How to Make a Snow Globe in a Mason Jar

I’ve always loved snow globes and while cleaning some mason jars the other day I had a thought: how do you make a snow globe in a mason jar? Well, I challenged myself to make it happen and I figured it out. And it’s far simpler than I thought it might be, but there are some tricks I learned.

It’s a fun project and the kids absolutely love it. They weren’t able to help a whole lot, because hot glue is hot and they have little hands, so I didn’t want them to get burned, but they did get to help pick out the items to put into the mason jar snow globe, which they really enjoyed.

So, if you’re ready to make a snow globe from a mason jar, let’s get started!

Supplies for a Mason Jar Snow Globe

• Wide-Mouth Mason Jar with Lid and Ring.
• Small Amount of Polyfill
• Your Choice of Decoration (My kids choose a Reindeer and a Bottlebrush Tree)
• Old Plastic Cup
• Twine
• 2 cups Water
• 1 tablespoon White Glitter
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue
• Exacto Knife or Box Knife

If you are like me and craft often you will have a lot of the supplies needed for the snow globe in a mason jar on hand. What you need for this easy Christmas craft is a wide-mouth mason jar, lid, and ring. You’ll also want a small amount of polyfill, and your Christmas decorations you want to include in the snow globe. My kids picked out tiny reindeer and a bottlebrush tree. To help your items be seen you will need old plastic cup or a small piece of wood. Don’t forget the twine, 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of white glitter. You’ll also need a hot glue gun with glue, and an Exacto knife or box knife. Now you have double-checked your supplies lets get started on this handmade Christmas Snow Globe.

How to Make a Snow Globe in a Mason Jar

Start by cutting the bottom 1-inch off of the old plastic cup using the Exacto knife or box knife. To help guide me in how much to cut and where I drew a line on the cup with a marker. But that’s not necessary–and it won’t really matter. When you’re cutting a cup like that, it’s almost impossible to get it even and straight, but it adds a little relief to the snow globe landscape if it’s not perfectly flat, so it works in the end.

Once it’s cut, affix the bottom of the plastic cup (the portion you just cut off) to the inside of the lid of the mason jar, creating a small platform. So, basically, you’re adding some thickness to the mason jar lid just so your decorations inside the snow globe can be seen above the edge of the ring. If you want, you can probably use a piece of wood or something else, but a small plastic cup seemed to do the trick just fine for me.

When your platform is in place, hot glue the bottlebrush tree to it on one side. You want it on one side, because you’re going to add the reindeer. So don’t place it in the center, then you won’t have room for anything else. Unless you want the tree to be the only decoration, then that’s fine.

Take a moment to check that the mason jar will fit over the tree, just in case. I was a little worried about mine not fitting because I had a larger bottlebrush tree, but it worked out just fine. However, if I had cut off the cup any higher for my platform, I would have had a too-tall tree. So I lucked out. If your tree isn’t fitting, though, don’t panic. You can actually trim down your bottlebrush tree pretty easily. Just use some wire cutters to snip the top off, then use scissors to trim the sides to a point again.

Once your tree is a nice fit inside your jar, take the lid back off and affix the reindeer to the other side of the platform. Now, if you can’t find a tiny reindeer (I found mine in the miniature Christmas tree section at my local craft store), or you’re just not into deer, you could put a snowman or a little bird, anything really. One thing I will caution against, though, is the little wrapped gifts. The paper on those is loose and the foam inside may not stand up to being in water. So, think before you select something that might fall apart while wet.

With your reindeer and tree in place, it’s time to get them some snow. Hot glue the polyfill to the platform, tucking it under the tree and reindeer, so it looks like a thick drift. Don’t make it so thick that it reaches the reindeer’s stomach, but having feet tucked in is perfect. Don’t forget to wrap some around the sides of the platform. Because there will be a gap in the side of the jar and the platform, you’ll see the side of the platform, even after we wrap with twine, so tucking that polyfill around the side of the platform helps to make it look like it’s snow all the way down and not snow stacked on top of a plastic cup.

At this point, I fit the lid onto the mason jar and trimmed the excess polyfill that was dangling out.  I also removed the lid and pushed all the polyfill back from the edge so that I could get the best seal for the mason jar. I was very concerned about the water leaking out over time, so this was important to me that the lid fit correctly–even though we won’t be sealing it in a traditional way.

Now it’s time to add glitter to the jar. Don’t go overboard–just a tablespoon or so. Too much and you’ll have a blizzard, but too little and there won’t be any snow in your snow globe at all. 

Fill the mason jar with water, leaving about ⅛ of the jar unfilled so that there is space for the tree and platform to take up space in the jar. Don’t panic if your glitter appears to just float to the top and sit there–when you add the other elements and shake, it will work just fine.

Place the lid on the mason jar, with the tree and reindeer in the water. The bottle brush tree has a paint on it that may color the water a little, but that’s ok. It will help you see the white glitter.

Hot glue the lid in place. I used copious amounts of hot glue, again, because I was concerned about potential leakage. Because you’re not sealing the mason jar (boiling it) this is basically the only way to seal the jar. So, lots of hot glue.

Work quickly to put the ring on the lid. The hot glue cools really fast on cold glass, so promptly get that ring on.

To further waterproof your mason jar snow globe, place hot glue around the edges where the ring and lid meet. Basically, if there was a spot where water could potentially work its way through, I hot glued it closed.

I wanted to hide all that hot glue, so I wrapped the twine around the lid, securing it in place with hot glue every few inches. I wrapped it twice to hide any gaps in the first layer. But you don’t have to do this with twine. You could use a nice buffalo check fabric or some burlap. I just happened to have twine handy and it worked well.

And then all you do is shake and enjoy your new snow globe in a mason jar. This was a fun and fast project, most of the time was spent waiting for the hot glue to dry. Now that you know how to make a snow globe in a mason jar you can make several for your own Christmas decor or give them as gifts.

If you loved this easy snow globe in a mason jar craft, be sure to pin it to your favorite Christmas crafts board on Pinterest.

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