I was inspired to make ice decorations for the street by a combination of two facts:
- We are temporarily living with our grandmother in the village, where at the entrance we have a personal Christmas tree planted by our grandmother; we wanted to decorate it.
- Participation in the New Year's workshop of Olga Gurskaya, my colleague Wonderful Parents Club. In one of the tasks, she suggested making ice figures, and I remembered that I had wanted to try it since last year. Sometimes we just need a reason, and we found one.
During one of our walks we collected various twigs and berries. We came across spruce and pine branches, red rose hips, umbrellas and spikelets. The rowan tree was not found beautiful, but this set was quite enough for us.
Next, we needed to stock up on suitable containers. We wanted to make balls, but the lids from the jars were too small, screw caps were not suitable, we already realized this during the process: it is difficult to get the finished figurine out of the mold. Sour cream jars would have been suitable, but then my grandmother offered us disposable rectangular containers, so we settled on them.
We needed strong threads with which we will hang the finished toys on the Christmas tree. I had jute cord saved up for other crafts, but you could use yarn or any cord. The ends were dipped into a container.
Next, we threw the prepared twigs and berries into containers, and also crumbled a couple of threads of rain. It would be possible to lay out some patterns, set symmetry, but in crafts with children I strive to maximize their activity, so they immersed them and left them. Moreover, when pouring water, the folded pattern is easy to break. Grandma told us that we could put foil on the bottom to make our toys shine. Remember the idea for the future. This time we tinted the water a little with gouache for brightness: we dipped a brush with paint into the water and stirred it lightly.
Next, the containers were filled almost to the brim with water, carefully placing them on a tray. There was no space in the freezer, so we were preparing to freeze on grandma’s open balcony, and we still had to carry the forms with water there without spilling. I adjusted each thread so that it was completely immersed in water and then became a reliable holder.
We made the decorations in the evening, so everything was ready the next morning. Let's run to check. Our ice toys were lightly dusted with snow.
We got dressed and ran outside to decorate the Christmas tree. In general, such decorations would look better on the bare branches of a bush or any other tree, but our plan was to decorate the Christmas tree! And here is the result:
Our decorations, however, did not go unnoticed. Later, through the window, we saw passers-by stopping and looking at what was glittering there.
Inspired, we made another batch, adding more glitter from the tinsel. They placed it on a nearby bush; the decorations were more noticeable on the bare branches.
Other New Year's ideas: in the section
Today I suddenly remembered one great idea for street tree. Such toys can only be used at temperatures below zero, otherwise nothing will work.
If only you knew how much effort it took me to find decent pictures and descriptions of these ice toys! First, I delved for a long time into the depths of my memory, then into my favorite magazine clippings.
Found it!!! A leaflet from the December issue " Home"for 2006! Hooray!
Street Christmas decorations They can decorate a Christmas tree in the country, in the yard, on the playground in a kindergarten, or in the nearest park. I think no one will remain indifferent, it’s too beautiful.
Our decorations will look especially good in clear weather against the blue sky... In winter, this is, of course, very rare, but it does happen. Take photos of your masterpieces and be sure to send them to me!
What do we need?
- Disposable plates of small diameter (preferably deep ones)
- Thick thread, rope or braid
- Watercolor paints
- Pieces of bright plasticine
- Lemon, lime or orange
- Cranberries or other bright berries
- Needles, twigs, nuts
- Fantasy!
Let's begin!
If you're in a hurry, Simply place fruits and pieces of plasticine on the bottom of the plate and cover with a layer of watercolor-tinted water (no more than 3 cm). Place it in the cold and pull the finished toy out of the mold by a thread. It is better to tie the thread to a slice of orange in advance.
If you don’t put fruit slices in our ice toys, stick the ends of the strings into a plasticine ball and place it in water.
The second option is no more difficult, it will just take a little longer. Agree, it will be more beautiful if the fruit slices are under a layer of ice on both sides. In this case, you need to pour water (no more than 1.5 cm) into the molds, freeze, arrange the fruit and fill it again with colored water.
Be sure to wait until the liquid is completely frozen! Ice toys should only be removed from the molds in the cold! Better right next to the Christmas tree!
Western countries have long been practicing decorating for the New Year not only the interiors of houses, but also the streets, paying special attention to Special attention decor of the garden area. For example, ice Christmas decorations for the street are very popular among them, but such decor is quite suitable for our latitudes. Moreover, making street decorations from ice is very easy, as well as fun, entertaining and completely inexpensive. Basically, to make ice street decorations you will need water, a couple of decorative elements (we’ll talk about this in more detail below), suitable shape, as well as a spacious freezer or severe frost outside.
How to make street decorations from ice.
How to make an ice wreath.
Festive wreaths can be used to decorate the branches of trees or shrubs.
Method No. 1. Let's take it ready-made form for pudding with a vertical insert in the center. Place bright berries and green twigs (spruce, fir or thuja) along the bottom of the mold and fill the mold with water. Place the mold with water in the freezer until the water completely hardens. After the water turns into ice, pour it into a basin hot water and immerse the form with ice in it, with a sharp change in temperature, the ice inside the form will melt at the edges, and you can easily pull out the wreath. It's retarded just to hang the wreath on a satin ribbon.
Method No. 2. We take ready-made small molds for puddings, put a composition of berries and thuja branches on the bottom, fill each mold with cold water and put it in the freezer. After the water turns into ice, you can immerse the mold in hot water for literally one minute, take out the miniature wreaths and hang them on the trees using ribbons.
Method No. 3. Place a glass or jar in the center of a deep round shape, lay out twigs, berries, leaves, citrus peels around it, and pour in water. To prevent the jar in the center from floating, you can pour water or sprinkle stones into it. All that remains is to expose the mold to the cold, wait for the ice to harden, take out the wreath and hang it on a ribbon.
Method number 4. Place acrylic snowflakes and Christmas tree balls into a baking dish with a vertical insert in the center, pour in a little water, and place the product in the freezer. When the first layer of water freezes, lay out a few more balls in a circle, add water again and put them in the freezer, after freezing, add more balls and put the mold in the freezer for the last time, take out the wreath, tie a ribbon and hang the product on a street tree.
Photo of ice wreaths.
How to make ice balls.
Method No. 1. We prepare the required number of balloons, pour water into them and pour out food coloring, mix the water inside by shaking the balloons. We tie the balls and put them in the freezer or in the cold outside. When the water inside the balls hardens, cut the shell with a knife and take out the colored ice balls.
Method No. 2. You will need a special form for making ice balls (for drinks), you can put berries or spruce branches on the bottom of this form, and also put in strings of pendants, pour in water and put it in the freezer until it hardens completely.
How to make an ice candle holder.
Method No. 1. Place a glass of stones in the center of the food container (for weighting). Pour in water and lay spruce or thuja sprigs on top, and also add viburnum, lingonberry or dogwood berries. Place the mold in the freezer, after the water has hardened, take out the candlestick and place a lit candle in the center. 
Method No. 2. We take two bottles of different sizes with a volume of 1.5 liters and 0.5 liters, cut each bottle in half, put the smaller bottle into the larger one, secure them with tape, put berries, leaves and tree branches between the walls, pour in water, and send the product into the freezer. After turning the water into ice, remove the future candlestick from the mold and place a lit candle inside.
Photos of various ice candle holders.
Ice tree pendants.
Round flat pendants are made as follows: various berries, twigs or flowers are laid out on the bottom of a flat round plate, everything is filled with water, a thread pendant is placed on top, the composition is placed in the freezer, then pulled out, separated from the plate and hung on trees.
Ice stars.
- To make stars, you can use star-shaped ice molds or baking molds; to create regular stars, the molds should be filled with water and frozen in the freezer.
- To create colored stars, you must first add food coloring to the water.
- For bright compositions, you can put berries, various twigs, leaves in the molds, or add sparkles.
Ice cubes.
In ice trays square shape We lay out various flowers or slices of fruit, pour in water and freeze. Then we take out the ice cubes and decorate street flowerpots, tree branches and other yard elements with them. 
Ice shards.
We paint the water blue, pour it into a rectangular mold in a thin layer, put the mold in the freezer, after hardening, hit the ice surface with a kitchen hammer, select beautiful fragments and place them somewhere outside.
Frozen heart.
Method No. 1. Place heart-shaped pebbles on the bottom of a round plate, fill with water and place in the freezer, then take out the product and place it edge-on on a flat surface.
Method No. 2. We put berries and pine needles into a heart-shaped baking dish, put the mold in the freezer, then remove the product from the mold and place it somewhere in a visible place in the yard. 
How to make garlands from ice.
In a mold for ice, lay out a thick woolen thread in a circle, pour in water, and put the mold in the freezer. After the water has hardened, carefully pull the tip of the string, followed by all the pieces of ice that should pop out of the mold. To obtain a colored garland, the water must first be tinted with food coloring.
Instead of an ice tray, you can use the base of a box of chocolates.
How to effectively decorate your home for the New Year:
New Year decoration made from ice will help you quickly, simply and inexpensively decorate your area for the upcoming holiday. If you have not yet tried to create street decorations from ice, then we recommend urgently rectifying the situation; we assure you that you will definitely enjoy this pastime.
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The idea of decorating trees in the yard is happily supported by many preschool children and their parents. However, only the owners of their own plots can promise that no one will steal the toys the next morning. If the yard is public, then the safety of purchased and homemade toys cannot be guaranteed, alas.
I feel sorry for the time, effort, money, and my own child, who will probably be upset to the point of tears. But there is a compromise option, the hunters for which are unlikely to show up - ice jewelry. They are made together with the children with their own hands, but practically for nothing and in a matter of minutes. So, using water, plants and paints, you can create dozens of beautiful products literally in the evening:
1) ice disks;
2) street garland;
3) toys for a Christmas tree, pine or non-coniferous trees - also beautiful;
4) candlesticks;
5) Christmas wreath.
To make the most beautiful decorative pieces of ice large sizes will need disposable plastic plates, and small ones will need plastic lids for jars. The technology is primitive: we put green or dried plants, rowan berries, unnecessary piece beads, twigs, cones, curly pasta inside - whatever you have enough imagination for. Then fill it with cold water and leave it in the cold. It is advisable that the contents do not extend beyond the surface of the water. If freezing occurs on a glassed-in loggia, you need to make sure that the air temperature there is really sub-zero, and if necessary, open the window.
An interesting alternative to flat ice disks are figure toys. They are obtained thanks to molds for ice, for baking, for sandboxes. It is very convenient to use a candy box insert.
It's good to use as a string for toys and CDs. acrylic yarn for knitting. It is durable and inexpensive. Universal white the color will suit for jewelry with any pattern. A piece of thread 15-25 cm long (depending on the weight and diameter) is partially immersed in the upper part of the future piece of ice, leaving free ties outside. Or they immediately tie a loop and hide the knot inside the toy, masking it with a drop of gouache.
To do Christmas wreath, use cake pans. For the manufacture of candlestick you need to take two vessels and immerse one in the other. street ice garland is obtained thanks to a long, strong rope that will hold numerous elements.
DIY ice decorations are a non-trivial and useful leisure activity for the whole family. It's good for evenings and weekends, simple, fun and cheap. If all the trees in your yard are too tall to hang decorations, take the result of your creativity to kindergarten (with the consent of the son or daughter, of course). Let the children decorate the bushes on their morning walk. playground and admire the pieces of ice sparkling in the sun.
Dear readers of the blog We Develop Children Ourselves, I present to your attention a new competition entry from Siberia. Mom Elena and her son Misha decided to decorate not only the Christmas tree in their apartment, but also outside, so that all the children in the yard would have fun and joyfully play in the yard, next to the decorated trees.
They made colorful ice decorations for the Christmas tree and sent them to.
Elena described in detail the entire manufacturing process New Year's toys out into the street and named a joint job with her little son Misha
New Year's craft “Colored pieces of ice”
This craft can even be made by one year old baby. There is nothing complicated in it, everything is easy and accessible.
For children's crafts we will need:
- water,
- molds for ice cubes (silicone ice molds are best),
- paints,
- tassel,
- threads
Preparation: on the table where the child will do crafts, I placed bowls with water and a spoon, paints, a glass of water for rinsing brushes, and ice cube trays.
Step one: the child pours water into the molds with a spoon. I helped a little at the end to make sure there was enough water in each mold and blotted off the excess, but he did the bulk of the work.
Step two: color the water. The brush is dipped into the paint, then lowered into the mold - watch how the colorful spot spreads. If you wish, you can make layered ice toys - first freeze one thin colored layer, then on top of a second one of a different color, and so on. But it will be long enough, I didn’t test the child’s patience.
Step three: insert the thread. I prepared the thread loops; the child is not yet able to make a knot at the end, and without a knot the thread can simply slip out of the ice. So, we lay out the loops with the knot inward and press them in with our finger.
Step four: place the molds in the freezer.
Step five: take out the colored pieces of ice and you can go hang them on the nearest trees - let the street be decorated too!
If you liked the children's creative work little Misha, share your impressions in the comments, express your opinion and tell us about whether you make ice toys to decorate trees outside to make the surroundings beautiful?
Press the buttons social networks, tell your friends and acquaintances about our competition and children's crafts that the guys send. Let's make life around us brighter and more fun, like Misha and his mother. It’s so simple, selfless and from the heart! Be more careful and kinder friend to a friend, and everything positive and kind will definitely return to you.
In the meantime, watch a wonderful Soviet-era cartoon, fabulous and kind.