Christmas calls for a little bit of extra ‘Ohhhh’ as the magic builds and ice lanterns are a total show stopper.

They couldn’t be easier to make and they cost nothing!

Ice lantern lit by a candle, with rosemary, berries and other plants gathered from the garden embedded in the ice.

Christmas Eve is the perfect time to make ice lanterns.

Wrap up warm and head out for a foraging walk to collect berries, holly, ivy and evergreens or plunder the garden for rosemary sprigs and cotoneaster berries.

It’s a good time to stop and reflect, to take a breather from the bustling business of Christmas preparations and to reconnect with yourself, your family and your environment.

How To Make Ice Lanterns

To make these glorious decorations you will need two bowls or cups with one being larger than the other.

Suspend the smaller one inside the larger using tape to hold it off the bottom.

A bowl and jug with smaller containers suspended in them using parcel tape.

Fill the gap between the two with water (you will probably need to put some inside the smaller receptacle too to stop it floating away) and then push berries, leaves and flowers between the two bowls.

You could add glitter, tinsel and Christmas decorations if you like but there is something very lovely about an all natural decoration made from foraged finds.

The bowl and jug filled with ice after being left in the freezer.

Pop your beautiful ice lantern creations into the freezer or leave them outside overnight to freeze if it’s cold enough.

When they have frozen solid remove the bowls or cups.  You may need to dunk them in warm water to do this, don’t make it too hot or you may crack your bowls.

Pop a nightlight inside, find somewhere special in the garden to put them and enjoy; hopefully they will help the man in red and his faithful herd to find your home with that sack of gifts!

When they melt, all you will be left with (especially if you have used all natural ingredients) will be a little pile of Christmas.

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Ice lantern with embedded plants from the garden.

Edited and updated in November 2016 Save

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