Holy Snowballs - Check Out These Cool Snowball Lanterns!

Snowball Lantern by Ellen MacDonald via Flickr

I found this adorable snowball lantern today and thought I'd share it in honor of all the snow that continues to blanket the northeast. While it's not really a garden project, it is a great way to bring your yard and garden alive with light during cold winter nights.


Snowball lanterns are a traditional decoration during the winter holidays in Sweden. They can also be seen in Japan. In fact, the city of Hirosaki holds a special four-day celebration called the Hirosaki Castle Snow Lantern Festival. The festival is held around Valentine's Day each year and features snowball and other snow lanterns to a tune of 200 snow lanterns and 300 miniature igloos.


If you'd like to try your hand at making snowball lanterns, get out the mittens and head on outside.

1. Clear a flat area in your yard or garden.
   
2. Make up a ton of snowballs, keeping them all the same size.
   
3. Make a ring of snowballs on the ground.
   
4. Add layers of snowballs to begin building the pyramid shape of the lantern.
   
5. Angle the snowballs slightly inward and decrease the number of snowballs on each level to create the pyramid shape.
   
6. Place a lighted tea light in the center of the snowball lantern.
   

TIPS:
Leave a gap on the back side of your snowball lantern so you can add the tea light.