Making Snow Globe Mason Jars

This easy DIY makes a sweet gift handmade item that is sure to delight!  Fill the jars with cocoa or cookie mix, candies, nuts or potpourri.  They make a lovely gift or sweet little decoration that can be enjoyed year after year.  The Nativity looks so heavenly nestled in the snow:

  I fell in love with this project idea last year when I discovered a tutorial for making them to gift hot cocoa mix in over at Dream A Little Bigger.  Unfortunately I ran out of time to make any so it had to wait until now.  Several of the suggested products used there are no longer available, so I found some ideal substitutes to make them work and am sharing my findings so you can too:)

To make them I used a mix of some winter mini decorations, as well as some Nativity-themed flat backs & buttons from my shop and some pretty trims from my friend Jennifer's shop: Sugar Pink Boutique.

Materials:

- Mason jars (I used standard 8oz)

- Plastic Mason jar lids* 

- Plastic 2pc 70mm globe ornaments

- Christmas Flatbacks & Buttons, mini resin figures

- 1/2in wide ribbon, baby pom pom ribbon, decorative satin trims

- Buffalo snow, optional: mini bottle brush trees

- Hot glue gun

- Ruler, rotary cutter, wire cutters

* It's a lot easier to start with solid white lids, but if you only have access to the metal ring kind, glue the seal to the ring and then paint white before starting.

Begin by hot gluing the central flat backs or buttons onto the jar lid at the center.  I used A Child Is Born & Three Wise Men Flat Backs from my shop for these.  Make sure items chosen will all fit under the dome (no taller than 1 1/8in).  I had to trim down my tree a bit at the base.

Carefully use the wire cutters to clip off the hanging circle of one of the ornament halves.  It's ok if it's not perfect - the ribbon will cover this up.

Put just under a tablespoon's worth of the artificial snow in the globe half:

Carefully put the jar lid over the globe and firmly hold together.  Run a thin line of hot glue around the edges to adhere them together.  I smoothed it as I went with a silicone finger protector (but a silicone hot pad or spatula edge would work too).  Check the edge to make sure there are no gaps (add a little more glue if needed).

Use ribbon & trim to dress things up and cover the seam edge just made.  An easy way is to use a wide trim with a decorative edge, like this 1.5in wide velvet center crochet ribbon.  Just hot glue it around the lid edge and overlap the ends at the back.

The crochet edge makes a pretty little fence around the scene.  I added a topper 3/8in wide trim of metallic silver velvet to add a little extra bling that doesn't shed:

For a different finish, I used 1/2in wide grosgrain ribbon, baby pom pom and some metallic satin tree trim on my Three Wise Men version:

Glue on the 1/2in wide ribbon first, making sure the top edge overs the seam of the snow globe, then glue the pom pom trim over the lower edge (which will camouflage any of the lid that was showing).

Then add the satin trim just above the top of the pom pom:

After making a few, it starts to go pretty fast and it's a lot of fun to make a variety of versions by using different figures and trims.

Add your favorite fillings: holiday mixes, candies, potpourri, etc. and they're ready to gift.  Enjoy seeing your recipients faces lit up when they receive them!