NICE Ice Lanterns mold purchased from Lee Valley store.
Dec 31, 2010, New Years Eve
Four created for New Years Eve. Set them outside on the planters edge. Few shots from just before dark to just after.
In clear and green. First tried to create all clear in one go. The inside was not frozen after three days
when I took it apart. Added the green and put out to freeze some more. The colored water was the first to melt.
In blue and red. Used boiled water to reduce the air in the water. Added colored ice cubes in layers and topping up with water. Hard to tell that the color pieces are in the shape of ice cubes. The color cubes melted some when the clear water was added.
Added colored water in layers. The food coloring would sink before freezing.
Used previously boiled water to remove air. Froze in freezer but kept water
outside to speed up the process.The dye was last to freeze and first to melt.
The outside edge froze first. The inside last. The sections between colors is
where the dye separated. No non-colored water was used to make this lantern.
Yellow,
Green,
Blue,
Purple,
Red,
Orange
Clear ice cubes topped up with colored water. This one froze the quickest. The ice cubes helped a lot.
Jen's Birthday party, Jan, 2011,
It is much faster to create using the ice cubes and chilling the water outside to near freezing before adding to the form.
Boiled tap water used to make ice cubes. Filled form with ice cubes then froze many small layers of green colored water.
Boiled tap water used to make ice cubes. Filled form with ice cubes then froze layers of water with drops of different food coloring. Tried to not disturb while each layer froze. It looks mostly green. The blue and yellow drops mixed together, the red is not showing much and I also added green.
Boiled tap water used to make ice cubes. Filled form with ice cubes then froze a few medium layers of red colored water.
Used melted snow to get purer water. Boiled then strained the snow water. Froze in large layers. The last layer (bottom, not as clear) was from boiled tap water.
Some more experimenting, Dec 2011
The goal was to make very clear ice.
Made in one go from previously boiled tap water. Allowed several days for it to freeze solid. It was the hardest one to get out of the mold. There was more expansion of the ice when freezing in one go. Took 30 minutes of soaking the center in hot water to get it out. This removed most of the ice that froze last and would have had the most air trapped. The ice remaining is mostly clear.
About a half cup of colored water frozen at a time. Cycling through Red, Yellow, Blue.
colored ice cubes filled up with clear water and clear ice cubes filled up in layers of colored water.
Blue and red colored ice cubes made from tap water. Two different types of food coloring. Clear water (previously boiled) added in layers. The dye of the red cubes in the midle melted some when the clear water was added and worked its way through the blue cubes.
Gelatin, Jan 2012
Blue colored ice cubes filled up with clear water. Dissolved some plain gelatin powder in boiling water to create the colored ice cubes. Used one package with 4 cups of water. To make gelatin should only use 2 cups of water. The gelatin helped keep the dye in suspension until it became solid(gelatin) and then froze solid. The cubes were a bit sticky and did not like to come out of the tray.
The gelatin in the water slows down the melting. the dye speeds up the melting process. The colored ice cubes with gelatin melted last.
