A combination ice cube tray and ice cube lifter includes a tray having a plurality of openings and a lifting device. The tray has one or more recesses, each of which has a bottom wall and side walls that extend upwardly from and contiguously around the bottom wall for forming one or more ice cubes therein. The lifting device has a base portion and a top member. The base portion includes one or more cradles configured to seat within the one or more recesses of the tray to seat against the bottom wall of each of the one or more recesses of the tray. Each of the one or more cradles is coupled to an upstanding member. The top member couples to the upstanding members. A method for lifting ice cubes from a tray is also disclosed.