Ice Lanterns for Winter Beauty

Here in Maine we've been making ice lanterns whether we like it or not for as long as there have been buckets. I remember punching a hole in my horse's frozen water, and sliding the hollow ice shell out of the pail, back during the Carter administration. I think Dad was the first to put a candle inside the glittering shell of winter ice, at least in our little family enclave.

Ice lantern with bittersweet, cedar, and rose hips.

Since those days I have set many a frozen shell of water, formed inside a five-gallon honey-bucket, up on a snow-drift, lit a pillar candle inside it, and let it burn for nights on end. Why did I never think to freeze pretty greenery into it, though? Recently I saw an example of this, and it was such an obvious and lovely improvement that I just had to laugh at myself. And then go and try it!

Here's how I used to do it: fill a five-gallon plastic bucket with cold water, and leave it outside for a full night of single-digit weather. Bring it inside, pour warm water over the bucket, slide out the frozen shape. The bottom will be much thinner. Punch a hole in it, pour out the still-liquid center, place it outside upside-down. Light a candle in it, and voila! A basic ice lantern! In cold weather it will last for a long time, and be beautiful.

Now, some improvements to that basic lantern. I went out and cut some cedar sprigs, some bittersweet, and some rose-hips. You could use anything that is pretty, from pine-cones to dried flowers. Then I cut the top off of a 2-liter soda bottle, just below the sloped curve, so it made a large empty pillar. I found some rocks to fill it with. Using the same five-gallon bucket, I placed the rock-filled container in the bucket, filled the bucket around that with cold water, and some ice cubes to get it started, and arranged my pretty greenery around the soda bottle. 

The candle lights the frozen greenery from within, winter magic!

Leaving it outside overnight on a below-twenty-degrees night just barely did it. The ice was thin. You might need to take two nights like that, or wait until a single-digit night is forecast. I suggest placing the bucket on lawn furniture or wooden slats, anything to get it off the ground. Surprisingly, the ground will insulate the water from below. The next morning, all you need to do is free it from the bucket by running tapwater over the outside and sliding your lantern carefully out into the sink, letting the water in the middle escape down the drain. The following evening, place a tea-light, votive, or pillar candle inside, and you've got wintry gorgeousness! However you celebrate the coldest, darkest time of the year, an ice lantern sporting your local winter color can add a special magic...

Scrimshaw

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ironwoodhollow

Ganesha Earrings

One of my crafts, practiced more in the cooler months when a quiet desktop pursuit is more what I feel like doing, is scrimshaw. Not everyone knows the word; you know those pictures of ships and whales that look like pen-and-ink drawings, on bone or ivory? That's the stuff. When I was a boy I read about sailors decorating whalebone and ivory this way, scratching designs with a knife or a nail, then rubbing ink into the scratches. It made a great impression on me, partly because I have always identified strongly with the sailing heritage that runs deep in my family, and partly because it's such a romantic image, the lonely sailor whiling away his watch with a scrap of bone and a little knife. I imagined that they dreamed of home, but still drew what they could see at the time, ships, waves, sea-life. As a lover of words, I have also always liked the word "scrimshander," which is what you call a person who practices the craft; it just resonates with crusty old-timey character.

Conch earrings

I can't remember when I first tried it, or what I designed, but over the years I have come back to it many times, untrained in the arts but wanting to create something beautiful. The method is surprisingly easy, and these days I keep a supply of reclaimed piano ivories on hand, always looking for another poor, unwanted old piano to raid for more! Elephant ivory is the best material, and although there is a completely justified international ban on its trade, it is okay to use pre-ban ivory, such as that taken from retired pianos. I think of it as rescuing the beautiful material so it doesn't just disappear into landfills. All else that is needed are some tools for shaping the ivory, either small hand-tools, or high-speed rotaries, such as a Dremel, and some paint or ink, along with rags to wipe off excess color.

I like to design earring pairs that make a tiny image when they are side-by-side, like this potted flower. Some of these are sea-scapes, some of them form a message when they are together. The challenge of writing or drawing in miniature, using a tiny blade, then adding color a tiny dot at a time, is satisfying to me, maybe similar to the enjoyment that makers of dollhouse furniture experience. I'm needing to use reading glasses these days, but a sure grip and a steady hand are the key skills. I'll be putting together a tutorial on how to do it, either as a photo-essay or series of short videos.

My very best work is reserved for loved ones, and in fact my Honey has designs that I won't make again, because they are just too special and personal to share. All the rest, though, are available at my Etsy shop, and I often fill custom orders if it's something I think I can do well. Still at the height of warm season, I'm not spending any time with the ink and ivory, but I can feel autumn in the air some mornings, and the indoor crafts will call me back to the work-table soon enough!In the meantime, if you run across any ivory, set it aside so you can try scrimshaw out for yourself as soon as I post a tutorial!