to close the balloon and place the knotted side down. If it rests on snow, there will be a soft spot or an opening around where the knot is. Then stretch the elastic cord straight up and attach it to something.



Here, I used a picnic table with holes in the top and fastened the cords with clothespins. The air in the balloon keeps the loop away from the ice and also produces the surface on which the next globe sits. For the top globe, the air pocket can be small, but there should be at least some air to keep the loop free of ice.

For a snowman-shaped iceman, I make three (or 4 for "insurance") globes in different sizes.

An undecorated snow
person made from punch
balloons with only a small
amount of air added, so the
contact points are small.

The same ice "man" with
snowflake hair, heart nose
and mouth, disc eyes and
buttons, and upside-down
trees to suggest a skirt.

When the walls of the globes are thick enough, break the balloons open, pour out the water (or melt through the knot end if necessary and then empty out the water) and assemble the Iceman. Add facial features, clothing items such as buttons, and limbs.



I drilled holes to insert twigs for arms and a hot pepper for a nose, and added small ice discs for eyes and buttons on this iceman.  An ordinary power drill with a twist-drill bit can be used to make holes into ice globes.



The hat was made in two parts - - a shallow plastic lid for a party tray and a metal pet food bowl. The nose is a hot pepper, stuck into a small drilled hole.

This ice person is another for which
I used the upside-down trees to
represent a skirt or apron.  

The features on this ice snowman
are seed-heads from a beebalm
plant, with their stems stuck
into small drilled holes.

Lighting an ice snowman can be
challenging.  For this one, I made
a hole in the side of the lowest
ice globe by freezing it with
another balloon touching it.
The contact patch between
the two balloons freezes
last, but this sometimes
causes the balloon to
break prematurely.

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