Baby, it’s COLD outside! Right now, it’s a balmy 25 degrees here in SW Washington – much colder than we’re used to. Don’t get me wrong, unlike others, I am so grateful to live in a state with four marked seasons. The chilly temperatures and the bit of snow on the ground make it feel like winter here.
I’m about to be super-honest here…..It was a Saturday night, about 45 minutes until bedtime, when my daughter asked, “When do we get to do our advent slip?” (We are using a fun activity-advent calendar I made to celebrate the season this year!) I tried not to let out an audible sigh and said, “Oh! Let me go write that paper up really quick” I ran into the kitchen and knew I had to come up with a quick (yet fun) project on the fly…..It had slipped my mind. I was sick, my husband was out, and I was just trying to hang in there until bedtime. I needed easy. They deserved fun. What was a tired mom to do?
Two words. Ice Ornaments.
This was just about the easiest craft (if you can call it that) we’ve done. In the interest of time and simplicity, we opted to go the easy route on these – and my kids had just as much fun. Note to self – you don’t ALWAYS have to go that extra mile. Sometimes, good enough, is good enough! And honestly, our super-simple, humble project is GORGEOUS.
You will need:
a shallow rimmed dish or tray (I used our plastic children’s dishes from IKEA.)
water
food coloring
yarn or twine
below freezing temperatures (or a freezer)
To Make:
Fill your dish or tray with water. Tie a knot in a small length of yarn to make a loop, and place the tied end in the water, allowing the loop to remain outside of the water. This will allow you to hang your ornament, once it has frozen.
Add a few dots of food coloring to the water. (Note – if you don’t want your colors to all mix together – do these outside! If we’d made these out on the deck, we would have had a swirled and multi-color result. However, when I moved them from the kitchen to the table out back, the colors all mixed. They were still pretty, but the designs were lost.)
*The fancier option is to go ahead and freeze ice cubes in different colors, or to fill the metal cookie cutters with colored water (on a tray) and allow those to freeze. Then, place the frozen shapes into a dish of plain water, for a different effect.
Whether you go for super-simple, or take a more complicated approach, the result will be a gorgeous outdoor ornament to enjoy. Have fun and stay warm!
