How to Make Beautiful Winter Ice Decor for Your Yard

In mid-December, I had decided that my yard was looking all too-blase’, for me.  There was snow, so that was a plus.  It just looks so bleak and dead, without snow at least. But it really needed more than just……white, everywhere. It bothered me more this year, because I had seen, what I was missing, before.  You see, at the end of 2 Autumn seasons ago, Michael and I had cleaned out the garden beds, and thrown down winter rye seed.  By the time the first snow had fallen that year, beautiful bright green rye was coming up out of the snow in all of the garden beds in the front yard.  I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it all winter.  Three perfectly snow covered, raised rectangles,  elevated out of the blanket of snow on the ground, with beautiful, spring-green grass poking up out of it, everywhere. It always looked, just beautiful.

But this past Autumn, we threw it down the winter rye seed a little too late.  It was already too cold to germinate and grow.  I was so mad at myself, for waiting too long.  And I’ve suffered for it.  I haven’t looked at our front yard, without grumbling under my breathe about it, once this winter.  I miss the bright green rye.  It’s looked so….lifeless out there, without it.  Fresh fallen snow is always pretty.  But the rye just added so more.

The week before Christmas, I was thinking about how I could add some pretty out there.  So I decided to try and make some ice molded sculptures, adding pretty things to it.  Then I could place them about the yard, on railings, in my empty garden beds, and on the walls out back outside our school windows, where the birds spend the day coming and going.

I started with some store bought bags of cranberries, and some oranges as well.  The rest, I got from our yard.  (Alright….some from the neighbor’s yard too. But, we manage the property, and I was pretty sure she wouldn’t care. Or ever know. lol).  I found 2 kinds of berries on sticks.  Holly berries, and……what are those dark ones??  I’m not really sure.  If you know, maybe you can tell me.
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I also tried to gather a few different kind of pine branches and sticks, for variety.
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From the kitchen, I gathered containers in as many different shapes and sizes as I could find.  I was especially excited about the triangle pizza slice ones!  I also got some tuna cans that had been washed out, and put downstairs for the next garbage day.
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Then the fun started.  We sliced up some oranges, started pulling pieces of pine off the big branches, and started arranging things just-so in the containers.

Who is WE, all of a sudden?

Me, and {O}.  She is always right there, no matter what I am doing, asking to help. “Would I be able to help?”  It’s her most used sentence, and it always has been.   She’s so nice to have around.  She makes my second cup of coffee every morning too.  She peeks in my first cup about 50 times, just hoping it is time to get me more.  Now the boys are trying to cut in on her morning gig, and she’s not having it.

Oh…I’m getting off topic I guess.   So….

….she was really enjoying doing this project with me.  She was cutting stuff with the big knife, arranging every piece with love, and feeling like such a big girl.  Designing and crafts is her thing, anyway.

We had a lot of fun, trying to make each arrangement a little different than the others.
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As we finished each one, we put it out on the deck.

They looked so pretty, all together, against the wet deck that brought out the grain in the wood.    I was more excited than ever, just imaging how beautiful they were going to be.  But they weren’t done yet.
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We had to fill each container with water, being careful not to disturb our arrangement too much.

Is it me, or are my old and vein-y hands making it into a lot of blog posts lately?

Lovely!!  All that was left for them now, was to freeze!  So we left them right there, for them to do just that.

And we waited …. day, after day, after day.

Christmas came, and went, and they still sat there, unfrozen.

Yes,  a little technical difficulty in my plan.  One should check the weather report, before one decides to make a 100 frozen ice sculptured outside, huh?  A little warm front moved in, out of the blue, after weeks of being frigid cold out there.  Sometimes, they would start to freeze, and I would get all excited.  This would be about 2:30 a.m., when I got up to put more wood on the fire, and I just had to run out there, and check if they were freezing yet, in my nighty.

But the next day, the temps would climb back up to 36 degrees or so again, and it was back to square one.

(Sigh.)   The round tin pans were starting to rust!!

But then finally, they froze enough….

Taking them out of their containers, one by one, was like opening a gift, every time.

Each one a unique surprise.

I thought they were so beautiful.

Don’t you think so too?………

This one was still partially unfrozen, but I didn’t mind much.  It was still pretty, so I laid them in the garden beds.
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Many of them filled my flower box.
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Others I just plunked in the snow, on the railings.
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I loved the pitcher ones.  I put those in my garden beds too.  The spring greens sticking up looked like it belonged there.

They brought comfort and a smile to my face, and relieved my longing for the sight of my winter rye.

When it’s warm enough again, and our ice creations melt away, the little critters around that we enjoy so much, will be delighted with the berries and oranges our ice left behind.

I hope you’ll try making some yourself, if your climate allows. (I do recommend checking the weather forecast – unless you just happen to live where it is always bitter cold this time of year.)   It really is another great, easy, and fun activity to do with your kids.  Or alone! Please send us a photo if you make some!!

I think we’ll make some more soon, too.  It really is enjoyable to do.  I’d like to experiment with some other natural ingredients.   Maybe strawberries, raspberries, blueberries…..oh, pinecones!! Those would look nice.  Do you have any other ideas?  Let me know.  I bet we could get quite creative with this.

Ice is so pretty as it is.  I could get obsessed with this.

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