How to make an ice sculpture

tizhimi

I think they are great for decor however they start at about £40 per block (cheapest quote so far) of ice which, as gorgeous as they are, I feel is stupidly over priced.

I have been thinking about how I could make them at home, the only thing is if I made them in my freezer the flower would float to the top, if anyone has got any ideas that would be much appreciated, I might post this in the crafty section in a bit! :beer:

sarah_elton

To make what's shown in that pic, I would find a plastic box in the right shape, pour water in, then blu-tack or tape the bottom of the flower stem to the lid/cover. Put it on, so the flower is upside down, fixed to the lid to hold it in the right place. Freeze, then remove lid and trim the bottom of the flower.

Don't they melt really fast in wedding venues?

tizhimi

Cheers for that Sarah, I'll have an experiment! You can get "cool mats", the opposite of the buffet warmers for them. I know you can get ice moulds (just add fresh water and salt) but that doesn't include adding items inside the mould.

Quote

1. It's not an ice sculpture.
2. It looks rubbish.

tizhimi

Thanks for your input!

1. What is it then?
2. Why does it look rubbish? What part of it offends your eyes?

picklepick

Haha and you say u hate tack?! lol

flea72

i think they use silk flowers when making these - cant tell from the pic whether the flower is totally suspended, or whether it stands from the bottom of the block. the latter is easiest to create, as you could easily hang the flower from a support across the rim of the container. then cut anything off the stem, that protrudes once the block if frozen

however, the hardest part will be to stop the ice going cloudy when freezing, even distilled water, wont give a totally clear iceblock

Flea

tizhimi

I thought it would make a nice side piece that I could make as I'm no florist.

mrcow

It is quite naff. (Well very naff if I'm honest).

You're going to have problems with the ice too as any dissolved air is going to turn it completely white.

Plus to get something that sort of size to freeze effectively in one go with no chips or splits is going to be very difficult. To get it out of the container is going to be very tricky too.

tizhimi

flea72 wrote: »

however, the hardest part will be to stop the ice going cloudy when freezing, even distilled water, wont give a totally clear iceblock

Flea

For some reason they said add salt, wouldn't this add to the cloudyness aspect? I saw a full buquet of flowers at a wedding once that was frozen and it looked great, it was next to a spiral staircase so you could see it from every angle, including above.

mrcow

Salt will make the ice melt slower which is why they add it.