Winter ideas

[Mairte]

For those people who are living in the cold and the snow (though I guess anyone else who wanted to do this could put it in the freezer to get one? ) Ice luminaries.
This is how I do it.
I take a ice cream pail and fill it halfway with water, put it outside to freeze overnight. The next day I put a can or old candle or whatnot, use whatever you have an abundance of! Pop cans with the tops off or pop bottles work too. Its the same with the containers. Just have fun.
Anyway, I put the can on top of the frozen ice and pour more water in, about three quarters of the way on the can and put it out again to freeze.
Next day I bring it in, run enough warm water to take the can out of the ice, put the luminary back outside and place a votive candle in it.
Right now I have been pushing them into the very high snow along the paths to various places on the property and lighting them at night.
You can also put anything you want into the ice. I used some silver garland, pine cones and pieces of pine bough.
Anyone else with good "winter" ideas to help the season pass quicker, please post!

[Mairte]

Snow Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
1 gallon snow
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk
Directions
1.When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once.

[Mairte]

Here is a neat link on how to make an igloo.

http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/lib2/igloo.htm

[Mairte]

Another one. My parents feed birds all year around but in the winter its fun to sit in the kitchen and see all the birds that come to the feeders.
Here is one link to winter feeding tips:

http://birding.about.com/od/birdfeeders/a/winterfeeding.htm

And another on making 3 backyard bird feeders.

http://birding.about.com/od/birdfeeders/a/easyfeeders.htm

There are TONS more links on this, these are just a couple.

[Rani Zemirah]

Here is a neat link on how to make an igloo.

http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/lib2/igloo.htm

That's soooo cool... but just the thought of having to crawl through a tiny tunnel to get either in or out makes my claustrophobia start to scream!!!    It would be fun to build, though!  

[Mairte]

Its not that bad, of course depending on how long you have to be in the tunnel part! I have seen where some people build other igloo rooms onto the main one. That would be fun! I think we are going to do this on the week between Christmas and New Years (the family)
I guess I shouldnt forget sledding and making snowmen. Skiing (downhill or cross country). Dog Sledding. 

[Mairte]

How could I forget SNOW ANGELS?

[Mairte]

Homemade Hot Chocolate Recipe
In a medium bowl, mix together

•1/3 cup cocoa powder
•1/3 cup sugar
•a pinch of salt
Add 1 cup milk (2% or whole is best) and whisk until the lumps are gone. Set aside. In a saucepan, heat 3 cups milk, stirring often, until you see steam (don't let it boil). Reduce heat to low and add chocolate mixture. Stir and cook on low until warmed up. Serve with a peppermint stick, grated chocolate curls or whipped cream

[Rowan MacD]

For those people who are living in the cold and the snow (though I guess anyone else who wanted to do this could put it in the freezer to get one? ) Ice luminaries.

I love this idea.  I'm going to make some using colored water;  red and green!  At 3 degrees here they should freeze quickly 

[Mairte]

Yeah, its been below zero here at night not including the wind chill so been perfect for making these!
I love them, snow, ice and light....
Food coloring is a good idea, I have done this before but just tinted it with green or red.

[Rowan MacD]

Yeah, its been below zero here at night not including the wind chill so been perfect for making these!
I love them, snow, ice and light....
Food coloring is a good idea, I have done this before but just tinted it with green or red.

Can't beat this idea for Eco-friendliness either.  There is a neighborhood here that is famous for putting out thousands of paper luminaries with candles,  and folks drive by to see them.  I always thought they were dangerous considering its a wooded area. If its' cold enough these are a much better idea.

[Mairte]

Exactly! Those paper ones always made me a little nervous, but with all of this snow and cold, plus setting them back from the house, they are darn near perfect. Except, sigh, not being able to keep them year 'round.

[Rani Zemirah]

Its not that bad, of course depending on how long you have to be in the tunnel part! I have seen where some people build other igloo rooms onto the main one. That would be fun! I think we are going to do this on the week between Christmas and New Years (the family)
I guess I shouldnt forget sledding and making snowmen. Skiing (downhill or cross country). Dog Sledding. 

If it was a really good size tunnel it might not be too bad... but anything I would have to squeeze through would just freak me right out...

I love the ice luminary idea, and using colored water sounds like fun!  It hasn't really been all that cold here, though, and we've had no snow at all.  Haven't even had a winter storm yet, but that's not unusual this time of year.  I do like the idea of the fire being put out by the melting water, so even if you left them burning they wouldn't hurt anything.

[Lady Christina de Pond]

the illuminaries sound cool i may experment with them and see what i get christmas eve

[Mairte]

It IS fun to experiment with making them! Today I picked up some cinnamon scented votives to put in the ones tonight. STILL trying to get the paths all shoveled out, cant wait to have the sidewalk and paths ALL lit with lumininaires instead of just the token few,lol.