A snow globe is a small world you can hold in your hands. Shake it, and the snow falls over a tiny tree, a train, or a photo of someone you love. The best part is how simple they are to make. A jar, a figurine, some glitter, and a little patience will get you most of the way there.
These 18 ideas come from crafters who made them and shared full tutorials. Each one links to the creator’s own page. Some use water and glycerin. Others skip the water. A few light up.
1. Classic Mason Jar Snow Globe
Garden Therapy starts with the classic version, and it is a good place to begin. The scene sits on a plastic canning lid: a small topiary with a star, two red cardinals, and a tiny watering can. Glue the pieces down with waterproof adhesive and let it dry. Keep glue off the orange ring on the snap lid, since that ring is the seal. Add glycerin a little at a time until the glitter falls the way you like it. Fine glitter clumps a bit in the mix, which reads as snow. Seal the ring with silicone sealer when you are done.
Tutorial by Garden Therapy.
2. Ball Jar Snow Globe for Gifting
The Crafty Blog Stalker built this one as a Secret Santa gift, and it shows in the details. A smooth-sided Ball quart jar holds the scene, with a regular mouth lid glued inside the ring as a raised platform. The ornament is plastic, so it can sit in water. Let the E6000 dry overnight before anything goes near water. The liquid is four cups of water with a heaping tablespoon of glucose stirred in, which slows the glitter as it falls. Use plenty of glitter if you want a blizzard. A coat of spray paint and gloss on the ring is optional.
Tutorial by The Crafty Blog Stalker.
3. Christmas Train Snow Globe
The Country Chic Cottage keeps this one waterless, which makes it a fast build. A foam disc gets a thick coat of Snow-Tex, then dries for at least 24 hours. A miniature tree and a small wooden train get hot glued to that snowy base. Artificial snow goes inside the jar, the disc drops into the mouth of the jar, and the lid screws on. Ribbon and pom pom trim around the lid hide the foam edge and finish the globe.
Tutorial by The Country Chic Cottage.
4. Mini Mason Jar Snow Globe
Keri Houchin of One Mama’s Daily Drama works tiny. Her jars hold two or three ounces, and each one needs only a teaspoon of faux snow. Glue a bottlebrush tree to the inside of the lid with clear craft glue and give it an hour to dry. One jar holds a Dollar Tree lamp post, picked because it reminded her of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Write each person’s name and the year on the lid in permanent marker and they turn into keepsakes.
Tutorial by Keri Houchin of One Mama’s Daily Drama.
5. Snow Globe Top Mason Jar
Jennifer Maker puts the snow globe on top of the jar instead of inside it. Glue a paper circle to the lid, add a red sled, a little tree, and tiny presents, then spoon faux snow over them. Half of a clear plastic ornament presses into hot glue around the rim of the lid and becomes the dome. Mark the front of the lid first, so the scene and bow face the same way. A ribbon around the rim hides any messy glue. Her rose gold version swaps the snow for chunky glitter and a paper rose. The rose uses her free cut file, so you will need a Cricut for that version.
Tutorial by Jennifer Maker.
6. Classic Snow Globe Craft for Kids
Melissa Haines of Kid Friendly Things To Do keeps this one to 15 minutes and about ten dollars. Fill the jar almost to the top with distilled water. Stir in half a teaspoon of glycerin and a shake of white glitter. Extra fine glitter clumps a little, which looks more like real snow. Her trick is water weld putty instead of glue. It sets at once, so there is no waiting for glue to dry. Glue the lid shut too, or small hands will open it and spread glitter across the floor.
Tutorial by Melissa Haines of Kid Friendly Things To Do.
7. Five-Minute Mason Jar Snow Globe
Jessi Wohlwend of Practically Functional calls this a ten-minute project, and the timing holds up. Glue the figurines to the underside of the lid with E6000. The rule for the liquid is two to three teaspoons of glycerine for every cup of water. Add a little glitter and stir. A shake or two is enough, or the snow hides the scene. Once the glue is dry, add more glue around the seal, flip the lid onto the jar, and screw the ring down tight. Wait a few more minutes, then flip the jar and watch it snow.
Tutorial by Jessi Wohlwend of Practically Functional.
8. Photo Keepsake Snow Globe Ornament
Camila Rojas of The Crafting Nook turns family photos into ornaments you can hang on the tree. Cut two photos to fit mini wooden frames and glue them back to back, with a loop of clear nylon thread between them. The frame hangs from that thread inside a three-inch clear ornament that opens in half. A spoonful of faux snow goes in first, then white and gold glitter and a few star accents. Twine makes the hanger, and a second piece tied into a bow with a jingle bell finishes the top. She makes about four in under an hour.
Tutorial by Camila Rojas of The Crafting Nook.
9. Laminated Photo Snow Globe Ornament
Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks makes flat photo ornaments with a laminator. Trace three to four inch circles on laminating sheets, then paint the bottom half of each circle white in a low arc. Silver glitter paint on the top half reads as falling snow. Cut out a photo of a child in winter clothes, lay it on the painted circle, and laminate. A black paper base goes on next, with the child’s name and year in metallic marker. Punch a hole, thread ribbon through, and it is ready to hang. Hands-on time is about 30 minutes for eight ornaments. The paint needs an hour or two to dry first.
Tutorial by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks.
10. Printable Snow Globe Ornament
Kimberly McLeod of The Best Ideas for Kids starts with free printable templates, which you request from her post. Kids can color a printed design, draw their own scene, or put a photo in the middle. Cut the photo to size with the blank template, glue it down, and add fake snow and sequins. Half of an 80mm clear plastic ornament glues on top, with an adult helping. Twine goes through the hole at the top, and a red ribbon finishes it.
Tutorial by Kimberly McLeod of The Best Ideas for Kids.
11. Coffee Filter Handprint Snow Globe
Stacey of Glued to My Crafts builds this one from a coffee filter and a handprint. Paint the filter with watercolors in teal, green, and purple, and let it dry. Glitter glue swirls on top look like wind and snow. Trace your child’s hand on white paper, cut it out, and turn each finger into a snowman with marker eyes, a carrot nose, a dotted smile, and a scarf. A grey trapezoid of construction paper makes the base. Glue the handprint onto the filter with the fingers pointing up, then add the base overlapping the wrist.
Tutorial by Stacey of Glued to My Crafts.
12. Dry Snow Globe (Waterless)
Kathaleen Kopf of Brilliant Little Ideas skips the water entirely. Small jars, fake snow, bottlebrush trees, and small Christmas buttons are the whole list. Hot glue the scene to the lid, adding a short dowel rod if the scene needs lifting. Paint the dowel and the lid white first. A tablespoon of fake snow is enough for a small jar. E6000 holds well here, but it needs about 24 hours to set.
Tutorial by Kathaleen Kopf of Brilliant Little Ideas.
13. Light-Up Snowy Glowy Jar
Kate Schmitt of Let’s Lasso the Moon calls hers Snowy Glowy Jars, and they double as night lights. Trace the bottom of a large canning jar onto white felt and cut out the circle. Kids arrange the figurines on the felt, and a parent hot glues them down. The felt circle goes into the bottom of the jar on a bed of hot glue. Spoon in fake snow, then ball up a set of battery twinkle lights so they hang over the scene. Screw the lid on over the cord so the battery pack stays outside. The figurines cost one to four dollars each at a craft store.
Tutorial by Kate Schmitt of Let’s Lasso the Moon.
14. Pinecone Waterless Snow Globe
Richa Kamal of Fanciers World made 36 of these as party favors for a Winter Wonderland birthday, at about two dollars each. Foraged pinecones become the trees. Cut a styrofoam sheet to lid height, trace the inner lid, and cut out the circle. Flatten cotton balls over the circle for a snow base, then spray glue on the pinecones and roll them in chunky glitter. Hot glue a cone and a miniature snowman to the base, sprinkle on fake snow, and close it. Baker’s twine around the lid finishes it.
Tutorial by Richa Kamal of Fanciers World.
15. Fishbowl Snow Globe
Craftionary goes big with a fishbowl. Set the bowl on a round wooden stand, clean it well, and pour in salt for snow. Arrange mini trees, glittered ornaments, bells, and village pieces inside until it looks right. Hot glue holds pieces in place if they tend to tip. Wrap battery LED string lights around the scene and hide the battery pack behind the base. Use LEDs, not old-style bulbs, so nothing heats up inside the bowl.
Tutorial by Craftionary.
16. Recycled Container Snow Globe
This Ole Mom starts with an empty UTZ cheese ball container, which is a good size for a globe and free after snack time. Wash it, then rub off the sticky label residue with nail polish remover. A hole for the fairy lights goes in the lower back of the container, made by pushing a heated nail through the plastic. Thread the lights through and glue them inside the lid, leaving the battery box outside. Wooden stars hang from fishing line glued to the lid. Fake snow covers the lights just enough to glow through.
Tutorial by This Ole Mom.
17. Light-Up Wine Bottle Snow Globe
TeeDiddlyDee builds a snow globe from a wine bottle, and it lights up from the cork. The bottom of the bottle comes off with a bottle cutter, or you can buy a pre-cut bottle. Hot glue trees, houses, and small figures to a flat candle holder. Set the bottle over the scene, then use a funnel to pour in a little fake snow through the neck. A light-up wine cork goes on top, with ribbon, old bells, and pine greenery tied around the neck. Buy a pre-cut bottle if you would rather skip cutting glass.
Tutorial by TeeDiddlyDee.
18. Reindeer and Bottlebrush Tree Snow Globe
Happiest Camper keeps this one to five dollars and 20 minutes. Cut the bottom inch off an old plastic cup and glue it inside the lid as a platform, which lifts the scene above the ring. Hot glue a bottlebrush tree on one side and a tiny reindeer on the other, then tuck polyfill around them like a snowdrift. A tablespoon of white glitter and two cups of water go in the jar, leaving an eighth of the jar empty for the scene. Hot glue seals the lid, and twine wrapped around it hides the glue.
Tutorial by Happiest Camper.
Before you start: a few things worth knowing
Test anything going into water in a bowl overnight first. Plastic, resin, and ceramic hold up. Paper, fabric, and bare metal do not.
Use distilled water in any globe with liquid. Tap water can turn cloudy over time.
Let glue cure fully before it touches water. E6000 needs overnight. Hot glue sets fast, but it is not waterproof on its own, so seal the lid too.
Less glitter than you think. A shake or two is enough in a mason jar. You can always add more, and too much hides the scene.
Keep the hot glue gun with the adults, and keep glass cutting to adults with the right tool. Plastic jars are the safer pick for young kids.
Frequently asked questions
What liquid goes inside a DIY snow globe?
Distilled water plus a thickener. Glycerin is the usual pick: half a teaspoon in a small jar, or two to three teaspoons per cup of water. Glucose and clear glue work too. The thickener slows the glitter so it drifts down.
How do I stop my snow globe from leaking?
Use waterproof glue on the figurines and let it cure fully before the lid goes on. Add glue around the seal when you close the jar, then screw the ring down tight. Let it sit a day and check it over a sink first.
Can I make a snow globe without water?
Yes, and several ideas here do exactly that. Faux snow or salt sits loose in the jar, and shaking sends it swirling. Waterless globes suit paper, photos, and anything that would spoil in water, and they cannot leak.
What can I safely put inside a water snow globe?
Plastic, resin, and ceramic figurines, bottlebrush trees, and small ornaments. Test a new piece in a bowl of water overnight first. Skip paper, fabric, and unsealed wood.
Why did my snow globe water go cloudy?
Tap water is the usual cause, since its minerals cloud the water. Distilled water stays clear. Paint bleeding off a bottlebrush tree can tint the water too.
How long will a homemade snow globe last?
A sealed water globe made with distilled water can last for years. Waterless globes last as long as the jar stays shut and dry. Keep globes upright and out of direct sun.
Wrapping up
Start with the globe that matches what you already have. A jar from the cupboard, a figurine from last year’s village set, a spoonful of glitter. The best handmade snow globe is the one that gets made and shaken.
For more ideas in the same spirit, our roundup of 20 handmade Christmas ornaments to make this year will fill the tree, and the 18 DIY Christmas centerpieces to make this year shows how to build a whole table scene around pieces like these.
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