christmas in a jar

 

On my last sale table/window shopping trip to Anthropologie, I found some adorable, but not necessarily affordable, mason jar snow globes.  Of course my crafting wheels started turning, and I came up with a rendition of my own (for an absolute fraction of the price at anthro).  So if you want a project to kick off your holiday decor...look no further...

Gather up those mason jars you've got in your stash...or if you're not an obsessive jar collector like myself, head to Walmart and buy a case of 12 jars for under $10.  Micheal's also sells single mason jars in several sizes for $1-$2.  I started with wide mouth pint jars. The wide mouth jars give you more surface area on the lid to work with, especially if you want to use multiple trees.

 Give them all a good shine inside and out before you start working.

Now, head to your miniature Christmas tree farm and pick out your trees.  I had to get a variety pack because Michael's was all out of the small trees (probably due to all those Christmas nuts setting up their miniature cities already). Anyway, I got a bag of 21 trees, 40% off for $13.  They range in size from 3-10 inches.  The small and medium sized ones work great in the pint jars.

 Get your lids ready...

 Play around with the trees to find a set-up that suits you.  Make sure the trees will fit when you put the jar on the lid, and that they fit inside the rubber seal around the lid so it will close properly.  I did some with three trees and some with just one. 

And on to the messy fun part.  If you are glitter-fobic, you could do without... but come on, who doesn't love glitter at Christmastime?!?  Totally worth the mess I believe (as I walk around the house with glitter on the bottom of both feet!).  I'm sure there are lots of different adhesives you could use with the glitter, but I had mod-podge on hand (like every good crafter) so that's what I used.
Dab it on and shake away (the glitter that is).

 Let these sparkling beauties dry thoroughly before you go any further (I speak from experience here).
I went ahead and glitterified all my trees at once to save myself form another glitter bath later.

Use a hot glue gun to glue the trees to the lid.  Again, make sure to stay within the rubber seal, or the jar will not close.   And once you stick these babies...they're stuck, so take your time
(again, speaking from experience).

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how gilttery are your branches...

And since I'm already singing...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

After you've got your trees on, you can add snow to settle to the bottom (or top I guess) of the jar.  I played around with regular sugar, which made the glass kind of dusty (not good) so I ended up using these sprinkles.  You may be able to find something else cheaper than these (almost $4 a jar, and it only fills about 5 jars).  Anyway, fill the jar about an inch, screw the lid on, and carefully tip the jar to avoid getting too much of the sugar on the trees.  Give it a little tap and shake to settle the snow.

And there you go.  Christmas in a jar.

And if you really get inspired, you can use your entire forest in all different sized jars.  

Make some for yourself and make more for giving. 

Happy Christmas Crafting!