I do have my crafty go-to bag with me and of course, I’ve been finding miniatures everywhere because of the holidays. I wanted to share one dollhouse diy project with you before the year ends, so here we go!
Blizzard in a Sphere
S now globes began their story in the late 19th century in Vienna as an accidental creation by Erwin Perzy, an inventor and designer of surgical instruments. Perzy was attempting to create a brighter magnified light source for surgeons. Thomas Edison had recently invented the light bulb and Perzy was asked to make it brighter for the operating room. As lenses were expensive, Perzy looked to using water as a magnifier. He took a glass orb, filled it with water and added particles to magnify and reflect light. In doing so, he experimented with different particles and eventually tried using semolina. The semolina flakes floated, swirled and fell like snow, seeming to resemble a blizzard in a sphere. The experiment ended up not transforming the light bulb for the operating room, but instead turned into an art project.
Perzy soon made a miniature pewter casting of the Mariazell Basilica, a famous cathedral in Austria, and placed it within a glass orb with water and semolina, thus creating the first snow globe. These globes quickly became popular; Erwin and his brother opened up a shop in Vienna and began production. Generations later, the family to this day continues to produce them (although semolina is no longer used).
Curious about an antique you have?
Send a photo to bcoles@nhmagazine. If there are markings, please take a clear photo of them as well. If your submission is selected, we’ll have expert Jason Hackler appraise it. Hackler, manager/owner of New Hampshire Antique Co-op in Milford and partner of Jason Samuel Antiques, is a past officer of the Granite State Antique and Appraisers Association, a principal of the Active Appraisal Group and a member of the NH Antique Dealers Association.
Snow globes gained popularity and were soon being made by many other different companies using varying techniques. The snow globes’ magical scenes appeal to all ages, making them collectible and forever sought after. Today, in most souvenir shops you can typically find snow globes made of plastic with tinsel and glitter floating around an iconic building or a cityscape. Even I remember bringing one home, marking my first visit to the Statue of Liberty when I was 8 years old.
Some vintage snow globes can bring hundreds of dollars; however, yours is a more typical souvenir type that sell for less than $20. Although it does not have much antique value, it certainly tells a great story that many of us can relate to as it evokes nostalgic memories.
Supplies you need
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- Mini jars: I used the little screw top jars you find at The Dollar Tree, craft stores or online. You can also use this cork top bottles, but remember that you can’t flip these over.
- Small bottle brush trees: You can find these everywhere. I found mine off of Dollar Tree ornaments. Use any color tree you want.
- Glitter: I found that fine glitter works better than big pieces as we are talking about very little space in the bottle. But you can use various sizes, if you want. For snow, I used white, but you can also use silver, gold, light blue or any other color and variety.
- Waterproof glue: Now The Dollar Tree has water resistant glue, which is not the same as waterproof glue. Super Glue is NOT water proof. Hot glue is NOT water proof. If you want this mini water globe to last, use waterproof glue.
- Wire cutters: You will need these to snip the bottle brush trees to fit your mini bottles.
- Distilled water: You don’t want impurities in your mini globes, so I suggest using distilled water. Remember, you aren’t using much. If you use regular tap water just remember that it may turn cloudy over time and the water will need changing.
- Clay: You find little packets of air dry clay at The Dollar Tree. You can use this to wrap around the lid of the mason jar to make it more festive. Air dry clay is NOT waterproof, so it should not be placed inside the mini snow globe.
Mini Supplies
Step-by-step directions
1. Measure out how tall your bottle brush tree needs to be to fit in your small bottle. Use wire cutters to cut the tip off for your tree.
2. Unscrew your mini jar and remove the paper inside the lid. Add a glob of waterproof glue to the inside of the lid and place your tree in the middle of it. Be sure to not add too much as you don’t want it to get stuck onto the sides of the lid.
3. Use toothpicks or pens to keep your tree straight while the glue dries. Let the glue cure OVERNIGHT before adding the water.
3. Add a few dashes of glitter inside your glass jar, then fill with distilled water.
4. Carefully screw the lid securely back onto the jar, flip over, shake and enjoy!
5. If you want, while the glue cures overnight, press on some air dry clay around the lid and/or bottle. You can also decorate using acrylic paint.
Working with clay and water
So, since I moved, one of the first things I packed was my polymer clay and all of my tools. Of course, I got all sad and stressed and wished I had clay to play with. That’s when I bought myself a tub of air dry clay to keep my fingers occupied.
Air dry clay is a lot of fun and has a lot of great qualities. And limitations. If you want to add some clay figurines inside your mini snow globe, air dry clay is NOT recommended. Air dry clay will eventually fall apart when immersed in water.
You can make and bake a figurine using polymer clay and glue THAT inside your snow globe because polymer clay is oil based. Again, I don’t have my polymer clay, tools or oven so that wouldn’t work for me.
Now I read that you can waterproof air dry clay and that intrigued me. Apparently, once your clay figure is dried and hard, you can coat it with epoxy resin and let it cure. Once cured, it is waterproof and can be added to your snow globe.
Funny enough, I found some small tubes of epoxy resin at, you guess it, The Dollar Tree. Go figure. So I will experiment with all of these items and will let you know how everything works out with this option.
What I did do was use the air dry clay to decorate one of my mini snow globes on the OUTSIDE. I found packets of red, yellow and blue at The Dollar Tree and used the red variety.
So what do you think? Do you like these snow globes plain or with the clay?
