Ice sculptures are artistic compositions made of ice. The work combines clarity of lines and excellent spatial visualization. The article provides a description of how do it yourself elegant sculpture, in a relatively simple manner.
Step 1: planning the design
The sculpture will consist of two rings. For their production, we will use peculiar forms. Fully closed molds are not suitable for this method as the water expands when it freezes. Therefore, we will use open forms. The photo shows the idea for the first shape. The arrows show where the water will be. Form # 2 will span Form # 1 as shown in the figure.
Step 2: Materials Required
- Plastic sheet thick 0.5 mm... It must be strong enough to hold its shape when filled with water and thin enough to be cut with scissors;
- Glue gun;
- Duct tape;
- Scissors;
- Marker;
- Round blank for the correct circle (plates, bowls, etc.);
- Freezer chamber;
- Boiled water for pure ice;
- Additional items that will keep the shape upright.
Step 3: cut out the plastic parts
Cut out:
- Two pieces wide 5 cm and in length 63.5 cm(outer circle);
- Two pieces wide 5 cm and in length 42 cm(inner circle);
- Two pieces 25 * 25cm(basics);
- Two pieces wide 2.5 cm and in length 5 cm(fastening);
Step 4: Form # 1
Let's fold two cylinders from ribbons 5 cm wide, after which we fasten their ends together. Make sure you get it correct circle. Connect the pieces of plastic with sticky tape. We glue the small cylinder to the base plate with hot melt glue. The adhesive tape will temporarily hold it in place until the glue is completely cured. Then we will remove the tape and finally seal all the seams.
Glue the large cylinder to the base.
At this stage, it will be a good idea to check the tightness of the resulting joints.
Step 5: Form # 2
Manufacturing second form exactly repeats the process described above. You will have to trim the base when joining the two shapes together. Cut off the corner for easier movement of the elements.
Step 6: fill the first mold with water and put it in the freezer
Test the forms on waterproofness before placing them in the freezer. We'll use empty cups and containers to keep the shape in a horizontal position.
Advice : fill out and freeze the form in several steps. If you fill the entire volume at once, then the surface will not turn out even.
Step 7: Rotate, fill and freeze Form # 2
After the water in the form # 1 freezes, turn the form # 2 and fill it with water, as in the first case.
Step 8: remove the shapes
After the second ring is frozen, remove the molds. To remove the molds, make a cut in the base plate of mold # 1. For reuse, you can remove the remnants of the glue, and then glue them again.
Step 9: great art
Advice: Place the sculpture on sandpaper to prevent slipping. In the picture, the sculpture is placed on plexiglass.
Present a winter fairy tale to family and friends. Good luck with your creativity.
Flowers from snow and ice to decorate the yard can be made while playing with your child. In the cold dull winter weather, there are so many summer lawns with a variety of cornflowers, dandelions and bells, daisies and mimosas. I really want bright summer colors. So let everything bloom in the cold!
Try decorating your yard with colorful flowers made from ice and snow. They, of course, will not stand for long, but they will give the baby an unforgettable one, because the flowers that bloom in the winter cold are a real miracle! And if you want to leave such a winter flower bed as a souvenir, then take a picture of it.
Natural compositions in ice look very beautiful on ice. Any kid can create all this himself, only with a little help from an adult.
With forms for ice, you can choose plastic glasses, containers, bottles, in short, anything that you have enough imagination for. But just don't forget that frost cannot be used with glass. First, decide what you will freeze.
Surely you have dried summer flowers at home that your baby collected, or autumn leaves. If all this is not there, then you can use bunches of mountain ash, viburnum, branches of fir-trees, cones, finding all this in winter is as easy as shelling pears.
Pour water into it about a quarter of the mold. This is to ensure that your composition is in the middle of the ice, and not pressed against the edge. Then place the molds in the freezer. When the water freezes, put the prepared materials in the mold, then fill them with water and put them in the freezer again.
Already when the water freezes, take the ice out of the mold and start decorating the yard. Large ice floes look spectacular. You can arrange them in a row or assemble a whole panel from them.
You can also do this: take water, pour it into molds, and then add colored paints to it. Better to choose food dyes or watercolors, then you get transparent clear ice of bright colors. Pour this colored water into ice cube trays and send to the freezer.
It is convenient to use a shape in the form of a flower, so a one-piece seven-flower can be obtained. For such colors, silicone figured forms for ice are suitable, as well as molds for sand or from ordinary kits for creativity, and you can also use the cut-off bottom of a plastic two-liter bottle.
The shape of the flower can be made by yourself. This requires plasticine and foil. Sculpt a convex flower shape out of plasticine, put a foil on top and press it tightly against the plasticine. Then remove the foil, the flower shape will remain on it, you can pour water into it.
The easiest way to make ice cubes is using the regular ice cube tray that came with your refrigerator.
But oval and round pieces of ice look much more original. For such compositions, you can use plastic lids from yoghurts, sour cream, curds, or the bottom of plastic jars.
Flowers from snow and ice to decorate the yard - if you chose to make whole flowers, then you just need to decorate a flower bed, lawn or playground with them while walking. If you have frozen the ice with cubes or circles, then simply lay them out on the snow like a mosaic. For all these compositions, it is important to choose the right place.
If you make them near your own home, then you can choose a place that is illuminated by a street lamp and can be seen from the window. The kid will be delighted to see all this beauty, for example, before going to bed from the nursery. There is no need to lay out compositions near horizontal bars, ladders, paths and so on, there will quickly be no trace of it.
But somewhere in the wilderness, too, is not worth it, since no one will see her there at all. You can decorate a large snowdrift somewhere in a prominent place in the park so that as many people as possible can see this icy beauty.
You can prepare several flower patterns at home. To do this, draw flowers and then cut them out. Flowers should be large in size. One flower should be on the entire sheet of the album. Put these flowers outdoors in the snow, then sprinkle the top of the templates themselves and around them with tinted water from a spray bottle.
It is better to take several spray guns with you so that the flowers are of different colors. When the entire space is filled with multi-colored splashes, carefully remove the templates, unpainted snow will remain under them. The child will be delighted to see white roses or daisies on a colored background. Even the smallest kids can do such beauty. They will feel like magicians who turn winter into summer.
You can sculpt flowers out of snow using molds for this, or you can simply stick snowballs, from which you can then collect a flower. Color all the flowers that you get with gouache or watercolors. These flowers are not durable, as the paint will quickly dissolve in water.
Ask your child: "What does the winter meadow remind him of?" Of course, paper! Use the snow as a blank page and paint the flowers with paint. It is better to use thick gouache or acrylic paints for this, in this case the drawing will last a little longer. But in any case, the colors will quickly begin to creep over the snow and the flower will "wither".
You can capture flowers made of snow and ice to decorate the yard with a camera and invite your friends to admire all your compositions!
Original taken from vodolei_idei in "Ice Ideas" with your own hands
Ice is a whole world of entertainment in winter. Ice is beautiful. Ice is creativity.
Ice is a space for imagination and original ideas. Crockery, decor, games, candles and lamps, at home ...
Something I will try to tell you about ...
Ice is frozen water. Can flowers be put there? Someone came up with this idea - to put a rose in ice vase
- it will melt, gradually opening the flower ... romantic ... But only for a winter party.
Follow the link - description http://pastelwhite.com/2012/12/23/diy-frozen-roses/
Ice wreath.
A regular cupcake pan will work to make it.
They will look bright and elegant in the winter snow garden.
But you can decorate with them not only a winter garden, but also use them as a decor for a festive table.
For the "filling" to shine through beautifully through the ice, it must be transparent.
HOW TO MAKE ICE TRANSPARENT IN HOME CONDITIONS?
But "cloudy" opaque ice is also effective. From such ice you can make ice buckets for champagne and candlesticks.
Transparent and opaque ice can be combined to achieve the desired effect, as in the below photo.
This is a "wreath - candlestick".
You can freeze any filling inside - for example, shells.
Original openwork candle can be done with ice.
STREET ICE LANTERN
The craft of ice lanterns is that the water near the walls freezes faster than the inside.
Therefore, when a sufficient layer of ice has frozen, the excess water is simply drained.
Whether or not to supplement it with something is up to the creator himself)
ICE WARE
Almost the same principle can be used to make ice glasses. 
Tanks for caviar made of ice.
Ice platter for fruit It is also easy to do - the shapes of a 5-liter water tank are recognized, and the technology is the same: poured, froze, poured excess water.
And these summer ice containers with walls of flowers and herbs are extraordinarily good, and just as easy to perform.
Ice cream bowl. Some kind of beauty)))
Different containers, different fillings, different uses.
By the way, the bottle does not have to be frozen - you can make ice stand under it.
Two containers of different diameters: the smaller one should correspond to the size of the bottle and be heavy (you need to fill it with something) so that water does not push it out.
And here is a very laconic stand.
In general, ice dishes are already made to order, professionally.
Buffet ice table at the wedding.
JUST ICE CUBES
Ice cubes are the easiest thing to create. But ordinary cubes can also be made festive and original.
Cubes with rosebuds, for example.
Or with cherries.
Or - with berries cut into pieces?
Or - with fruit juice or puree.
Or - very delicate - with flowers.
FIGURINE ICE.
Ice figurines - the simplest ones - can be made by pouring it into disposable glasses or yogurt containers, adding dyes, berries and leaves, bright plastic toys of your choice.
And the thread must be frozen there - hung on the branches.
A more complicated mold can be molded from foil.
And confess your love (your) beloved (beloved). Inexpensive and touching idea for Valentine's Day.
You can freeze ice in baby tins.
It's good to freeze a snowflake inside or touch up.
Different shapes are also perfect - for ice.
And just freeze a layer of water in a dish, put something there - you get a round ice suspension.
Inside is a frozen napkin.
Lime inside.
Pendant with orange and berries.
UNUSUAL FIGURES
Having bought original forms, you can make, for example, ice rings.
Different shapes - different figures.
But with the help of a rubber glove, you can make a famous halloween ice hand.
For a cocktail.
For cold soup.
And play?
ICE PINS
Necessary:
9 plastic bottles filled with 0.5 - 1 liter of water,
1-3 balloons, a small amount of ink or other paint,
1 night time for the pins and balls to freeze.
At first glance, such a craft as colored ice may seem completely unremarkable. However, it is not. Try making colorful ice cubes with your children and you will see how much they delight them. DIY ice making even kids can do it, so this type of crafts is ideal for kindergarten. Winter crafts- it is not only snowballs and snowmen, but also original ice cubes of different colors that can be hung on a tree while walking.
DIY winter crafts for the garden
Here's what the toys will look like:
If you have the right shape, you can even make ice candlesticks. Show your imagination and you will make any shape, even without special shapes. For example, a candlestick can be made by connecting two cups of different diameters, while it is desirable to grease the smaller one so that it can be removed after the water has solidified.
Making colored ice is very interesting. If you use natural or food dyes, then these pieces of ice will decorate your cocktail or ordinary mineral water. Dear educators, diversify winter crafts in kindergarten and try to make figurines out of ice.
With the onset of winter, the suburban area turns into a white desert and is no longer so pleasing to the eye and warms the soul. A transparent sparkling miracle - an ice sculpture - can revive the virgin snow. If complex compositions can only be done by a master, then simple forms are within the reach of a non-specialist amateur, inspired by a creative idea.
You left the house on the street and looked at the figure of a rooster made of ice - a smile and a comfortable New Year mood appeared on your face.
Step-by-step steps for creating ice figures
In the process of creating an ice sculpture, there are 5 main steps:
Step 1. Procurement of material.
Ice to create ice figures must be clean, transparent, free of any impurities, that is, one that can transmit light. This ice cannot be created at home from tap water; it turns out to be cloudy and not sparkling. Suitable ice can only be created by nature; it is cut from the frozen surface of lakes or quiet backwaters of rivers and sent to customers.
Take the advice. Use the services of a professional ice maker. These specialists are able to extract ice blocks of various sizes without breaking them.
Step 2. Preparation of tools.
Most of the tools that are used to create ice sculptures do not require special manufacturing, these are chainsaws, electric saws, wood chisels of various shapes. But each master has an individual set, which he created himself to solve the problems that arise during the construction of the sculpture. An example of such tools is a chisel with a semicircular sharpening, for making especially complex patterns, or (a gnawer) for removing large masses of ice, resembling a metal comb, which cannot be found in a standard set of tools.
The lack of instruments of your own performance does not mean at all that it is impossible to create ice splendor on your site with an ordinary instrument.
Advice. All tools, and especially chisels, must be perfectly sharpened, as any burr can ruin what was conceived.
Step 3. Create an ice shape.
Ice blocks are glued together with water to create the shape. Water acquires this property at temperatures below zero. So the blocks are erected to the desired height, the seams are rubbed with wet snow so that they become less noticeable.
Notches and scratches on the surface of the ice can be ironed out with a warm, not hot iron. If the figure is taller than one and a half meters, then it must have a solid foundation, and if it is an ice slide, then a frame, wooden or metal, is used. The frame is strength. When using the framework, it is possible to create very tall sculptures and slides, but at the same time the charm is lost, since the framework is visible through the transparency of the ice.
What ice figures will decorate the site, your imagination will tell you: Christmas trees of various heights, Santa Claus with the Snow Maiden, an animal - a sign of the coming year, small slides, an ice table and benches.
Advice. At a summer cottage, it is best to create low, one and a half or two meters, figures with a solid base - for safety reasons and so as not to complicate the work of making a frame.
You can make ice figures by inviting friends with a New Year's mood. 
Step 4. Decorating the ice figures.
Patterns on the surface of ice figures can be very different: an ornament, and cutting, and spirals - everything that the imagination and skill of a sculptor is capable of, and a sculptor. it is you. Patterns can be used to decorate the entire sculpture, as well as its various parts.
The combination of patterns of various manufacturing methods looks effective. One of the decoration methods is (ice blocking): its ice content is cut out of the figure and dry snow is filled in. The combination of transparent and white in the overflow of sunlight is unforgettable.
It is best to create patterns with as many edges as possible. The more faces, the more beautiful the sculpture will look. There is no need to paint the sculptures, they cease to live and become only a bright spot that cuts the eye.
Imagine an unpainted goldfish. And the scales of a fish sparkle in the sun with their scales. The decor will be completely different.
Step 5. Highlighting ice figures.
Ice is a living material, so ice figures live and play in the rays of sunlight. The sparkle changes every moment, depending on the angle of view. In the dark, the sun can replace electric lamps, which are installed either behind the sculpture, or in its base, or in special grooves that are drilled into the sculpture.
Advice. Do not use incandescent bulbs for illumination - they will melt the figures very quickly.
Expand your horizons and watch a video about ice figures created by real artists with rich imaginations.
Thus, even a small original ice figurine will give your site a unique New Year's flavor.
And if you wish, you can build a whole ice town, which will delight the eye until spring. Happy New Year, dear readers of my blog!
