Small World: Gems I Have Made / Tiny Bubbles

Rows of lights in a circle of steel
Where you place your bets on a great big wheel
High windows flickerin' down through the snow
A time you know
Sights and sounds of the people goin' 'round
Everybody's in step with the season
~ Gordon Lightfoot, Circle of Steel


It was 20 degrees F when I went out into the yard to make some frozen bubbles. I had a new mix I had made on the stove top, based on advice from a fellow frozen bubble maker on Instagram, and I was dying to try it out. This is the first time in a while that it's been cold enough, without being so breezy. 

The mix was 1 cup filtered water, 2 tablespoons clear corn syrup, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 3.5 tablespoons dish detergent. Mix and boil all ingredients on the stove until they are fully dissolved. Cool and store for later. (My usual mix that I have made myself to this date is mostly dish detergent, with just a dash of water and a dash of corn syrup, simply mixed together, not boiled; I typically skip the sugar.)

My new mix was very thin, but it made beautiful crystals. Somehow, the bubbles were TINY. I couldn't get them to blow any bigger! They kept popping if I tried. So in the extras, there is a little bubble with beautiful crystals, using the red berries from a neighbor's tree (that you've already seen dressed in snowy white here and as frozen bubble fodder in the extras here).

Here is a bit of unsolicited advice: Cultivate friendships with your neighbors, I say. In addition to numerous other major benefits, it'll yield you more photo ops down the line. So says this GirlWithACamera!

And now I have to admit to you that I am obsessed with ice. Yes, it's shocking, I know! But you heard it here first. I love ice! And on this day, I did my first ice abstract shoot with ice I had made myself!

Oh no, I'm no god; no goddess! I didn't actually FREEZE the water myself. Heavens no! But the day before, my husband and I had split one of those good-for-you Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers frozen meals. Honey glazed turkey and potatoes, if you must know. It was surprisingly good. (And to balance all that healthiness out, it was served with generous sides of fettuccine carbonara, so there.)

The Cafe Steamer frozen dinner comes sealed inside a plastic container - that has a solid plastic bottom and a steamer type top with lots of holes in it - that you can steam/microwave the meal in. 

Of course, my first thought was: this container would help me make some amazing ice! So I put some water out overnight in the container, on top of a heavy plate (btw, if there's room in the freezer, you could make the ice there, too), and voila, on this morning, like magic, there was beautiful new ice.

I took the holy steamer container top with the ice, placed it in a Pyrex bowl, and took some photos, with my colored beads and a white headlamp underneath it. The effect was oddly pleasurable, with circular rows of jewel-like colors. Do you see how bubbles formed around the holes? SO COOL!!!!

So those were my two major ice adventures on this day. And now I need some songs! First, for my wheel with gem-like colors, I've got Gordon Lightfoot, with Circle of Steel. Second, I've got Tiny Bubbles; here's Don Ho's version, and here is Dean Martin's. And for the girl who is obsessed with ice? Animotion, with Obsession.