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How-to Make a Snow Globe

x3xsolxdierx3x | Sep 30, 2009 |

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Accompanying the many possible festivities of the winter holidays, like Christmas, are a wealth of activities that are great for your entire family to do together. From sledding to decorating a Christmas tree, or learning how to make a snow globe, you can really make the most of the holiday season in a way that is fun and pleasurable for all involved.

While there are a variety of different instructions, available both online and offline, that will teach you exactly how to make a snow globe, this activity will offer yourself and your children a tremendous opportunity to use your imagination and flex your creative muscle. Because the opportunities for complete snow globe customization are near endless, you can put just about any figurines or decorations inside, just as long as they are completely secured to the bottom.

Although snow globes are related primarily to the warm and inviting feel of Christmas, they are really an activity that can be conducted all year around. From Easter to the Fall months, or even Memorial Day and President's Day, you can make customized homemade snow globes, as well, that embody the general themes of those particular holidays.

Things You Will Need:
a Glass Jar
Figurines/ Decorations specific to Your 'Scene'
Crushed Egg Shells
Glycerine and Water (or Oil)
a Glue Gun

Step 1: Gathering all your equipment items (listed above) is the very first thing you will want to do before proceeding to make your snow globe. At this time, you should inventory them just to make sure you have everything you need, so that you won't have to stop midway through your project and scour your house for that one missing item or, even worse, have to run out to your local store to get it.

Step 2: Next, you will need to obtain a jar for your snow globe. Even from the start, you can exercise your creative liberties based on what you hope for the final product of your snow globe to actual be and look like. You can choose a large, or small, glass jar, dependent upon how much space you would like your snow globe to take up wherever you display it. A fire place mantle is often an ideal place for people to display their snow globes; however, dependent upon the width of your fireplace mantle, you may have to choose a smaller sized glass jar.

As long as the lid to your jar is tightly secured, it is common for people to use any jar style ranging from a baby food jar to a jelly jar. It is important, however, in this step for both your jar, and its lid, to be thoroughly cleaned in order to rid it of all dirt or bacteria. Interior, or exterior, stains and dirt can really jeopardize the work you put into making your snow globe, and make it unappealing in the eyes of guests, family, and friends.

Step 3: At this point, you must have a good general idea of what you would like for your "scene" to look like in your snow globe. As mentioned in the introduction of this Info Barrel article, this is the step where you really exercise your creative liberties. Not only can you make a "scene" that resembles a winter or Christmas-like feel and scenario, but you can consider making a snow globe as a wedding present, as well. For whatever you pick for your "scene" to be, it is important that you gather supplies that match the visual picture you currently have in your brain.

With the inside of your lid visible, you must take this "scene" and delicately secure each piece to the inside of the lid's surface, within where its grooves would completely encompass. You can use any kind of florist clay or a glue gun in order to make your "scene" as secure as possible.

Step 4: Now, you have several options available for the liquid that will be inside your snow globe jar. While I have seen some people use a 1 to 1 (1:1) ratio of glycerin and water, stirred up in an external pitcher, you can also use baby oil, mineral oil, or even water. Even though this choice is dependent upon your preference, I would highly recommend using one of the formerly mentioned oil products because your 'snow' will tend to fall much slower than if you had used water for your snow globe.

Step 5: Crushed egg shells make an ideal 'snow' component complement to the fluid you decide to use in your snow globe. In order to do this, however, I would recommend first hard boiling your eggs, and using their shells that way. Once you have cracked your egg's shell into tiny little pieces, you can decide whether you would like to mix them into your solutions externally, or just mix them all internally inside your snow globe jar. Because your 'scene' pieces should already be secured, and should have been given ample time to dry, it won't really matter whether you do this internally or externally. Once again, this action simply depends on your preference.

Step 6: You can now proceed to secure your snow globe's lid. It is important, however, to make sure that it is secured as tightly as possible. If you are 100% satisfied with the layout and presentation of your snow globe's 'scene', it shouldn't be a problem to add a little extra glue around the outside rim of the jar just to make sure that it is completely secured. The last thing you want to happen is for your snow globe to leak vigorously when you place it on its own lid standing up. Having this happen could make for an unwelcome mess, therefore, it is important that you take all precautions necessary in order to ensure that no fluid leaks from your snow globe jar.

Step 7: As mentioned in the introduction of this Info Barrel article, you can proudly display your handy work just about anywhere around your house. From your fire place mantle, to the center median in your kitchen, a snow globe will make a wonderful complement that will perfectly match the theme of whatever event or season you are celebrating.