St. Patrick’s day is less than a month away! Everybody, even those without a drop of Irish blood, knows that it always falls on March 17th. This year, however, Irish bishops moved the official, religious St. Patrick’s Day from the traditional date of the 17th to the 15th because of a conflict with Holy Week. I’d imagine that most of the partying will still happen on the 17th, but since the 15th is a Saturday, it might turn into a two or three day affair.

    In the past, I’ve done a few versions of shamrocks. I’ve done versions very similar to this design, but I went back and reworked this design some for this entry. I’ve also added some “optional” steps that I have not tried with this design, so be aware of that, although I don’t see any insurmountable problems.

    The basic design is represented by the first two graphics below, the design and the template. This design requires one block split into two slabs and ends up about 35”x35”. It leaves some ice unused, however, so the extra ice can be used to elevate the shamrock. This needs to be done carefully and the optional piece needs to be substantial and not a piece accidentally cut thin. Solid, high quality welds are important for both the structure and appearance of this piece.

    The other option for this design is the addition of color. If color isn’t added to the ice, then you can still have green ice with lighting, but the green offers a nice background for the white snowfilled lettering. The green is added from the back with the ice lying flat, after the top piece is welded on, using sand, paint/gelatin, glitter, or green acetate. Glitter and sand, in this case, could present some problems. Snow and slush are packed over the color to keep it in the center of the ice and sometimes the color, particularly glitter, is pushed out of the way while the snow is being added. This leads to white spots in the color. To avoid this, after the sand or glitter is added, you should add a little bit of water over the color, perhaps with a spray bottle, and let it freeze so that the sand or glitter is more solid when the snow is added. That should solve the problem.

    There’s a lot to consider with the optional parts of this design, so be sure to ask questions if you’re unsure about any part of the procedure. Questions or comments can be added at the bottom. If you would like to use this design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site.

This version takes advantage of both of the optional steps, resulting in a larger sculpture with dramatic green coloring.