Outdoor winter fun: Make ice suncatchers

#Middlebury #DonnasDay #IceSuncatchers

“I’ve never seen snow fall,” said Megan Anduri-Flynn, biology instructor and mom of 5-year-old Nicola, until a rare snowstorm surprise hit in Beaverton, Ore. “We got a foot of snow, and it stuck.”

The unexpected wintry blast opened up new opportunities for family play, including for Nicola’s California-raised grandmother, who made her first snow angel in the backyard.
An avid nature lover, Megan and her husband’s move from Southern California was motivated by her love for Oregon’s rustic outdoor living. But when she packed up Nicola’s beach toys, she didn’t expect that her buckets and shovels would be used for building castles of snow instead of sand.

Taking advantage of the fabulous snow day, Nicola scooped the fluffy stuff and packed it into the buckets, then flipped them upside-down, like she had done with damp sand on the sunny beaches of L.A., to create snow castles for a charming kingdom to play in. She dabbed watercolor paints with a brush here and there on the snow-packed structures. Plastic Disney characters Jasmine, Cinderella, Ariel and Belle were placed on roofs and turrets to bring the scene to life in her imagination.

Inspired by the freeze, she also made beautiful icy suncatchers to hang from branches using baking pans and her great-grandmother’s metal gelatin molds.

This easy craft is fun to make during wintertime, anywhere. If you are in a warmer climate, make the indoor version in your freezer for a punch bowl when friends come by for a special occasion.

Ice Suncatchers

Here’s what you’ll need:

• metal cake pan or cupcake pan
• dried flowers, leaves, potpourri for suncatcher
• decorative edible items such as thinly sliced oranges, limes, strawberries and mint for edible version
• strong string or wire for a hanger
• water
• food coloring (optional)

Here’s the fun:

1. Set natural decorative items into the pan. For punch-bowl ice, add edible items. When frozen, remove and add to punch.
2. For outdoor version, add a 20-inch length of twine or wire in the water, making sure it is submerged near the top of the mold. Fill with water and set in the freezer.
3. When the temperature outside is freezing, remove the ice shape from the pan and hang from a branch where a glimmer of light will shine through.

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”

(c) 2018 Donna Erickson
Distributed by King Features Synd.