Oh, the weather outside is frightful! Which means it’s the perfect time of year to make ice luminaries.
When the temperature drops below freezing, you get the perfect conditions to make and display these beautiful icy decorations. They’re easy to make, require basic household items and the end result is much more beautiful than the sum of its parts.
And if the weather stays cold, they’ll last all winter long.
What You’ll Need
- Two buckets or bowls of differing sizes, one smaller than the other. (I have found that a 2-gallon bucket and a 2.5-quart paint mixing cup work perfectly together.) Experiment with different sizes to find what you like.
- Painter’s Tape
- Water
- Votive candles
- Freezing, cold weather (or room in your deep freeze)
- Optional-Evergreen sprigs and berries
Instructions
- Place the smaller bucket or bowl inside the larger one. Now, using nice, long strips of painter’s tape, create a cross across the top of the larger bucket. This will secure the smaller bucket and keep it from floating up once you add water. Make sure your tape strips are nice and secure. (See tips below.)
- Center your smaller bucket or bowl inside the larger one, then add greens and berries (if using) around the outside of the smaller bucket.
- Add water inside the larger bucket, being careful not to pour water into the smaller bucket. Leave 2” of headspace from the top of the larger bucket.
- Leave your bucket outside overnight to freeze. I place mine on the cooler, shadier side of the house.
- You want the water to be almost completely frozen. You’ll still likely have some water in the bottom, but as long as the sides are frozen solid and most of the bottom is frozen, you’re good to go.
- Carefully pull the smaller bucket or bowl out of the ice. You may need to pour some hot water inside the smaller bucket to get it to release.
- Now, carefully tip the larger bucket upside down on the ground so that the luminary comes out. You may need to tap the bucket with a rubber mallet or pour hot water over the outside of the upside-down bucket to get it to release. If it’s not frozen solid, it should slide right out.
- Tip out any unfrozen water, place your votive candles inside the luminary, and enjoy!
Displaying Your Ice Luminaries
Once you get a couple made, it’s easy to get a production line going and add more ice luminaries every day or two (weather dependent) to your collection. Whether you make three or thirty, here are a few ways to display them.
- We will start with the classic – place them on your steps leading up to your door.
- Use them to line your driveway for a holiday party.
- Place one on a table on your porch or patio next to your door with evergreens surrounding the base.
- Place one on either side of your outside door.
- Place them sporadically around your yard to create a winter wonderland when the sun goes down.
Tips for Stunning Results
Making ice luminaries is easy. But making breathtaking ice luminaries that spark a sense of magic in the night takes a little know-how. Here are a few of my tips to give you stunning results.
Mix Up Your Greens
I used a mixture of different greens: fir, spruce, cedar and boxwood. Holly or even rosemary would look stunning as well. If it’s an evergreen, it will look great in your ice luminary.
Add a Splash of Red
A little color really livens up these luminaries, and you can’t go wrong with red during the holidays. I don’t want to have to worry about picking up plastic or Styrofoam pieces as these melt, so I stuck with real berries. I chose winterberry for these luminaries, but cranberries would look equally beautiful.
Leave Room for the Light
It’s easy to get carried away with the greenery and berries. However, you want to leave plenty of open space in the wall of the ice luminary for the light to shine out. Don’t pack in too many greens.
Weigh Your Inside Bucket Down
It’s more than likely that your inner bucket will tend to want to float. Even with the tape holding it in place, it will rise up out of the water. To counteract this, you can add stones or other heavy objects to the inside of the smaller bucket. Add your stones slowly. You want to add just enough to push the smaller bucket back down in the water, not sink it.
Use Long Strips of Tape
For the best results, use long strips of tape. The more surface area the strip has to adhere to, the less likely it will come off or lift while you’re waiting for your water to freeze. I used strips of tape long enough to tuck under the bottom of the bucket.
Clear Ice
Clear ice looks incredible with these luminaries. However, it’s a lot of work. But if you want to give it a go, here’s what you need. You’ll need to use distilled water for clear ice luminaries. You’ll also need to insulate the sides of your bucket so that the ice freezes slowly from the top down. To do this, wrap your bucket in a towel and set it in a cooler with the lid open outdoors.
This will ensure the water in your bucket freezes nice and slow. You’ll get stunningly clear ice this way. Although, you’ll need consistent, freezing temps to do it.
Like I said, it’s a bit of extra work. Personally, I like the look of the bubbles trapped in the ice and the way the candlelight reflects off of them, so I don’t bother.
A Glorious Glow
For the best results, use poured votive candles. (The ones made in clear glass containers. Use at least three per luminary to get a really nice, bright glow. The poured votives will burn nicer and not melt into a puddle at the bottom of your luminary. Plus the glass will shield the ice from a bit of the heat.
Set It and Forget It Luminaries
For ice luminaries, I prefer the look of real candlelight. However, going out and lighting them each night can be tedious. If you don’t want to mess with real candles, give battery-operated votives a try.
After searching for the “perfect” battery-operated candle, I found these votives several years ago and now have about two dozen that I keep around my home all year round. You can use the timer function to turn them on at the same time each day and turn them off automatically. They flicker warmly, like real candles.
The thicker you make your luminaries, the longer they will last. They may even thaw a little and refreeze depending on your weather. Regardless of how long you get to enjoy them, these beautiful luminaries combine ice and fire for a striking winter scene outside your home.
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