I made holiday snow globes over the weekend. I gave a couple away as gifts, and I kept a few for myself. We don't have a Christmas tree in our apartment this year. It was definitely my intention to bring one home to decorate, but then Dan and I both got super sick last week, and we leave for Maine on Thursday. So these little snow globes helped me bring a little more Christmas into our space, which I have to say, I really needed.
First, I used Mod Podge and some favorite wrapping paper (from Rifle Design and Snow & Graham) to dress up the jar lids. I used this DIY tutorial from design*sponge, and it worked so well. It's rather addictive, too. I started looking for jar lids to mod podge as it's so fun to have pretty patterns on boring lids. It's best to use a solid lid: the two-piece lids used with many mason jars are more difficult to cover with paper and mod podge. (But they work — I only had those lids to use with my blue mason jars.) You'll want to put a couple coats of Mod Podge on the lids to really seal them.
The main piece in each snow globe is this holiday postcard from Rifle Design. When you shake up the snow globes, the snow glitter falls over Anna's pretty illustration of a winter scene. My white glitter even clustered along the bottom edge of the postcard, making it look like piles of snow. I also added in a few natural elements to the snow globes, like sprigs of pine and stones. To protect the postcards from the water, I first covered each postcard in packing tape, and then (for extra protection), I slipped the postcard into a plastic sleeve from a new greeting card (I confess to owning a lot of stationery sitting in drawers that have not been used yet.) If you don't have a supply of cards on hand with cellophane sleeves, I'd ask a local paper shop if you could grab a spare sleeve. Don't write on the card! I made the mistake of writing a note on the back of one postcard and wound up needing a do-over, as you'll eventually be able to see the pen through the card after it sits in the snow globe for a day.
After you've placed your elements inside a clean jar, add your water and a dash of liquid glycerin (the glycerin makes the glitter fall slowly like snow.) Then add your glitter. I'd stick with white glitter. I first tried mixing in gold and that looked off. I had glow-in-the-dark glitter that was less fine than my white glitter, so I thought it'd look even more like snow. But the glow-in-the-dark glitter looks a little yellow even when it's not illuminating in the dark. And yellow snow is not pretty. Screw on your lid as tightly as you can. I also recommend putting one final seal of Mod Podge on your lid. I even added a little Mod Podge to the threads of the jar top before screwing on the lid. Wait for the Mod Podge to dry (at least an hour) before testing out your snow globe. If you have any leaks, wipe off water, let the jar dry, tighten lid, and then add another layer of Mod Podge to seal. That worked for me with one jar that had a little leak.
here's what you need to make your own snow globes:
clean jars with lids
gift wrap or pretty paper scraps
brush for applying mod podge
postcard / card/ photo and bits and bobs to display
packing tape
plastic cellophane sleeves
water (I used boiled water that I let cool to room temperature.)
liquid glycerin
glitter
scissors
pencil
and a love for falling snow!
