Last year my in-laws gave us an Ice Globe making set but we didn’t get around to making them until this weekend. With temperatures in Minnesota being lower they have been in two decades, we were inspired to have some fun with ice. Basically the kit comes with large, thick balloons that you fill up with water and let sit outside for 20+ hours until the water is partially frozen inside. Then you take the balloon wrapper off, pour out the water from the inside of the globe and light it up!
I was impatient for the large globes in the kit to freeze, so I found a few balloons we had around the house, and filled those with water. The process is exactly the same, but instead of waiting 20 hours, we waited 7 hours… granted the temp was -15 degrees F so things froze pretty quickly. We periodically checked the firmness of the balloons, and once they felt like they had a solid shell, but weren’t totally solid, we brought them in. Do not put the balloons on the concrete without a layer of parchment paper (or some barrier), otherwise they’ll stick to the ground. You can also just plop them in the snow until frozen, that’s what I did with the balloons.
I recommend taking the balloon off over the sink because the unfrozen water from inside the globe with spill out. You can either light the globes up with a waterproof flameless candle (which is what I’d recommend), or you can use tea lights. If you use tea lights, you need to create a chimney in the top of your globe so the flame doesn’t get snuffed out. You can use a drill for creating the chimney.
These globes will last through the winter as long as the temp remains low. I encourage you to get creative by adding some food coloring to make colored globes!
Other tips:
- Temps should be under 20 degrees F or 7 degrees C to make the globes.
- Small balloons can take 14 to 18 hours to freeze and larger ones, up to 30 hours.
- You can melt open a chimney instead of drilling by placing the globe over a lit candle that has plenty of airflow underneath and it will melt a chimney open.
What are your favorite wintertime activities?
Thanks for reading,
Stephanie
Hi, I'm Stephanie. I'm the best selling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! I'm a certified master food preserver, food preservation instructor, organic gardener, chicken keeper and nature lover. I specialize in creating easy to follow recipes and directions to help other homesteaders meet their goals.
Those are awesome! Thanks for sharing!!
I will certainly try that! Thanks for the detailed instructions.
Those are so cool.
Wow this is such a great idea, I’d have never thought of it, and it soo easy to make 🙂 Thank you
How fun! I saw someone do something like this on pinterest with food die and water balloons. She put die in the balloons and made a string of what looked like giant Christmas lights. I want to do that next year!
That sounds soooo cool! Thanks for sharing.
So happy our Wintercraft kit got you started with new wintertime fun! The temps are finally cooperating for some great globe ice lantern making weather again. Lots more tips and tricks at wintercraft.com. Especially for enjoying your ice globes indoors as centerpieces…Enjoy!