You've all seen, I am sure, on Facebook and other places, the little meme that ges around each winter about how fun and easy it is to make "Christmas Decorations" by filling balloons with water and food coloring, setting them out to freeze and peeling off the balloon and "ta-da!" a lovely thing that looks like a transparent glass ball, brightly colored, emerges.

I figured yesterday would be the perfect time to finally try this - balloons obtained, and below-zero temperatures expected, nice snowbanks to rest the balloon in so I don;t end up with a flat bottom to it ...

No one tells you the following:

1. Finding normal balloons can be frustration - I finally discovered some in a back corner of CVS after checking supermarkets, convenience stores, etc.

2. Filling the balloon with colored water is actually tricky. I figured, "Water, then add the food coloring" - bad idea, as once I dis-attached the balloon from the faucet, of course the water wants to escape from it, not let any food coloring in!

Pause to clean kitchen, the red-tinged water hit the counters, floor, coffee maker, sink, and cabinets. How it missed my mostly white shirt I will never know. And yes, it takes extra cleaner - 409 works - to clean up without leaving everything tinged pink.

3. Try again, add food coloring to the empty balloon, then water. Did not fill as much as it could be, fearing a more explosive repeat of result #2.

4. Set balloon in snowbank. Snow is below freezing by definition, right? Wait a couple hours. It's dang cold out, this should work. I used cold water from the sink. Check - maybe an eight of an inch is frozen, which collapses when I poke it.

5. Wait overnight, and into the next afternoon. Notice I had some air in the balloon, so will end up with a flat spot anyway.

It is still not frozen solid! And this is a small balloon - maybe filled to a 4 inch diameter! And I checked, it has been below freezing all day, and was even down to -4F last night for a while!

How long is this gonna take?

As with all those "craft projects" touted as simple and fun, this has been not simple, nor quick, and we will see if fun actually even happens!

I'll keep you posted.