Ice Skating Party

Ice Skating Party: a homemade ice skating rink gets ready for fun with Nordic inspired decor, hot chocolate and cookies.

In these cold January days, what could be more perfect than an ice skating party on a homemade backyard ice skating rink? We have been working on a little ice skating rink that is a loop in the forest behind our house.

Making Our Homemade Ice Rink

The rink idea started one day when I was looking out our window, and noticed ice forming in the forest behind our house. It’s always been a little bit swampy back there. It’s a low area of the forest, and I have to admit I’ve always judged it a little bit harshly, wishing we had a more usable spot directly behind us. In the summer it’s full of mosquitoes and beautiful to look at from a distance but never a spot the kids could even play in when they were little.

Looking out at the ice forming though I had an idea. What if I could make it into a little skating path for them? So my daughter, Maddie and I, headed out and used some pruning sheers to cut some brush back, and move some branches where the ice was starting to form already, to see what this little spot could become. Since it was naturally wet, and there was already a base of ice forming we didn’t build this like a traditional backyard ice rink where you set up wood sides, add a plastic liner , and flood it.

We just cleared things out a little, and flooded the already forming ice a few times with our garden hose. We had some cracks and holes and did a little on-line research, patching here and there with hot water and snow as needed. It doesn’t seem to get consistently really cold here, just outside of Toronto where we live. I swear it was colder when I was a kid. So we’ve had some freezing and melting to deal with off and on. A few days ago we even made a little homemade zamboni to fix our skating ruts. It’s been a really fun project for us all.

This project has reminded me that everything -everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It’s this swampy, forgotten little spots moment to shine and bring us so much joy. A seemingly worthless un-usable area that’s been turned into a favourite, delightful, and surprising blessing. A great reminder that there is a season for everyone and everything to shine.

So I thought, once we got our ice in reasonable shape it would be fun to create a little skating party one Saturday.

Decorations

I kept the decor really simple and Nordic inspired. I added a little white bunting to the dog wood bushes in front of our little bench.

To make the bunting I used an old white tablecloth and cut it into triangles and hot glued them onto some twine. It was really easy to make and is so pretty in the forest.

On top of the bench I layered a sheep skin and a pretty vintage wool blanket. This made the perfect spot to put our skates on. An old stump adds an extra surface for some of our treats.

Skating Snacks

I thought it would be fun to bring out a few sweet treats to enjoy while we skated. First I made a thermos of hot chocolate, complete with some whip cream on top, and marshmallows.

Sipping on a cup of this is the perfect way to warm up cold fingers after skating for awhile. To keep my thermos extra warm and cozy, I made the simplest thermos cozy. I used a sleeve from an old felted wool sweater that fit the thermos perfectly.

And we also included some beautiful snowflake sugar cookies, that my friend made us for Christmas. Lastly a few Toblerone shortbread cookies -a real family favourite, get the recipe here.

Outdoor Winter Parties

We’re trying to embrace the seasons here, and enjoy the outdoors as much as we can even in these winter months. A backyard rink and ice skating party are the perfect ways to do it.

More fun ideas, might be a little sledding party at your favourite hill, especially after a fresh snow fall. Or how about doing some cross county skiing? Another idea that would be lots of fun is a backyard fire with marshmallows. And if you don’t have a hill or skis or a fire pit… how about a snowman building party?