updated 7/20/23, although it’s still a mess. It’ll get a final makeover before the holidays, sometime in the fall
my holiday ice sculpture designs collection
I’m working on putting this post back together and functional. It was a dumpster fire of busted links and broken dreams before.
If you come to the site regularly, you should already know where all the designs are listed, so this post is not absolutely necessary. But I wanted to list all the holiday ice sculpture designs in one entry so that they’re easy to compare. And then, each year, I can go back and update the entry and talk about any new additions to the holiday ice sculpture designs. (I have similar posts for Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.)
There are TONS of possibilities for holiday ice sculpture designs; I’ve only just scratched the surface with what I have on the site now. I’d love to add more Hanukkah designs, many more reindeer designs, more variations on Santa Claus, and lots more. The season is rich with sculpture design possibilities.
Getting all these holiday ice sculpture designs out of my head and on the website, however, is a completely different story, especially in the midst of all the holiday sculpting that I have to do myself. I’ve learned that I’ll have to start working on Christmas sometime in July to make sure that I can get it done. (Which is EXACTLY what I’m doing now!)
I do hope to add some other designs before we make it to the holidays this year. So come back to this post later as we get closer!
quick links to jump to the design you want
Hanukkah designs come first, since it comes before Christmas (although all the holiday parties start up earlier.) Here’s what’s here:
menorah
menorah, freestanding
angel
candle
Christmas stocking
elftini luge
“Frosty the Ice Luge”
reindeer and wreath
reindeer, flying (2 blocks)
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer bust
Santa Claus face
Santa Claus waving
snowflake (basic)
snowflake (for logo)
snowflakes, swirling
snowman (for logo)
winter martini glass luge
freestanding menorah
Hanukkah precedes Christmas by a bit this year (12/7-12/15), but we’ll be in the midst of holiday parties then too. This is a two block menorah design that’s pretty tall and really intended to stand on the ground, not a table. One sculptor put it on an ice rink! Super cool!
menorah
Similar to the larger version above, this single block menorah design is a little less ambitious, but still a very nice piece. Don’t expect it to last all through Hanukkah though, unless it’s really cold!
angel
I have plans for more angel designs later on down the road, but this peaceful angel design has a wonderful silhouette.
candle
You can substitute frozen packed snow for the melted wax with this Dicken’s era candle design, which adds visual interest.
Christmas stocking
I might update this stocking design a little in the future; I have an idea on how to make it better, but that will have to wait for now.
elftini ice luge
This dancing elf with shades doubles as a martini luge. There are lots of possibilities for elfin shenanigans during the holidays, but this is my only attempt so far.
Frosty the ice luge
The hat brings Frosty to life and the ice luge brings the party to life!
reindeer on a wreath
If a tiny reindeer can fly, I suppose it can stand atop a Christmas wreath like we see in this design.
flying reindeer
Here’s a more ambitious flying reindeer with a no-nonsense expression that requires 2 blocks of ice. I would love to redesign this, if only to make the clouds a little lighter. Ya think?
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
Give Rudolph a real red nose with this fun design that’s one of my most popular holiday ice sculpture designs. I’ve seen a number of ice sculptors recreate it.
Santa Claus face
This Santa Claus face piece is a relatively new design. I recently posted it for the first time on the site, but I first sculpted it years ago.
Santa Claus (waving)
Carving people from ice is usually pretty difficult. Santa, on the other hand, is one of the easiest people to carve. Maybe it’s because he’s an elf. Are elves easy? 🤷♂️
basic snowflake
Imagine if all snowflakes were as big as the one in this design (about 35” in diameter). Every snowfall would be a major natural disaster!
snowflake for logo or message
This logo snowflake design hides the welding in the detailed arms of the snowflake, leaving the logo weld-free.
snowman for logo or message
This logo snowman design is one of the newer holiday pieces on the site and offers lots of possible variations.
swirling snowflakes
I have 2 different designs here, featuring snowflakes swirling in the wind.
winter martini glass luge
Here’s a wintry variation on the standard martini glass luge. Look towards the end of the entry for this version.
the ebook
Incidentally, all these designs (except for the logo snowman and the Santa face) are in the holiday ebook that you used to be able to buy. There are also other designs in the ebook that you won’t find on the site as well as carving techniques and info. But you can’t get it right now. Trying to fix that!
related links and stuff
I have other holiday collections, see the link banners below. Also, you might also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page and you can comment there as well as below.
