12 Days of Christmas Crafts {with kids}: DIY Snow Globes

Hi there, friends! So excited to be a part of a group of 11 other bloggers for the 12 Days of Christmas Crafts for Kids series. And thanks bunches to Claire form Polka Dot Pretties for organizing such a fantastic time!

The 12 Days of Christmas Crafts for Kids series is a blog hop. You can visit each blog on their special day to see a different holiday craft designed to create with your kiddos!

Our Schedule of FUN:

Dec 1st – Fancy Frugal Life
Dec 2nd – Alderberry Hill
Dec 3rd – House on the Way
Dec 4th – Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom
Dec 5th – I should be Mopping the Floor {woohoo!}
Dec 6th – Season Gredings
Dec 7th– A Night Owl Blog
Dec 8th – Mamma Marchand’s Nest
Dec 9th – Cherised Bliss
Dec 10th – Little Inspiration
Dec 11th – Aubrey Plays
Dec 12th - Polkadot pretties

Today, I'll be showing you how my boys and I put together these super easy {and very budget friendly} Snow Globes.

These were the basic supplies...a few jars, "friends" to fill the jars {purchased at the Dollar Tree}, bottle brush trees, glycerin, bleach and GLITTER {not pictured...how did I leave that one out?}!

After researching how other crafters had created their snowglobes, I noticed a lot of folks had trouble with their trees turning their water in their globe green after a few days. After seeing Amanda Jane Brown's Snow Globes {she linked them up to a Mop It Up Monday recently...and was a reader favorite}, I realized a great solution for this is to BLEACH the trees first!
Great idea, Amanda!

The bleaching process was very quick...we're talking ten minutes {don't blink}. I used a 5:1 water:bleach ratio and submerged my trees in a glass container in the sink. They literally changed colors before my eyes. I let them dry out for a few hours before starting the project.

Then I let my boys arrange the little people with a tree or two on the lid bottoms.
{Excuse our under-shirt and pajama-filled photos...that's how we get our craft on around here}.

I purchased a special water-proof adhesive.

Since the adhesive was a bit toxic, this was a mom job. After the boys arranged the figures, I glued them to the lids {the bottoms of them}.

To make sure the bushy trees didn't push each other away, I zip-tied them to keep them centered and "together" on the lids. My dad would be so proud of my use of zip ties. After the glue dried, I simply clipped the ties off.

You'll want to let your figures dry several hours before submerging into the globe.

Then we went glitter-crazy. I let the boys add the glitter to the bottoms of the jars.

The amount of glitter you use is totally your call...we went a bit, errr....overboard.

I added a splash of glycerin to each jar.
{Glycerin is inexpensive and can be found in the first aid section of any drug store}.

Fill to the top with water.

Add a bit of the adhesive to the top of the lid jar.
Invert the lid onto the jar. Try not to turn over for a few hours so your adhesive can cure.

Then....skakey-shakey!
The glycerin helps the glitter to stay suspended in the water longer...creating the "floating effect".

These can be dressed up and embellished even more. My boys are of the "as-is" sorts and didn't want mom to add her "fluff" to these babies.

Be sure to check out the other bloggers involved in this fun series! Yesterday, Jamie from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom, created the most adorable Paper Christmas Tree Ornaments. And tomorrow, be sure to pop by Gillian's place at Seasons Gredings to see the fun she has in store for us all!

{i linky-party here}