Why is the ice served in restaurants transparent, and the cubes taken out of the home refrigerator molds are cloudy and white?
How to make clear ice at home? Do not believe if you are told that it is enough to boil or filter the water. Even using distilled water will not help. 
The fact is that no matter how hard you try to purify water from impurities, it will still contain one component other than H2O. This is air.
By its very nature, freezing water tends to form a distinct crystalline structure. At the same time, it pushes the trapped air and impurities away from the freezing zone.
In the ice tray, this process occurs on all sides of the cube. The last part that freezes is the center, and it is this that turns out to be cloudy and filled with air bubbles.
Do we need absolutely transparent ice? What is its advantage over ordinary cloudy ice from silicone molds?
First, due to the absence of air bubbles, clear ice melts more slowly than usual, which means your drinks will stay cold longer.
Secondly, since clear ice melts more slowly, this means your drink will be more slowly diluted with water and retain its rich taste longer. 
Well, a big piece. pure ice in itself is a cocktail decoration. A huge transparent cube of ice, squeezed into the "old fashion", literally squeezing out a portion of whiskey or rum, is cool.
You can, of course, buy an ice generator, which produces very clean and transparent ice, but it takes up a decent amount of space in the bar and costs from 15 thousand rubles. 
The best way get crystal clear ice cubes - the so-called directional freezing.
YOU WILL NEED
small portable food cooler
a water tank that will freely enter the car refrigerator
filtered water
long serrated knife
INSTRUCTIONS
Pour filtered water into a container and place it in a portable refrigerator. 
Leave the auto-refrigerator for 20-30 hours in the freezer. Its lid must remain open all this time. 
In this case, water freezes directionally, that is, from top to bottom, because the walls and bottom of the container are isolated, and only from above the water cools strongly enough to freeze. 
Now the most difficult thing is to follow the process. Every few hours you need to check how deep the water has frozen. It is important not to wait for the water to freeze completely. It is necessary that only two-thirds of the water freeze, but these two-thirds will be transparent and without bubbles. Ideally, you need to set the temperature of the freezer to a high enough temperature - from -1 to -3 degrees, so that the process is as gradual and slow as possible. As a result, you get clean ice. 
If you completely freeze the water in the container, then all the bubbles will accumulate in the lower part of the ice. 
Such ice can also be used, you just need to separate the cloudy part with a sharp knife. Before doing this, soak the knife in hot water. 
Place the crystal clear part on a cutting board and cut it into cubes of the desired size. It remains to pour the resulting pieces of ice into a cocktail glass and enjoy the result. 
Interesting fact: Spheres have the smallest surface area to volume ratio, which makes ice cubes rather than cubes ideal candidates for cooling drinks.
“Ice is the soul of a cocktail,” say experienced bartenders. Any alcoholic drink with a big piece clear ice it will seem tastier, and it will be aesthetically more pleasant to drink it. After all, alcohol is not only and not so much an “effect”, but a process, atmosphere and communication.
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transparent ice
Have you ever noticed that the ice served in restaurants is transparent, and the cubes that you take out of your refrigerator molds are cloudy and white?
How to make clear ice at home? Do not believe if you are told that it is enough to boil or filter the water. Even using distilled water will not help.
The fact is that no matter how hard you try to purify water from impurities, it will still contain one component other than H2O. This is air.
By its very nature, freezing water tends to form a distinct crystalline structure. At the same time, it pushes the trapped air and impurities away from the freezing zone.
In the ice tray, this process occurs on all sides of the cube. The last part that freezes is the center, and it is this that turns out to be cloudy and filled with air bubbles.
Do we need absolutely transparent ice? What is its advantage over ordinary cloudy ice from silicone molds?
First, due to the absence of air bubbles, clear ice melts more slowly than usual, which means your drinks will stay cold longer.
Secondly, since clear ice melts more slowly, this means your drink will be more slowly diluted with water and retain its rich taste longer.
Well, a large piece of pure ice in itself is a cocktail decoration. A huge transparent cube of ice, squeezed into the "old fashion", literally squeezing out a portion of whiskey or rum - it's cool.
How to make crystal clear ice at home
You can, of course, buy it, which produces very clean and transparent ice, but it takes up decent space in the bar and costs from 15 thousand rubles.
The best way to get crystal clear ice cubes is through the so-called directional freezing.
YOU WILL NEED
- small portable food cooler
- a water tank that will freely enter the car refrigerator
- filtered water
- long serrated knife
INSTRUCTIONS
Fun fact: Spheres have the smallest surface area relative to volume, which makes ice cubes, rather than cubes, ideal candidates for cooling drinks.
You can even make little cheesecakes!
The ice tray is great for making small desserts, creating unique ice cubes, storing foods (like herbs), or making supplies that you can use when needed. Once frozen, the cubes can be transferred to a bag for storage in the freezer. Here are some examples of what can be frozen with ice cube trays:
1. Chocolate mini cheesecakes for one bite.
RecipeThere are two options for preparing this dish: vegetarian and non-vegetarian. These recipes are perfect for those who are on a diet, as the products are chosen so that their favorite dessert becomes low in calories. And it doesn't even need to be baked!
Non Vegetarian Cheesecake Ingredients:
- ¼ cup fat-free yogurt;
- ¼ cup lung cream cheese;
- 2-3 tbsp. l. honey;
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (can be replaced with dry vanilla)
Vegetarian Cheesecake Ingredients:
- 1 cup pre-soaked cashew nuts (you can use other nuts that also need to be soaked overnight)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil;
- 2 tbsp honey;
- ½ teaspoon vanilla;
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice.
- Ingredients for chocolate icing:
- 1 glass of coconut oil;
- ½ cup cocoa;
- ¼ cup honey.
Cooking:
1. Blend all cheesecake ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients for the chocolate icing until smooth.
3. Grease all ice cube molds with oil.
4. Pour the chocolate icing into each mold using a spoon.
5. Spread the icing on the sides and bottom of the mold.
6. Make sure the entire surface of the molds is covered. To do this, you can tilt the mold in all directions so that the glaze spreads over the entire surface.
7. Fill each mold with cheesecake filling.
8. Top with a layer of chocolate icing.
9. Place in freezer for 2-3 hours.
10. Remove from the freezer and detect 1-2 minutes.
11. Remove the mini cheesecakes the way you would normally remove ice cubes.
Enjoy.
2. Preserve herbs in olive oil so they don't go to waste.
For freezing in oil, hard herbs that require cooking are best: oregano, rosemary, thyme, and sage. This method will help to preserve all the aromas of herbs, the shape of the ice cube allows you to use the product in portions.
Herbs frozen in oil are well suited for cooking stews, roasts, soups, potato dishes. In these dishes, as a rule, oil is used at the beginning of cooking. And so you can take a cube of frozen herb butter and use it as the base of your dish. When frozen in oil, herbs not only do not lose their taste and smell, but also saturate the oil with them.
8 Steps to Freeze Herbs in Oil:
- Choose fresh herbs. Best suited herbs from your garden or from the market.
- If you want, you can cut them or you can leave the twigs and leaves whole. Great for many dishes with a combination of chopped and whole herbs such as rosemary, fennel stalks, sage and oregano.
- You can mix bouquets of herbs. For example, mix sage, thyme, rosemary; in winter they can be added to fried chicken and potatoes.
- Fill two-thirds of the ice cube trays with herbs.
- Pour the herbs with unsalted ghee or olive oil.
- Cover with foil and leave to freeze overnight.
- Remove the cubes from the molds and store in the freezer in containers or bags.
- Do not forget to sign the containers and bags: where, what herbs and what oil was used.
3. Make ice coffee cubes for cold coffee.
Freeze ice coffee cubes and then your cold coffee will no longer be diluted.
4. Make chocolate covered strawberries.
Recipe
Strawberries in chocolate in ice cube trays are a very easy dessert to make and quite inexpensive. It can be served at some solemn event or become part of a romantic evening. The trick to making this dessert is to keep it in the freezer longer.
The advantage of this dessert is that it carries less threat of smearing with chocolate. And you can make it in just 5 minutes, then put it in the freezer and forget about it until the guests arrive.
It is very important not to skimp on the quality of the chocolate for this dish. To balance the sweetness milk chocolate, you can use some black.
Ingredients:
- 12 medium strawberries;
- 340 grams of chocolate.
Cooking:
- Wash the strawberries and set them aside to dry.
- Melt chocolate in microwave oven or in a water bath.
- Whilst the chocolate is warm, stir until smooth and pour into ice cube molds, filling each slot 2/3 full.
- Place a strawberry in each mold.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour for the chocolate to harden well.
- You need to take out the dessert in the same way as ordinary ice cubes: you need to take the silicone mold from two edges and simply turn them in different directions.
5. Freeze Baby Puree
Baby food is very costly for parents. Therefore, you can make your own, freeze it and defrost it when needed. Making mashed potatoes for a child, you will not only save some money, but you will also be sure of the quality of baby food.
You will need a blender, a saucepan, vegetables or fruits from which you are going to puree. Bananas are the easiest to prepare, you just need to mash them and put the resulting puree into ice molds.
Frozen puree can last longer in the freezer, and with ice cube trays, you can get just the right amount of puree your baby needs.
6. Make sushi using ice cube molds.
Recipe
The principle of making sushi is very simple - this is the addition variety of ingredients to rice and mold layout under pressure. As a press, we will have cells in an ice mold.
Ingredients:
- 300 grams of rice;
- 150 grams of slightly salted salmon;
- 1 fresh cucumber;
- wasabi.
Cooking:
- Boil the rice until tender (do not rinse).
- Spread the rice in a thick layer on an ice cube tray.
- In the middle we put a piece of cucumber and a small slice of fish, you can add a little wasabi.
- Cover the filling with rice until the mold is full.
- In the process of cooking, you constantly need to compact the rice, then the roll will not fall apart.
7. Freeze tomato sauce.
use home tomato sauce you can even in winter, you just need to freeze it from summer. It takes quite a bit of time to defrost it in the microwave.
8. Make banana and yogurt ice cubes for smoothies.
Freeze yogurt and banana puree to make your smoothies super healthy and give them a nice creamy taste.
9. Shot Jelly-O.
Recipe
Try these Blueberry Jelly-O Martini Shots made in an ice cube mold. They are perfect for any party.
Ingredients:
- 300 grams of blueberry vodka (if you can’t find it, regular one will do);
- 60 grams of simple syrup (water and sugar in equal parts);
- 3 ½ packs of gelatin;
- 60 blueberries (more if the berries are small)
Cooking:
- Mix warm vodka with syrup in a small saucepan, add gelatin.
- Heat the saucepan, stirring, over low heat until the gelatin is completely dissolved and mixed with the vodka mixture.
- Place a few blueberries in the bottom of each ice cube tray.
- Then pour the vodka mixture into them. Refrigerate the jelly until set, preferably overnight.
- We take out the jelly from the molds before serving.
10. Freeze buttermilk for future use.
You'll never run out of half a container of buttermilk again. It is enough to pour it into ice molds, having previously measured how many spoons of the product fit into one cell. You will be able to take out the buttermilk when you need it, and it will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
11. Make a delicious mild flavored slush.
Recipe
Freezing and blending juice cubes gives more flavor and less hassle. Try a sweet wine slush with ice cubes of wine.
Ingredients:
- 1 bottle (750 ml) sweet wine
- freshly squeezed Orange juice or white grape juice (optional)
- ice cubes (optional)
- orange or strawberry slices for garnish.
Cooking:
- Pour the wine into empty ice cube trays (you will need two standard ice cube trays).
- Freeze wine overnight or at least 6 hours.
- Juice or water should also be frozen.
- Grind wine cubes in a blender or food processor, you can add a few cubes of juice or just ice, then the taste will be softer, and the slush itself will turn out not so alcoholic.
- The main thing is that when mixing, the pieces of ice do not melt, but only turn into crushed ice. Slush should be served immediately.
12. Make your own peanut butter candies.
Recipe
Not only is making your own candy fun and rewarding, but you also have control over all the ingredients that go into the treat.
To create organic candies with peanut butter you will need two ice cube trays, a saucepan and a water bath cup.
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of chocolate;
- ¼ cup peanut butter;
- ¼ cup crumbs or cereal;
- 1 teaspoon of water;
- 1 teaspoon honey.
Cooking:
- Cut the chocolate into pieces and put in a water bath to melt it.
- While the chocolate is melting, mix the peanut butter, crumbs or cereal with honey and water in a small bowl.
- When the chocolate turns into a homogeneous mass, pour one teaspoon into each compartment of the ice mold.
- Then add one teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture to the ice cube trays.
- Add another teaspoon of chocolate on top.
- Place the molds in the freezer for 10 minutes. Sweets are ready!
13. Make mini fruit ice cubes for a little treat.
good alternative fruit ice with sugar, these magnificent fruit cubes will become. They are 100% fruit and juice and are easy to prepare: all you have to do is place your chosen fruit in an ice cube tray and pour some of the juice over it.
14. Make chocolate ice cubes that can be dissolved in milk.
Recipe
This is an excellent way to cool off in summer. An interesting combination of flavors of a chocolate cube swirling in a whirlwind of vanilla milk. This dessert has the velvety texture of ice cream and the coolness that is so lacking in summer.
Ice chocolate cubes are especially interesting because they are not just frozen chocolate. They also contain milk instant coffee, sugar.
Ingredients:
- 200 ml of milk;
- 50 ml of water;
- 70 g dark chocolate;
- 1 tsp Sahara;
- 1 tbsp cocoa;
- 1 tbsp instant coffee.
Melt the chocolate, mix with the rest of the ingredients, pour into ice molds and freeze.
Frozen chocolate cubes are great for smoothies, milk and cold coffee.
15. Make ice cubes from leftover wine.
If you have leftover wine, you can freeze it in ice cube trays and use later in cocktails or cooking.
16. Freeze homemade pesto for future use.
Place homemade sauce pesto into ice cube trays and freeze for 12 hours. Then take out the sauce cubes and put them in a container or silicone bag. This sauce will bring a touch of summer to your winter.
17. Make cocktails.
1.Pina colada. Freeze one by one Pineapple juice and coconut milk. To keep the cubes in a beautiful stripe, wait until the first layer is well frozen before pouring the next one. These beautiful cubes can be added to pineapple juice or coconut milk or rum and then you will have a real alcoholic Pina Colada.
2. Spicy iced tea. Make tea. You can brew the usual packaged. Add agave (a little floral, natural honey can replace it). Freeze. Serve with almond milk, seasoned with sugar and allspice.
3. Mint mojito. Add a little honey, mint and lemon juice to a few linden leaves. Freeze in ice cube trays. These cubes can be added to regular soda or your favorite rum.
4. Raspberry. Simply freeze raspberry puree and then add it to sparkling water. While the cube is melting, the taste of soda becomes tastier, richer.
5. Frozen fennel. Place the fennel into an ice cube tray and cover with water. Frozen cubes are served with sparkling water.
18. Make hot chocolate on a stick.
Recipe
This could be a nice little gift. For cooking, you will need: sticks (you can use pieces of skewers), a pastry bag, a bag with a cut off corner and ice molds.
Ingredients:
- 250 g milk chocolate;
- 200 g dark chocolate;
- 40 g cocoa;
- 120 g of powdered sugar;
- 1/8 teaspoon salt;
- mini marshmallow.
Cooking:
- mix cocoa, powdered sugar and salt in a bowl.
- Cut the chocolate into small pieces, put in a bowl and put in the microwave.
- Turn on the microwave oven at 50% power. Stir the chocolate constantly.
- Remove the chocolate from the oven before all the pieces are melted and stir until the pieces are completely melted.
- Add the melted chocolate to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
- Place the mixture in a pastry bag or bag with the corner cut off.
- Pour chocolate mixture into ice molds, insert sticks and surround them with mini marshmallows.
- Place in the freezer until completely frozen.
- If you want to present this delicacy as a present, then you will need ribbons and a beautiful package for decoration.
19. Freeze fruit juice and add it to sparkling water.
The juice cubes will melt, giving the water not only coolness, but also a magical taste.
20. Use ice cube trays to store leftover homemade cookie dough.
The next time you cook homemade cookies You can freeze leftover dough in an ice cube tray. Then, when you want something sweet, you just defrost the right amount of cubes. This way you will always have fresh cookies.
21. Use frozen greens for smoothies.
Using fresh herbs is fine, but sometimes they need to be boiled before being eaten. Then boil some greens, use a blender to puree, freeze the puree in ice molds. Now you can just get a few ice cubes and not spend a lot of time preparing your morning cocktail.
22. Make easy frozen yogurt.
Freeze yogurt to enjoy on hot days. Quality yogurt should not lose its fluffy texture, even if it is frozen.
23. Freeze homemade chicken and vegetable broths for later use.
In the freezer, stock cubes can be stored for 2 months, and you only need to defrost the right amount during cooking.
Before you make ice, you need to thoroughly study this process and its nuances. It is not enough just to pour water into special molds and send them to the freezer. To make a transparent and beautiful product that will decorate cocktails, you will have to try hard. And yet, contrary to popular belief, you do not need to use any special refrigerators for this.
Everything can be done by hand with minimal financial and energy costs. The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment and not to stop if the first attempts fail.
Secrets of clear ice for drinks
Those who want to learn how to make real ice for drinks with their own hands, and not just cloudy pieces of frozen water, should take the following approaches into service:
- Use of pre-treated water. Pour the liquid into an enameled or steel bowl, bring to a boil and let it boil for a few minutes. After that, cover with a lid and leave to cool naturally. We repeat the manipulation and once again cool the composition. Then we fill in the ice molds and freeze the blanks. With this approach, the filler for cocktails is transparent due to the removal of air bubbles.
- Freezing slow type. You can force out the bubbles that give the product turbidity if you freeze the product not quickly, but very slowly. The final version will not only be transparent, but also very smooth. True, the time for making ice in this case is at least a day. To carry out the manipulation in the freezer, you need to set the temperature no higher and no lower than -1ºС.
- Freezing in salt water. This method also allows you to make transparent and beautiful ice without cracks. Ideally, you should use sea salt, but in the absence of such, you can make a mixture with your own hands. To do this, we do not completely fill a deep bowl with water, add fine table salt and stir well (unfortunately, the concentration of the composition will have to be established empirically). We put the container in the freezer, the temperature in it should not be lower than -2ºС. As soon as the liquid has cooled down, we lower the filled ice molds into it and again put it in the freezer until cubes form. If the liquid in the bowl begins to freeze, this indicates an insufficient amount of salt, the solution will have to be redone.
Tip: In general, no matter what approach to making ice is used, water should be taken drinking or filtered. Otherwise, the unpleasant smell will go away only for a while. As soon as the product enters the drink and begins to melt, the specific aroma returns, which noticeably spoils the taste of cocktails.
Experienced housewives prefer to make ice at home according to the latest instructions. It turns out transparent, even, without cracks, does not crack when adding cocktails and other drinks. saline solution it is enough to cook just once. It can be poured into a convenient container and kept in the freezer permanently.
How to make ice without special ice molds?
The lack of molds is not a problem if there is imagination. You can make them with your own hands or even adapt improvised means. The variant of the approach and the features of its implementation depend on the type of drink consumed and what is at hand:
- If you plan to serve not cocktails, but simply pour one-component drinks, you should take care of the dishes in advance. To do this, we take the selected glasses (preferably made of thick glass, it will not crack from exposure to cold air), pour boiled drinking water into them by about 1 cm, wipe thoroughly so that no moisture remains on the surface. Next, carefully place the containers in the freezer (the temperature is -1ºС), trying not to spill anything on the walls. The finished ice will turn out not only beautiful and will perform the specified functions, but will also give the spilled drinks an original look.
- It is very easy to make ice with your own hands using plastic or metal lids. The first ones are better to trim them inside in advance so that the thread does not interfere with removing the product. The main secret of the process is that the liquid is poured to the maximum, and reaches the very edge. In this case, it will expand, protrude above the surface and it will be easier to get the pieces. It only takes a few minutes to wait room temperature so that they melt.
- One of the easiest options for making ice is to use plastic cups. We pour pre-prepared water to the bottom, we determine the thickness ourselves, but remember that the mass will expand further. Freeze the product and carefully remove. It is not necessary to dwell on round "cubes", if you insert home-made plastic dividers inside the cup, the shape can be adjusted.
- It is worth looking around in the kitchen and in the rooms, in most cases something can be adapted for making ice. These are the details of the children's designer, and the tabs from under the sweets, and Silicone forms for baking. Only improvised means must be thoroughly disinfected before use.
If there is little time, and it’s impossible to cook something worthwhile with your own hands, you need to limit yourself to the simplest option. We take plastic bags, cut them into pieces, fill the blanks with a small amount of water and tie them in a knot. We will get small neat balls that will look very original in a glass.
Before you make ice, you need to thoroughly study this process and its nuances. It is not enough just to pour water into special molds and send them to the freezer. To make a transparent and beautiful product that will decorate cocktails, you will have to try hard. And yet, contrary to popular belief, you do not need to use any special refrigerators for this.
Everything can be done by hand with minimal financial and energy costs. The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment and not to stop if the first attempts fail.
Secrets of clear ice for drinks
Those who want to learn how to make real ice for drinks with their own hands, and not just cloudy pieces of frozen water, should take the following approaches into service:
- Use of pre-treated water. Pour the liquid into an enameled or steel bowl, bring to a boil and let it boil for a few minutes. After that, cover with a lid and leave to cool naturally. We repeat the manipulation and once again cool the composition. Then we fill in the ice molds and freeze the blanks. With this approach, the filler for cocktails is transparent due to the removal of air bubbles.
- Freezing slow type. You can force out the bubbles that give the product turbidity if you freeze the product not quickly, but very slowly. The final version will not only be transparent, but also very smooth. True, the time for making ice in this case is at least a day. To carry out the manipulation in the freezer, you need to set the temperature no higher and no lower than -1ºС.
- Freezing in salt water. This method also allows you to make transparent and beautiful ice without cracks. Ideally, you need to use sea salt, but in the absence of such, you can make a mixture with your own hands. To do this, we do not completely fill a deep bowl with water, add fine table salt and stir well (unfortunately, the concentration of the composition will have to be established empirically). We put the container in the freezer, the temperature in it should not be lower than -2ºС. As soon as the liquid has cooled down, we lower the filled ice molds into it and again put it in the freezer until cubes form. If the liquid in the bowl begins to freeze, this indicates an insufficient amount of salt, the solution will have to be redone.
Tip: In general, no matter what approach to making ice is used, water should be taken drinking or filtered. Otherwise, the unpleasant smell will go away only for a while. As soon as the product enters the drink and begins to melt, the specific aroma returns, which noticeably spoils the taste of cocktails.
Experienced housewives prefer to make ice at home according to the latest instructions. It turns out transparent, even, without cracks, does not crack when adding cocktails and other drinks. Salt solution is enough to prepare only once. It can be poured into a convenient container and kept in the freezer permanently.
How to make ice without special ice molds?
The lack of molds is not a problem if there is imagination. You can make them with your own hands or even adapt improvised means. The variant of the approach and the features of its implementation depend on the type of drink consumed and what is at hand:
- If you plan to serve not cocktails, but simply pour one-component drinks, you should take care of the dishes in advance. To do this, we take the selected glasses (preferably made of thick glass, it will not crack from exposure to cold air), pour boiled drinking water into them by about 1 cm, wipe thoroughly so that no moisture remains on the surface. Next, carefully place the containers in the freezer (the temperature is -1ºС), trying not to spill anything on the walls. The finished ice will turn out not only beautiful and will perform the specified functions, but will also give the spilled drinks an original look.
- It is very easy to make ice with your own hands using plastic or metal lids. The first ones are better to trim them inside in advance so that the thread does not interfere with removing the product. The main secret of the process is that the liquid is poured to the maximum, and reaches the very edge. In this case, it will expand, protrude above the surface and it will be easier to get the pieces. It only takes a few minutes to keep them at room temperature for them to melt.
- One of the easiest options for making ice is to use plastic cups. We pour pre-prepared water to the bottom, we determine the thickness ourselves, but remember that the mass will expand further. Freeze the product and carefully remove. It is not necessary to dwell on round "cubes", if you insert home-made plastic dividers inside the cup, the shape can be adjusted.
- It is worth looking around in the kitchen and in the rooms, in most cases something can be adapted for making ice. These are details of a children's designer, and candy inserts, and silicone baking molds. Only improvised means must be thoroughly disinfected before use.
If there is little time, and it’s impossible to cook something worthwhile with your own hands, you need to limit yourself to the simplest option. We take plastic bags, cut them into pieces, fill the blanks with a small amount of water and tie them in a knot. We will get small neat balls that will look very original in a glass.
