Are you looking for a fun, holiday-themed piece to make with your kids (or parents)? One option is to make a snowball! A snowball is a traditional and cute decoration that is easy to make using everyday materials from your home. Alternatively, you can purchase a ready-made set of tools online or at a craft supply store to make a snowball that you can display every year. Whichever option you make, see Step 1 below to get started.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Making Snowballs from Items at Home
Step 1. Find a glass jam jar with a tight-fitting lid
Any size is fine, as long as you have a stuffed toy that can fit inside.
- Bottles of pickled peppers, bottles of olives, bottles of pickled artichokes, and bottles of baby food are all good choices, but any bottle with a tight-fitting lid will work – you just have to look in your fridge.
- Wash your glass jam jar. If you're having trouble removing the label, try scrubbing it with hot soapy water and a plastic board or knife to scrape it off. Dry.
Step 2. Decide what you want to put in it
You can put anything in your snowball. Smaller toys are a good choice, as are winter-themed stuffed toys or cake decorations (think snowmen, Santa Claus, and Christmas trees) from thrift and craft supply stores.
- Make sure the stuffed toy is made of plastic or ceramic, as other materials (such as metal) can rust or break when placed in water.
- If you want to be more creative, try making your own toys out of clay. You can buy clay from a craft supply store, and shape it into any shape you want (a snowman is super easy) and bake in the oven. Color it with waterproof paint and your toy is ready to go.
- Another idea is to take a photo of yourself, your family or your pet and laminate it. You can crop them outside of each person's outline and insert the photo into a snowball, for a very personal touch!
- Even though these are called “snowballs” you don't need to limit yourself to just creating a winter mood. You can also create a beach scene with shells and sand, or something more fun like a dinosaur or a ballerina.
Step 3. Make a scene on the bottom side of the bottle cap
Remove the bottle cap and apply a coat of hot glue, super glue, or epoxy on the underside. If you prefer, you can sand the lid with sandpaper first – so the surface of the lid becomes rougher, and the glue sticks more firmly.
- With the glue still wet, make a scene on the underside of the cover. Glue toys, your laminated photos, your clay figurines, or whatever else you'd like to put in them.
- If the item you're trying to stick has a narrow base, (like a laminated photo, or a piece of garland, or a small Christmas tree) it may be more helpful to stick some colored pebbles on the underside of the cover. Then you just clamp the item between the pebbles.
- Keep in mind that the scene you create must fit through the mouth of the bottle, so don't make it too wide. Place your toy in the center of the cover.
- When you have created your scene, remove the bottle cap and let it dry. The glue must dry completely before you can put it in the water.
Step 4. Fill the bottle with water, glycerin and glitter powder
Fill your bottle almost to the brim with water and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of glycerin (you can find it in the cake ingredients section of your supermarket). Glycerin "thickens" the water, making the glitter powder fall off slowly. You can get a similar effect with baby oil.
- Next, add the glitter powder. The amount will be determined by the size of the bottle and your taste. You'll need to add just enough to calculate that some of it will stick to the bottom of the bottle, but not so much that it covers the scene you're creating.
- Gold and silver glitter are great choices for a Christmas mood, but you can choose any color you like. You can also buy special “snow” for snowballs online and at craft shops.
- If you don't have glitter powder, you can make pretty convincing snow from crushed eggshells. Use a bread grinder to crush the egg shells until smooth.
Step 5. Attach the lid carefully
Take the cap and attach it to the bottle carefully. Tighten it as tightly as possible, and wipe up any spills with kitchen paper.
- If you're worried that the cap will come off, you can apply glue around the rim of the bottle before closing it. Alternatively, you can glue colored tape around the bottle cap.
- However, sometimes you have to re-open your bottle and fix something loose or add clean water and glitter powder, so think before you seal the cap.
Step 6. Decorate the lid (optional)
If you wish, you can complete your snowball by decorating the lid.
- You can color them in bright colors, wrapping them in ribbons. Cover it with flannel, or stick berries, holly leaves or cheery bells.
- When you're done, all you have to do is shake your snowball, and watch the glittering powder fall around your created scene!
Method 2 of 2: Making Snowballs from Store-Sold Devices
Step 1. Purchase a snowball making kit online or from a craft supply store
There is a wide selection of kits, some of which simply require inserting a photo, some require you to build your own sculpture out of clay, and others provide a water ball, base and other materials to create a professional-looking ball.
Step 2. Make the snowball
When you receive the device, follow the steps on the package to install it. Some will require you to paint the parts and glue the toys to the base. Once the grill is in place, you will usually need to attach the glass (or plastic) dome to the base and fill the dome with water (and snow or glitter) through a hole in the bottom. Then you'll attach the plugs available to seal your snowball.
Tips
- Add glitter, beads, or other small items to the water. Anything can be used as long as it doesn't damage the main object!
- Some of the fun things to make as the main object in a snowball are plastic dolls, plastic animal toys, and/or items from games like Monopoly or a toy train set.
- For a fun touch to your snowball, try adding a few drops of food coloring to the water before adding glitter powder, beads, etc.
- One way to make the objects inside the snowball more fun is to add glitter powder or fake snow to the objects. This can be done by painting the object with clear varnish or clear glue first and then sprinkling some glitter powder/fake snow over the wet glue. Note: this must be done before the object is immersed in the water and the glue must dry before placing the object in the water. Otherwise, it won't work!
Warning
- Your snowball could leak, so make sure you place it on a surface that won't break if it gets wet!
- If you choose to color the water with food coloring, make sure you use a light color, not blue, green, or black/dark blue, or you won't be able to see inside your snowball. Also make sure that the objects inside will not be stained with dye!
