DIY Waterless Snow Globes

A recurring voucher throughout our advent calendar is one that entitles Ava and Lola to make Christmas crafts. We've worked on a few things so far (which I will be sharing soon) but today I wanted to share my favourite: waterless snow globes.

Home made waterless snow globes

I've been seeing homemade snow globes popping up all over Pinterest and I really love the look of them. They're simple to make and they look really effective, especially when grouped together.

Here's a look at how we made ours...



What you'll need
Clean jars (we used wide mouth canning jars in order to fit the larger deer)
Animal figurines, pine cones, mini Christmas trees etc
Hot glue gun
Cork tiles
Glitter
White pom poms
Hot glue gun
White craft glue (Elmer's glue in the US, PVA/aquadhere in Australia)
Jute twine

What'll you need to get started

What to do
Depending on the depth of your jar lids and the size of the figurine that you wish to display you may need to add a layer or two of cork tile in order to raise it up a little. We used a single layer of cork tile for the pine cones and larger deer and a double layer for the baby deer.

Start by cutting the cork tiles into circles that will fit inside the lid. Make sure that you cut the cork a little smaller than the top of the jar so that the lid closes properly. I traced around the jars and then cut the circle out about 1cm smaller the whole way around. Check that the jar seals closed with the cork in place before securing it down with glue. The cork tiles that we used came with adhesive stickers so I used those to attach it to the inside of the jar lids instead of glue.

Cut circles of cork to fit the inside of the lid

With the cork attached to the inside of the jar lid you can now attach your figurine. I used the hot glue gun for this. I dotted glue on the bottom of each deer hoof then stuck the deer down in place. I then went around the outside of each hoof with the glue gun to make it more secure. I did pretty much the same with the pine cones - lots of glue on the bottom to hold it in place then extra around the base to keep it secure.

Gluing the deer in place

Gluing the deer in place

Pine cones glued in place

Deer glued in place

Once the glue has dried you can start covering the cork with fake snow. I used white craft pom poms which I cut in half as the fake snow. Cutting the pom poms allows you to fluff them up and spread them further.
Cover the cork with craft glue and start carefully sticking down the cut up pom poms. You could also use cotton balls or craft wadding if you prefer.

Ava sticks down the "snow"

Carefully adding the pom pom snow

Fluffy snow

Now for the part that Lola was able to help out with: adding glitter to the jars. Make sure that all of the glue has dried before you proceed with this step otherwise the glitter will stick to it. We left our snow globes overnight for the glue to dry thoroughly.

The amount of glitter to use depends on how thick you want it to be at the bottom of the jar. It was a little bit of trial and error for us as Lola originally added enough glitter to completely cover the smallest deer!

Lola adds glitter to the jars

She's got a production line going!

Ava helped out with the glitter too

With the glitter in the bottom of the jar screw the lid on tightly. Once the lid is on nice and tight tip the jar over to make sure that the amount of glitter looks right for your jar. If necessary you can always add more or take some out. Taking the lid back off again once the glitter has been in it is a little messy so prepare for a glittery work surface!

Ready to test if we added the right amount of glitter

Ava adds the lid to her pine cone snow globe 

Tipping it over

Happy with the result

With the glitter added our snow globes were almost complete. All they needed was a final touch. I wrapped jute twine around the jar, just above the lid, and tied a bow. Before adding the twine I traced a line of craft glue around the jar to help keep it secured in place. The addition of the twine really sets off the snow globes. You could use any sort of ribbon or twine but I like the contrast of the rough jute twine against the smooth glass and sparkly glitter.

Pine cone snow globe

Deer and pine cones

Groupings are always good

Home made waterless snow globes

Ava and Lola were really impressed with how our snow globes turned out (as am I) and are keen to make more as Christmas presents for friends.

So simple to make yet so pretty. My favourite kind of craft.