Search for things around your garden or go for a walk to find winter plants and unique plants that have left blooms or buds behind from the previous season. You may be surprised at all the beautiful plants that can be found this time of year! Plants that have dried are especially pretty. Small plants are best for this craft. If you plan to use a jar to make a hole for stringing your ice suncatchers, don’t forget to grab some rocks while you are searching for things in nature.

Gather containers and lids that would make interesting shapes for great suncatchers.

If you are using a jar and rocks to make a hole for stringing the ribbon to hang the suncatcher, place the jar in the container/lid near the top and fill it with rocks. Leave enough space at the top for water to surround the jar. You can also use small, weighted objects to hold the jar in place. Dried rice or beans would also work well as long as your jar is weighted enough to not float in the water or let the water flow underneath.

Once you have your containers, lids, and jars, fill them with water. You want enough water for your items to freeze in, but not so thick that it will be hard to remove. This, of course, depends on the size of your container. I filled the mini muffin tin up, but only had about ½ inch of water in the lid.

Place the items that you found during your winter nature hunt in the containers. You can also add in some fun things like glitter for extra sparkle! NOTE: Some of the items may float and shift when you transport the container outside or to the freezer, so don’t worry about placing them strategically. To avoid shifting as much as possible, you can opt to fill the containers outside on a day when temperatures are below freezing. We like to do this craft together just before bedtime when the forecast calls for temperatures to be at or below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut enough pieces of ribbon/string for the amount of suncatchers you made. Make sure your ribbon is long enough to fold in half and place about 2-3 inches of each end of the ribbon into the water. Our ribbon measured about 12-15 inches each for the larger suncatchers. Place each end of the cut ribbon into the water and secure in place with a small piece of tape on the sides of the container.

Carefully place the containers outdoors (if it is, or will be, below freezing) or in the freezer until they are frozen.

Once the water is frozen, set them out in room temperature for just a few minutes to let them loosen and release from the containers. This should take about 5-10 minutes. If you used a small jar and rocks, pour a little bit of warm water into the jar, and the jar should loosen up and pop right out of place within a minute!

Place the ribbon through the hole where the jar was and loop it through 2-3 times. Tie a knot at the top.

Once the suncatchers release from their containers, take them outside and hang them up to enjoy! When the suncatchers melt, don’t forget to gather the ribbon and dispose of it!