Ice Luminaries

Brighten up your yard with floral ice luminaries.

A frozen floral luminary can brighten up a walkway along a snow-covered path.

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Beautiful blossoms frozen in time, flickering through the flames of ice luminaries. They are nothing more than frozen floral lanterns. Like crystal prisms, they glisten with color, providing a dramatic contrast against a snow-painted landscape. At night, they become beacons, lighting a snow-packed path for visitors passing through a blooming ice garden. You can't buy these elegant ice luminaries — you have to make them, and if you can freeze water, you are halfway there.

Materials and Tools:

greens
flowers
water
2 containers you can freeze (1 large and 1 smaller)
duct or masking tape
PVC pipe (from hardware or home improvement store)
flat kitchen grater

Steps:

1. Make the base: First take the larger container and add about one-half inch of water to the bottom. Then put it outside or in the freezer until it's frozen solid. This will establish a solid base.

2. Add the second container: Once the base is frozen, insert the second container inside the first container, and center it on top of the frozen ice base. Tape the containers into position using duct tape or masking tape. This will prevent the inner container from floating out of place when you add water later.

3. Fill with flowers: Next, insert your flowers and greens in the narrow space between the two containers. The flowers are easier to handle if you leave a bit of stem when you cut them. Small blooming flowers like genista or statice freeze very well, but don't limit yourself. Most flowers and foliage freeze beautifully. Also, when placing the stems in the water, be sure the flower faces toward the outside of the container.

4. Add water and freeze: Fill the container, leaving about one-half inch of head room. Water expands when it freezes, so if you overfill, the ice will pop out. Place your container outside to freeze or put it in the freezer.

5. Unmold the luminary: Once the ice is completely frozen, bring the container to your kitchen sink to remove the ice luminary. Start by filling the inside container with warm water and eventually the container will slide off easily. Then run warm water over the outside container until it slips off, leaving behind glistening flowers on ice.

6. Freeze an ice pillar: It's best to bring your luminaries outside right away and use them to line your walkway, driveway or window boxes. Make sure you add a candle. You can also elevate them on ice pillars, which are quite easy to make. Purchase some PVC pipe from a hardware store or a home improvement store. These pipes come in various widths, so you can just choose the width you like. Then, using duct tape, seal one of the ends, so that it is water-tight. Add flowers (if you like), and then fill with water and freeze. To free the pillar, run the frozen PVC pipe under warm water until the frozen pillar slides out easily.

7. Placing luminaries on pillars: As you place your ice pillars in the garden, make sure they're firmly planted in the snow before you let go of them. The key is to find an area with at least six inches of snow, which will help anchor the top-heavy ice sculpture.

To attach a luminary to a pillar securely, level the top of the pillar by shaving off some ice with a flat kitchen grater. Then pat a little snow on top of the pillar, spritz the snow with water and then place the luminary on top of the spritzed snow; it will freeze right into place.

Once you get into making these ice sculptures, there's no end to what you can do. You can add flowers to the pillars. Or you can pour food coloring into your pillar (once it's positioned in the snow). You can also try freezing entire flowers into baking sheets. No matter what creative method you choose, these ice luminaries are sure to brighten up the neighborhood on a snowy winter night.