During the winter, you may think there is not much to be done outside. But I love the outdoors the whole year, and I think there is always a way to find happiness in the garden! So take advantage of those frigid outdoor temps, don some good gloves and a scarf, and head out to the garden to create these 7 crafty outdoor projects with ice!

Our feature project below, is from Kate at ‘Faceless 39’. She shows us how to make decorative ice gems for your garden with step by step photos… This is an easy project that’s lots of fun!

Learn to make ice lanterns, from ‘Willowday’! I love how the candle glows against the melting ice… these would be amazing along a walkway for a holiday party!

I have never seen a craft quite like these winter ice sun catchers from Tracy on ‘Hubpages’. Easy to follow tutorial, these are so cool! What if you just used all blues, to create a look of glowing ice?

These DIY ice luminaries from Gabrielle at ‘Design Mom’ are the perfect way to light up a porch or add splash to a garden to be viewed from indoors, perhaps during a holiday get together? If it’s not quite cold enough to freeze them hard outdoors, and you are just using them for an event, you can freeze them on a cookie sheet in your freezer, then place outside just before use.

From ‘Queen Vanna Creations’, these ice balloons use food coloring to get that bright color. Fun!

Want to make an ice project that looks like you suddenly have the ability to craft your own giant snowflakes? Make lace and ice, with the help of ‘Resurrection Fern’. Easy and so pretty!

Lastly, if you want to make those great ice globes, and  you want to do it the easy way… check out these ice globe luminary kits by ‘Gardeners Supply‘. For the amount of fun you get from them, they aren’t real expensive.