Some people I know like to put ice cubes in their white wine. OK, some of those people are my best friends. OK, one of those people is me. It means having ice within reach is a must. But even classy people who don't put ice in their Sav Blanc need an ice bucket for entertaining. Ice is a key component in many fancy alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks (just don't ask me what they are or how to make them).
Ice buckets are especially useful when entertaining in homes with small freezers or freezers that lack automatic ice makers. Digging through that plastic bag of ice from the corner store that is wedged in your too-full freezer doesn't scream elegant. I prefer tongs over scoops; anything but fingers (the horror!).
FIRST ROW
• 1 Williams Sonoma, $89.
• 2 Vintage from Hydrangea Row on Etsy , $42.
• 3 Dansk Danish modern from Mascara Jones on Etsy, $65.
SECOND ROW
• 4 Tubtrugs recycled bucket from Plastica, $12.
• 5 FusionBrands IceOrb from A+R Store , $16.
• 6 Oxo from Target, $39.99.
THIRD ROW
• 7 Masahiro Mori at Unicahome, $65.
• 8 Sagaform at Unicahome, $75.
• 9 Eva Solo at Amazon, $69.
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I love the middle blue one... very sex-toy chic!
I gave my brother and his fiance a fabulous antique crystal ice bucket when they got engaged. I went over to their home some time later and saw it sitting on the floor.... in the guest bathroom. They thought it was a pretty trash can. I didn't have the heart to tell them. It's still there.
Both of these comments made me laugh so hard!
The middle one has boobs! Tehehehe.
Another option is to get a portable ice maker. Many of them definitely don't look as nice as these ice buckets, but they give you a continuous supply of ice so you don't have to refill it. When the ice melts, it just reuses the water to make more.
This stainless steel portable ice maker looks nice & holds 2 lbs of ice. You just can't really use it to chill a bottle or anything, but it's great for quickly refilling drinks with ice.
I have the Oxo one and I love it!
The middle one, the "ice-orb" may look cool, and it's a great idea, but it SUCKS.
I fight with it on a daily basis.
I have the iceorb/sex-toy chic ice bucket - love it because it takes very little space in my tiny freezer.