Home Made Holiday Snow Globes

Every year I look for some kind of craft that the girls can make to give to the family as Christmas gifts.   We have made picture frames, home made stockings, thumb print planters… this year I wanted to be a little more “advanced” without going overboard.   I asked my friend Christy to save me some of her nephews baby food jars… I just knew I could find something cool to make with them.

Baby Food Jar Holiday Snow Globes

Materials needed:

• Screw lid baby food jars cleaned and washed, all labeling removed
• Miniature figurines – we used Littlest Pet Shop Pets and they worked perfectly
• Spray paint – we used glitter red
• Ribbon on bows/embellishments
• Glitter – we used red and green for Christmas
• Distilled water
• Glycerin
• Glue gun and glue sticks

The first step is probably the toughest – preparing the jars.  I am not sure what kind of crazy glue they use for those labels, but it takes an insane amount of acetone and elbow grease to get it off of there.   Once you get them all cleaned, use spray paint to paint the lids.  Don’t worry about trying to get the sides – that is where the ribbon will come in.  I used the red glitter spray paint since I thought it would look festive.  It was a windy day so now half of my front porch looks equally as festive…. don’t tell Mike.

The next step is to measure the ribbon around the top of one jar, and then cut ribbon pieces in the length you need for each jar.  Using a hot glue gun, glue the ribbon to the outside of the jar lid, and cover the ends with a bow or other embellishment.  Remember that the baby food jars will sit upside down, so if you use bows, make sure to put them on the right way!

Once those are dry, choose your figurines and firmly glue them to the centers of each baby food jar lid.  It is ok to use a big dollop of glue – you want to make sure the little guys stay put.  Make sure you are using figurines that the jars will easily slip over, and are tall enough to be seen over the lids. (you want to measure this before you start gluing!)  You can use a piece of plastic or Styrofoam to raise the toy if needed.

After you have let that dry, fill the baby food jar nearly full with distilled water, then add approximately a tea spoon of glycerin and glitter.  Slowly screw the lid onto the jar, making sure the water does not over flow.  Screw on tightly, and shake to mix water and glycerin.   Turn over and watch glitter slowly float to the bottom.  Secure lid with glue gun and let dry overnight.   Voila!!

This was a really fun and inexpensive craft that the whole family enjoyed making.  The Littlest Pet Shop Pets were the perfect size and made for some very cute snow globes.   These would make great Grandparent gifts, Teacher gifts, even gifts for doctors and dentists and other family friends.   I enjoyed working with the baby food jars, and will be looking for some more crafts to make with them!