Colored Ice Balls

This one is cool!  And I have to credit Grandma Barb - she made these and had them outside their store (Legends of the Celts) on Main St in Hayward during the Birkebeiner weekend. So many people stopped to admire them and my kids thought they were pretty neat, too. So we made our own.  This is how we did it:

Supplies Needed:

Balloons (probably 10-12'' work best)
Cookie sheets (or something to put filled balloons in to transport)
Food coloring
Kitchen faucet

Steps to Make "Ice Balls":

Put a few drops of food coloring inside the empty balloon.
Fill the balloons with water and tie, placing on cookie sheet (or some container)

After filling balloons with water & food coloring they need to be frozen.  We placed ours on the cookie sheets outside. Luckily, it was a below zero night here in the Northwoods and they froze overnight.  Quite possibly, it may take a few nights for them to freeze solid. 

Once the water is frozen, simply cut open the balloon and peel it off the ice.  (Ours weren't completely frozen solid, but the water just oozed out the middle and they kept their shape perfectly.)

My husband suggested rotating them every hour or so at first if you want more uniform color.

And next time we make them, we will try to place them in the snow to freeze - that way they won't have flat bottoms and sides where they are touching other things!

There you go! You now have colored ice balls to decorate your yard, planters, or as my son did, patio.  Great winter fun! (I'll post pictures later...)