Making Ice Windows with Arctic Ice Lantern molds

Ice Windows offer a solution to some of the limitations of the Arctic Ice Lantern mold.  (It has an unfortunate tendency to crack if it isn't watched closely while freezing, and it often develops a bulgy surface when water escapes from the core during the freezing process and piles up on what should be a smooth base for the finished lantern.  These flaws can be managed when making regular ice lanterns, but they are no problem at all for making these simple ice windows.)

When extreme cold requires frequent monitoring to avoid cracking the mold, you can freeze a small volume of water in the bottom without needing to watch for over-expansion.  If the weather isn't cold enough to freeze a full lantern in a reasonable amount of time, you can still make an ice window fairly quickly.  And if nobody is around at night to see ice lanterns, a display of ice windows can brighten your day by catching natural sunlight.

Other containers with indentations in the base could also be used.  Hot water produces a clearer window.  Add enough water to cover the indented area and allow it to freeze solid.

Many different ice trays are available for making decorations for ice windows.

The basic mold for a hexagonal ice window is the Arctic Ice Lantern mold.  It can be set on another of the same shape, or directly on a mound of snow, or on some flat piece of ice.

The Arctic Ice Lantern mold's indentation 

produces a hexagonal framed window if

it is covered with just a little water.

Adding ice decorations can be very simple:

This ice window has just an ice
gingerbread man, a star in the
window, and another star on top.

A single ice whale inside the frame provides the only decoration for this ice window, which is "open" because not enough water was poured into the mold to cover the indentation.

More complicated designs are possible, with ornaments added to a base or to points around the frame.

The base for this ice window was frozen in a
water bowl for the wild birds that was left
out overnight.  The window frame was
made in an Arctic Ice Lantern mold,
and the trees and snowflakes are
from silicone ice "cube" trays
and muffin /cupcake molds

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