It Worked! {Colorful Ice Balls}

I'll be the first to admit it: I am NOT a crafty person.  Apparently, from what I've heard, some moms don't think twice about pulling out scissors, glue, popsicle sticks, glitter, and a few other items to make...oh, say, a 3-D model of the Eiffel Tower.  All in a day's work, for them.  I am not one of them.  ;-)

But when I saw this idea (I wish I knew where, but I don't remember...if you know, feel free to let me know so I can link it) for making colorful ice balls, I thought, "Hmmm...I bet even I could make those!  That's a perfect project for these cold winter days!"  But to tell you the truth, even while the boys and I were starting the process of making these, I was telling them, "I'm not really sure if it's going to work or not.  It might all be a big flop!"  Confidence in my project skills, I have not.  ;-)

The idea was simple: use balloons, put water and food coloring in them, freeze them (in our case, by setting them outside overnight), then cut the balloons off to reveal...ta-da!...colorful ice balls!  

 We made them yesterday afternoon and left them outside all night, waiting to take the balloons off until about 10:15 this morning.  To my GREAT surprise, they were not completely frozen.  I was certain that with our temps getting down to 12 degrees last night, they would freeze solid for sure, but not so.  Some of the liquid actually drained out as we were getting the balloons off, but I tried to hold the balls as carefully as I could so that the weak spots and holes were not pointing down.  I knew that today wasn't going to be a warm day by any stretch of the imagination, so the balls could continue to freeze as they were sitting out by our front sidewalk.

This was Josiah's ball.  I think he used some blue, some red, and some green food coloring, hoping for some kind of a swirl effect.  We had no idea what would happen; but as you can see, it didn't exactly swirl, and green was the predominant color.

This was David's ball; and since green is his favorite color, it was no surprise that he only used green food coloring because he knew from the start that he only wanted a green ball.  Of course.  :)

This was Tobin's, and he used some blue food coloring and some yellow.  Of course, it turned into green.  :) See the hole in the top of this ball?

Shav's favorite color is red, and he wanted nothing to do with any of the other colors for his ball.  :)

 It was fascinating to me how there was a layer of clear ice around the outside of the ball, and the richer color stayed toward the center.  I wonder why it did that?

I should have taken a picture of one of these balls in someone's hand to give an idea of the size, but it was so cold that no one offered and I didn't compel anyone.  I hardly wanted to go outside to take these pictures, so I zipped in and out as quickly as I could, thanking God for our woodstove every time I came in the door and felt its wonderful welcoming heat.  :)

 We periodically checked on the ice balls throughout the day, and the funniest thing happened.  By afternoon, they looked like this!

 MUCH paler than they had been!  The balls didn't melt, but the color sure got diluted.

This was Shav's ball in the afternoon.

Tobin's...

David's...

Josiah's...

Even without the color, I thought they looked neat with the streaks through the ice.

If you decide to make these, I have three words of warning for you.  First, give them PLENTY of time to freeze.  Like I said before, I assumed--wrongly--that an overnight in our freezing temperatures would do the trick, but it didn't.  It helped me realize that a body of water--the ponds around here, for example, that we've seen some people skating on recently--take a LONG time to freeze.

Second, put the food coloring in the balloons first before adding the water.  I didn't do that the first time; and after the balloon had water in it and I was holding it for Josiah to drop the coloring in it, the pressure in the balloon forced the water up and out and all over the place.  It wasn't easy to get the coloring in (not to mention the mess we made in the process!).  :)

Third, wear rubber gloves.  I did not think to do that while I was filling the balloons, and you can see what happened.

 I had no idea food coloring would stain skin so easily; but even after repeated washings, I can't get the color off.

Oh well, I guess it's my badge of honor for actually doing a crafty project with my kids.  ;-)

Mostly I'm just thrilled that it actually worked!  I didn't know what we would find when we took the balloons off, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out.  With this one under my belt, I just might work up enough courage to tackle that 3-D model of the Eiffel Tower after all!

But don't hold your breath...  ;-)