Make a Snow Globe!

Want a FUN project to do with the kiddos? You’ve come to the right place~ 😉

Thanks to Martha Stewart’s basic instructions, we tackled about 12 snow globes the Friday before Christmas…and learned a LOT in the process. Like there really is a reason to use epoxy glue…and oil-based enamel paint…hee. But overall, we’re extremely happy with how our domes of snow turned out!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Jars and lids in varying sizes. You can use baby food jars but our faves were pimiento jars and diced garlic jars. They’re rounder as you can see in the picture at right. Martha Stewart also recommended those tall skinny olive jars, but we went with what we had on hand!
• Oil-based enamel paint (for the lids). We used sage green (it looks minty in the pictures, but it’s really sage. Really.).
• Sand paper–to roughen inside of lid before gluing ornaments
• Clear-drying epoxy glue (we cheated and used hot glue guns. By day 4 more than “flakes” were floating around in our globes!) Use epoxy glue!!!
• Plastic or ceramic figurines (not metal–too prone to rust). I raided the Christmas supplies in our attic, specifically a box of miniature resin Christmas ornaments! We also used a couple of synthetic evergreen tips for mini-Christmas trees, available at floral supply shops (or robbed from other Christmas decor around your house).
• Distilled water, glitter (again, we went with what we had on hand–red and silver), and liquid Glycerin (available at pharmacies/drug stores).

Sand the insides of your lids, paint the outsides, and while the paint is drying, gather all your ornaments. My girls also made a globe with a plastic toy horse as the showpiece. So think outside the box. I had a miniature collection of resin nativity ornaments, and we even used some small wooden ones (I sprayed them with acrylic sealant) that never make it on the tree.

My oldest came up with the idea of gluing a “platform” to the lids and then gluing the ornaments to the platform…so that the “pretty” is up past the neck of the jar, and more visible. For platforms we used dice, vitamin bottle lids, water bottle lids…etc. It worked great, and you can’t even see them as they are beneath the ornament.

Once you have everything glued and ready to go, fill the jar almost to the top with water, shake a few drops of Glycerin in and add glitter. The Glycerin, according to Ms. Stewart, keeps the glitter from falling too quickly. Don’t put too much, she warns, or the glitter will stick to the ornaments and the bottom of the jar. (Mm-hm. It will.) Then screw on your lid and shake ferociously. Ooh, it’s sooooo pretty!!!