h a l f b a k e r yThe phrase 'crumpled heap' comes to mind.
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Is anyone else out there dismayed at the dismal attempts by todays youth at making snowmen? Where have all the perfectly rotund bodies, the top hats, carrots for noses and pipes? In an attempt to correct this downward spiral I would like to suggest "The Snowman Mould Set".
This would be a set of round
moulds in decreasing sizes to enable the youth of today to capture that "Christmas Card look" Each mould would be formed as two halves that could each be filled with snow and then clipped togather to form the "legs", body and head spheres. When all the moulds have been set atop one another they could then be undone and Voila! a perfect base for the final touches.
Next would come the "Snowman Decoration Kit" consisting of plastic top hat, carrot nose, coals for eyes etc. You could have various sets for individuality, even limited edition film star sets. Totally reuseable for next year.
Various ice sculpture molds
http://www.foodserv...Sculpture_Molds.htm
[phoenix, Nov 08 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
More ice sculpture molds
http://www.icecraft.com.au/
[phoenix, Nov 08 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
Snow
http://www.its.calt...tomic/snowcrystals/
A beginners' guide for Australians. [angel, Nov 08 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
Advanced snow
http://www-nsidc.colorado.edu/
[angel, Nov 08 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
snow.com
http://www.snow.com/
Guess what this is about. [angel, Nov 08 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
iceart
http://www.icemolds...ategory/snowman-lrg
A beautiful snowman as an ice sculpture mold. Reusable for many years and easy to use. A nice solution i believe. [iceart, Sep 17 2013]
[link]
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I share your angst (at least I would if we ever had anything resembling decent snow around here), but this is just dumbing down the creative process. If the snowman mould were to become widely used, firstly all snowmen would look the same (cookie-cutter snowmen), secondly our youth would have no means of artistic expression. |
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I disagree [angel], having spherical moulds will not necessarily hinder creativity. Sure, on the box there would probably be instructions on how to make the standard snowman, but kids would probably just use the moulds as tools to do make whatever shape they want, kind of like lego. |
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Snowman school would be a better solution, with modules in accurate rolling, finding good snow, carrot selection, verticality, and creative snow-shaping. |
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[PeterSealy] The pressure that you apply, lowers the freezing point of the water/snow causing some of it to melt and seep through the structure of the snowball. On releasing the squeeze, the water refreezes holding the snowball together. That's why you can't make snowballs when it's too cold. The same principle (pressure melting ice) applies to ice-skating. |
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I think there should be a serious discussion regarding the ethics of cloning snowmen before we create molds for them... |
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[PS] Interesting about the ice skating. I'd love to go back and tell my old physics teacher that. With the scoop I assume that the pressure can only be transferred through a certain thickness of snow before the force is dissipated through the skeletal structure. Handmade snowballs are probably small enough whereas bigger balls have to be made by compacting layer upon layer. Maybe? |
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Stu - is that right you cannot make snowballs if its too cold??? weird |
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How about molds that have an attachment for a hose so that once the mold is filled with snow a little water can be introduced to meld it all together? |
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Why not use ice sculpture molds? |
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Isn't part of the problem with snowball moulds that they don't compact the snow evenly from all sides? You can make good snowballs with mittens on, so I'm guessing body heat isn't so important. |
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True story: While I was gossiping to a neighbour her 6yr old kid begged me to help build a snowman. I pointed out it was unfortunately the wrong kind of snow (dry sugary stuff that would not pile high). I carried on chatting till kid tapped my elbow and says "Look!" |
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She'd only got round the problem by building herself a lying down snowman, with his face pointing skywards. A nice bit of lateral thinking by a 6yr old. |
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Re the moulds idea - we already have segmented compost bins, made up from slightly tapered rings which stack. Stamping snow into those, one layer at a time, would produce a suitably rotund body section? And a compacted bucketful of snow would form a lump from which to carve the head. |
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Or if you want a more realistically human looking one, spray your grandad with a hosepipe and lock him outside till he freezes. Some grandads'll do anything to please kids.. |
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That must be my fault [Rods]; I said we never get proper snow, then here I was this morning with two inches of the bloody stuff on my car. It hasn't laid much on the roads though. |
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Check out the snowmen built in any Calvin and Hobbes book. |
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[Rods] Yup - real snow in our bit of London. Didn't do anything exciting like settle on the ground, but did form rock-hard crust on cars (apologies to non-London HalfBakers, but snow in London is so rare). |
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Yeah - you think you don't get much in London, but in Perth, I don't think it's once been below freezing this year. |
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I once built, with the help of a couple of friends, a line of 6 or 7 smallish snowmen next to the roadside. One in the middle I built over a fire hydrant. Some guy in a Jeep decided to mow them down. He was surprised. I got in deep trouble but from people who could barely contain their amusement.
Maybe a mo(u)ld built as a bladder with a spherical shape. Then could be filled with snow and pressurized to get uniform, and densely packed snowballs. Alternatively, non-bladder ones and a vacuum pump. Or just mittens . . . |
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Isn't the fun of building a snowman in starting with a little snowball and rolling it around while watching it grow bigger? If I were a kid and my parents gave me a mould, and suggested I go out build a snowman, I would feel like I was working in a factory. |
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