Iron Craft: The Winter Contest
I am having a crazy week! I am planning and preparing for a birthday party. I have the house to clean. I have to write a letter I have to the Baby Lotus Bud. I have cranes to fold and hang. BUT, I just couldn't take a break from Iron Craft. I'm hooked and addicted!
This Week's challenge is a contest - The Winter Contest. The fact that it is a contest got me all charged up and so I sit here blogging when I should be sweeping and wiping dust.
Despite my excitement, I was sort of at a loss about what to do. I couldn't do the fire and ice candle again which is (for me) the ultimate winter craft. So I did a search on the Internet for winter craft ideas and settled upon creating a Winter Sun Catcher. I really wanted to do something outside so this seemed like the perfect project. Have you followed the link and looked at the photo? It's beautiful and elegant, isn't it?
Mine - not so much.
OK. So here's what I did. I filled ice cube trays with colored water, then when those froze, I put them into a cake pan to freeze together.
I had to go and buy a cake pan because I didn't have one. I picked one up at the thrift store for 99 cents. Fortunately I did have food coloring and a spare ice cube tray.
This last week was perfect for an outside project because the temps dipped down into the single digits. The project froze quickly, but maybe a little too quickly. You see, the colored ice cubes are supposed to melt a bit when you put them in the cake pan so that the colors blend together. But like I said, single digit temps freeze water quickly!
I also had figure out where to hang these to catch the sun. My usual spots to hang things like on the clothes line pole or the big elm tree in the backyard were pretty much inaccessible due to the 4 feet of snow blocking the way. The trellis I made out of broken branches was not strong enough to support the weight of the ice block and it was in a spot where it would not catch any sun. I settled on the front railing and really lucked out that I hung them right before the sun shone down.
OK, so not exactly how I pictured them to be, but I like them anyway. AND, I have something decorative for the guests as they arrive at the birthday party tomorrow.
I can't help thinking - Would glitter have made this project better?
This Week's challenge is a contest - The Winter Contest. The fact that it is a contest got me all charged up and so I sit here blogging when I should be sweeping and wiping dust.
Despite my excitement, I was sort of at a loss about what to do. I couldn't do the fire and ice candle again which is (for me) the ultimate winter craft. So I did a search on the Internet for winter craft ideas and settled upon creating a Winter Sun Catcher. I really wanted to do something outside so this seemed like the perfect project. Have you followed the link and looked at the photo? It's beautiful and elegant, isn't it?
Mine - not so much.
OK. So here's what I did. I filled ice cube trays with colored water, then when those froze, I put them into a cake pan to freeze together.
I had to go and buy a cake pan because I didn't have one. I picked one up at the thrift store for 99 cents. Fortunately I did have food coloring and a spare ice cube tray.
This last week was perfect for an outside project because the temps dipped down into the single digits. The project froze quickly, but maybe a little too quickly. You see, the colored ice cubes are supposed to melt a bit when you put them in the cake pan so that the colors blend together. But like I said, single digit temps freeze water quickly!
I also had figure out where to hang these to catch the sun. My usual spots to hang things like on the clothes line pole or the big elm tree in the backyard were pretty much inaccessible due to the 4 feet of snow blocking the way. The trellis I made out of broken branches was not strong enough to support the weight of the ice block and it was in a spot where it would not catch any sun. I settled on the front railing and really lucked out that I hung them right before the sun shone down.
OK, so not exactly how I pictured them to be, but I like them anyway. AND, I have something decorative for the guests as they arrive at the birthday party tomorrow.
I can't help thinking - Would glitter have made this project better?
Ohhh glitter! but you know those are pretty awesome as is.
ReplyDeleteI love these! And what a fun project to do with the babies next winter when they're old enough to help!
ReplyDelete