Christmas Warfare... best prank ever!

I have one of the coolest uncles ever.  He is loud and obnoxious, but in the best kind of way.  He is quirky and intelligent, crass and kind, a man of simple pleasures and great heart.  Imagine a Peter Griffin who was a better human being.
Anyway, last year, I drew him for Secret Santa and bought him a bunch of wrenches.  I wrapped each wrench individually in newspaper, Christmas paper, and duct tape.  Then I put them in the bottom of a series of boxes, each filled with newspaper, styrofoam packing peanuts, and more duct tape.  Then I called his daughter and got her to steal his pocketknife, whilst I hid all the scissors in my house.  When he got his present in the middle of Christmas day, it looked like any other ordinary gift.  You can imagine the hilarity that ensued as he wrestled with it for the next 45 minutes.  All I can say is: Best. Christmas memory. Ever.
But this is now and I can't just leave well enough alone.  At Thanksgiving, I jimmied the "draw names from a hat" game to ensure that I would once again draw my uncle.  This year, I've bought him one of those rakes/shovels for the snow on your rooftop.  It's a very large, long gift and it's wrapped and waiting under the tree.  Only, it's not addressed to him.  Its tag says "To Beevis, Love Butthead".  Doesn't sound very exciting, right?
BUT, there is a red herring gift waiting for him, one even more difficult to open than last year's duct-tape shenangians.  How, you may ask?  The answer is simple: ice.
Last year, I used the element of surprise-- he had no idea his gift was pranked until he was opening it.  This year, I plan to toture him to a cat-call, right from the moment he arrives.
Planted firmly in a snow bank right next to the walkway he will use to get into my house when he arrives on the Big Day is a mound of ice-- and frozen in the middle is a present.  When gift-giving time comes around, he's getting handed a pick-axe.
The red herring gift includes a stuffed dollar store chihuahua and a note that in essence says "fooled you, your gift was inside all along, you loser!"  This is placed within a watertight bucket, wrapped in gift paper, and was submerged in a larger bucket of water to freeze.
(My first attempt didn't go so well.  We tried to make a mold, but it broke apart, and the Becel container I used wasn't water-tight, so my note got all blotchy and wrecked.  We also broke a bucket-- even though we left room for the expansion of water that comes with freezing, because water freezes on the surface first, it froze itself shut and then "had no room to expand" and cracked the base of the bucket.)

Don't bother trying to make a mould; do this prank in one step instead of a bijillion

See?  Didn't work.

If you want to create this magical Christmas prank, you better start now, 'cause it takes time!
1. Gather Real Present (RP) and red herring present (H).  Be sure to include a taunting instructional note in the red herring present.

 I used tea and a lighter to give this cardstock a parchment look

Do not forget the ziploc!  And don't use a Becel container: it leaks.

2. Put red herring present in a ziploc bag and then inside a waterproof container that is smaller than your bucket/larger container.
3. Wrap waterproof container with bright Christmas paper.

Please enjoy my weasley wrap job.  PS giftwarp stands up remarkably well to h20

4. Glue a "spacer" to the top of your red herring present.  My biggest problem was with buoyancy.  The gift floated too much in the water, meaning it wasn't going to freeze fully submerged.  But we also didn't want to sink it too deep (otherwise, it would be easily accessible from the top.)  What we wanted was for it to be nice and centered in the block of ice.  To make a spacer, use a tin or plastic can with holes drilled in it; you want the water to pass through it.  Then hot glue it to the lid of your red herring.

Holes drilled in spacer, hot glued to top of waterproof container.

5. Put red herring present spacer side DOWN in a large bucket and fill the bucket with HOT water. (Hot or boiling water will freeze clear.  Cold water will freeze opaque.)
6. Move the whole contraption outside to freeze.
7. Once in position, use a weight to keep the present from floating to the surface.  Make sure it is centered in the water; that is how it will freeze.
8. Wait until COMPLETELY frozen (at least 12 hours, depending on temperature.)
9. Flip your bucket upside-down and use a bit of hot water to loosen the ice block from the container by pouring it over top.  It should fall out easily.
10. Place the ice block wherever you want outside.  Use snow and really cold water to seal it in place.
11. A. Decorate the snow around your prank gift with coloured water.  (Use food colouring and a squirty plastic waterbottle.)
11. B. Using a yogurt cup, freeze one end of some ribbon in a little bit of water.  Once frozen, transfer outside and freeze the ribbon/mini iceblock to the larger present.  Later, attach a laminated tag to the other end of the ribbon.
12. Sit back and relax.  Your friend/family member is about to get pranked HARD!

We're celebrating family Christmas early this year; I'll let you guys know how the prank turns out!

PS- we would love to see pictures and read stories of your Christmas pranks!  Feel free to tweet, pin, email, tumble or instagram us!