THE ICE DRAGON:

I live in the land of SNOW.  It's January and we have no SNOW!  Global Weirding is on display in WISCO.

Can't take the kids iceskating, sledding, or snowboarding.  Nobody is riding snowmobiles or hitting the slopes.  Not a single snowman standing watch over the neighborhood.

What to do, What to do? 

Well, it's still Wisconsin, so we have plenty of one thing:  COLD!  

Here is our solution to cabin fever, the Ice Dragon.

Step 1: WHAT YOU NEED:

First, take a tour of your home.  What kind of bins and containers do you have.  We just started putting things together and seeing what we could make.  As it turns out, the toy room bins would work for a dragon body.  The closet gave us the bins for wings and the kitchen for just about everything else.

WE ALSO USED:

Ice cube trays
plastic cups
funnels
snowcone cups
Hefty oven pans
Tupperware
Food coloring

Step 2: THE HEAD & TAIL:

For the head and tail section, I divided a large bin with a piece of plywood covered in a garbage bag.   Worked great.  Half and Half.

Step 3: THE LAYOUT:

I put the basics of the dragon together in the spot where I wanted it.  The bigger bins would become quite heavy when filled and I didn't want to have to drag them across the yard.

Step 4: THE BUILD:

This was the fun part.  Lots of help from neighbors and friends.  A big pot of hot chocolate was the reward for all their hard work.

Step 5: WHAT I LEARNED:

First, the RED food coloring didn't work well at all.  The body was supposed to be red.  Blue, green orange and yellow worked the best.  The pink also looked good.  Next time I wouldn't skimp on the dye.

It really took a good week for the water to freeze.  I added layers each night until the desired amount filled the bin. 

We used a spray bottle of water as glue to stick one piece to another, but as we found out, spit also works well.