Friday, December 17, 2010

Homemade Snowglobes


Every year, Nathaniel asks for a snow globe for Christmas from Santa.  It's the thing he wants the most too.  Last year, I had the idea to make our own.  I got them all ready and then just ran out of time before leaving for our Christmas break to finish them.  This year, I wanted to make some and was quite happy to find the four jars pre prepared in my Christmas bin.

They are actually quite easy to make, if you can find trinkets to fit and glue inside the jar you choose.  For my age kids, we used baby food jars.  They are small and durable enough that if they get dropped, they are less likely to break.

To make your own, here's what you need:

clean glass jar with fitted lid
lid of water bottle (optional)
small toy
glitter
corn syrup
water proof glue, we used super glue, but you can also use shower sealant (try to find that here ;) )

Glue the lid of the water bottle to the inside of the jar lid.  This provides a good base for your small toy so it's more visible in the finished product (it's not necessary).  Let the glue dry (maybe do this the day before).

In the jar, add the water to near the top. Add about 1 heaping teaspoon of corn syrup, then mix.  We made a mistake with our first one and put only 1 large drop of corn syrup in and the glitter didn't float very well.  After mixing in the corn syrup, add in glitter, we added in about 1 teaspoon.  Before putting the lid on, put glue all around the inside and twist on tightly, let dry and start shaking!

We can't get snow to fall from the sky here, but we can sure have fun making it in other ways.

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