And so it begins.....

While surfing Pinterest on a warm summer evening I came across an incredible colored igloo made by a New Zealand man while vacationing in Canada. Determined that we could take on a similar project, we started collecting cartons. Friends, family and neighbors would bring their 'empties' that would soon take over the garage, and later, the back deck. Quickly realizing that there was no way we could collect enough we turned to The Athletic Club Brantford  for help. Tammy and staff saved the empty juice and milk 2L cartons they used to make protein shakes (which are fantastic btw) for 6 weeks. After a workout my mom or I would bring home boxes of cartons that my girls would open and rinse while we chatted about what colors to make the igloo. 

Neon food coloring was decided on, 3 drops per 2L carton. The filling took a very long took and cost a broken hose nozzle that cracked in the cold!

Trying to free the bricks from their mold was a lot of trial and error! We tried submersing in hot water to melt the out. It worked okay but took a long time because the water cooled quickly. Ripping them out was the quickest option but that eliminated the option to reuse the cartons again. Many had split anyway so ripping seemed best! FYI: Minute Made cartons are the easiest to rip, therefor a huge favorite, but the Almond Silk cartons rarely split so they could be reused for round two!

420 bricks were made and the kids rocked organizing them into colors the day before the build. The prep work leading up to build day was at least 35 hours.      

Construction began at 9am with the 4 kids distributing bricks and helping map out size and location. the first batch of 'snowcrete' was then mixed. a combo of warm water and snow, to be applied as mortar.

Throughout the day David, Gail, Graham, Justin, Megan, Adam, Tiff and myself worked away with our young helpers Liam, Aven, Maggie, Callie, Owen and Asher. They were huge helps!!

The entrance way was one of the first things tackled. It was beautifully braced with a yoga bean, lawn chair pads and corrugated plastic.

The temperature was perfect! -20 and the snowcrete froze quickly and it only needed to be braced for 30 min.

The walls went up quickly and many hands make light work!

     
      Our biggest concern was that once the bricks tapered in that the lean would cause it to collapse. Again, with the weather was incredible and it froze so quickly there were no issues! Once it hardened its been as solid as a rock! 

Of course there's always time for a little fun!

 Our video crew for the day!

That night the kids enjoyed a play and bedtime snack in the igloo, complete with fireworks and sparklers!It was a cold night but the igloo stays about 15 degrees warmer inside. 

We have had overwhelming interest in the igloo! During construction Stacy (Diva 'round Town) from The Brant News came by for some pics.

Perdita Felicien (yes, the 2 time Olympian!) came with the CHCH news crew and did a live feed for the 6pm news!
http://www.chch.com/colourful-igloo-brantford

Natalie Paddon from The Brant News came for an interview and pics!
http://www.brantnews.com/news-story/4307121-creating-a-winter-wonderland/

Susan Gamble from The Expostitor did a great article too!
 http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/01/16/igloo-building-a-cool-family-project

The weather stayed cold for a good week then we hit a warm few days with highs of +3 up to +7! We covered the igloo with a camping dining tent and tarps and hoped for the best. It came out with a few war wounds but after some new snowcrete patches and nightly watering its good and strong again.