The Weather Inside is Frightful
Next on my little list of projects I was able to accomplish over the holidays was a flurry of handmade snow globes. These have been stacked along the window sill in our bathroom and look quite pretty. I know allot of adults made these as kids but somehow it never made it onto my childhood arts and crafts syllabus, so I had an especially swell time playing with this project. This is an easy kid craft with very satisfying results.
- Start with a clean glass jar. Recycled baby food jars or other empties from the pantry work great. Or you can find a nice variety of sizes moderately priced at online shops such as Specialty Bottle, SKS Bottle, or Freund.
TIP: These retailers also offer a selection of clear plastic jars if you’re concerned about having Junior smashing his snow globe across the hardwood floor.
- I used vintage plastic cake topper trees to fill my snow globes, but there’s all manner of miniatures that would work. Just maker certain that they’re plastic, ceramic or glass. My trees had pointy ends so I made little Sculpy snowballs to use as stands (bake according to directions before using).
TIP: Sculpy is also great if you want to create your own figurines - maybe a snow family?
- Sand the inside of the lid until the surface is rough, then rinse and dry. Use a clear silicone rubber sealant to adhere your figurine(s) to the inside of the lid - follow the manufacturer’s directions for drying times. You’ll find this at the hardware store.
CAUTION: Unfortunately silicone is not kid friendly stuff, so adults should take care of this little step.
- Fill the jar almost to the top with distilled water (a canning funnel helps) and add a tiny pinch of plastic glitter. Remember to start with just a little bit, you can always add more, but too much and it will stick to the bottom of the jar. Next add a dash of glycerin - I used an eye dropper to better control the amount.
SIDE NOTE: Glycerin is a skin protectant that can be purchased at the drugstore. It’s used in snow globes to keep the glitter from falling too quickly.
- Screw on the lid tightly. This will likely cause overflow so do this step over the sink or over a shallow pan. Extra towels on hand is a good idea! Give the jar a gentle shake and watch it snow.
OPTIONAL STEP: If you look closely at my snow globes you’ll notice frosted snow drifts along the bottom of each jar. I created these by masking off the the lower portion of the jar with hand-cut contact paper and then using a glass etching product that I found at a local craft supply store. It’s painted on, left for about a minute and then thoroughly rinsed off. Use rubber gloves - you don’t want this on your hands.
January 16th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Beautiful! I think you need a tiny little deer in one of these…
January 17th, 2009 at 3:10 am
[...] I have been meaning to make DIY snow globes with the girls forEVER. I love how the Junior Society did theirs. [...]
January 17th, 2009 at 10:36 am
now i feel like a loser… my christmas was squandered on store-bought nonsense!
January 18th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Perfect! My daughter was whining over an overpriced snowglobe in a big-box store just this weekend, and I said to her (my typical response), “Sweetie, we can make that together, and it will be much more fun.”
I’ve been sweating that she’d call my bluff, but now I can rest at ease.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
[...] How to make your own snow globe! I always found snow globes fascinating as a child. Who didn’t? Now you can make your own! [...]
January 21st, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Those are great. A couple years back I found a secret santa gift for the office that was a clear xmas ornament containing artificial snow, a tiny pine bough and pinecone and to top it off, a couple little pieces of shellacked deer droppings. Ah, creativity… you’ve got to love it.
May 17th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Do you have any suggestions on how to keep items which are not glued down from floating around the top?
Also, how do you keep the water clear? I made a globe and it is very murky. I thought of using chlorine.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Lisa, unless it’s glued down - my guess is that’s it’s gonna float. Using distilled water helps keep the water clear - and you may want to avoid leaving them in direct sunlight for long periods of time.
August 10th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Hi!
Today I posted an entry on my blog with a link to this tutorial.
Would you let me know if that’s OK?
Thanks,
Nancy Ward
http://paperfriendly.blogspot.com
August 11th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
That’s great Nancy - thank you!
December 5th, 2009 at 9:27 am
[...] This post was Twitted by jessicakallam [...]
December 10th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Lisa Prokop, you can add half a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol to the water to keep it from getting a bacteria overgrowth. I’m making some this year with little penguins in them! I love the look of the whole bunch of them with the trees. It’s an underwater, preserved forest!
December 10th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Great idea - thanks Kiki!
December 11th, 2009 at 6:47 am
[...] Parce que j’ai trouvé des sapins différents, originaux, miniscules … comme ces snow globes à fabriquer soi-même avec des petits sapins “Cake Toppers Vintage” proposés par Junior Society. [...]
December 14th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
[...] past January I posted a little craft tutorial - my spin on creating simple snow globes from screw-top glass jars. I’ve received several [...]
December 17th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Sculpy is waterproof??? I didn’t know that! I was trying to figure out where to get figurines/make my own, but wasn’t having much luck.
Mwahahaha. Ooooo the possibilities.
M
December 17th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
It’s such a versatile material - have fun!
December 24th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
[...] I can never hear the word crafty without thinking of that old Beastie Boys song, but because of some, ahem, questionable lyrics, I’ll not link to it. The last few years our family has made gifts for each other for Christmas. Here are a few of this year’s offerings. Homemade snowglobes from GW and I: (And yes, I made the Wonder Woman one for myself. I couldn’t resist.) Snow globe instructions here. [...]
January 10th, 2010 at 4:40 am
[...] 3. Col·lecció de pots de paisatges nevats de Junior Society: [...]