Another breath freshening craft

 

You might have guessed from my pocket advent calendar post that we like to keep our breath fresh around here and so we end up with a lot of empty mint containers that I just don't have the heart to throw away. But I finally came up with a use for them - snow globe pendant necklaces! I can't decide whether to make these for the kids or do it as a Christmas craft with them because they were really easy to make. In case you want to make some too here's a little tutorial for how I did them.

Materials:

- Empty plastic mint containers (I used Doublemint brand because the plastic is really soft)
- Small jingle bells
- Wood figures (I got some pre-painted scrapbooking ones at the craft store and also used some blank wood ones that I painted myself)
- Rainbow flakes glitter (it kind of looks like iridescent cellophane cut into tiny pieces)
- Thin and thick ribbon
- Ice pick
- Sewing needle with a large eye
- Glue gun

Step 1)  Take an empty mint container and use an ice pick to poke a hole through the bottom center. The Doublemint brand has a circle stamped in the bottom that made a perfect marker for inserting the ice pick and the plastic is really soft so making the hole was a breeze. If you use a mint container made from hard plastic use a drill to make a hole in the bottom.

Step 2) Take a needle with a large eye and string some thin ribbon or string through the eye. Insert the needle into the hole from the outside of the container, string a jingle bell onto the ribbon and then insert the needle into the mint container and then out the hole again. Hold the bell in place and cut the ribbon ends and then tie the it off in a knot about a 1/3-inch from the hole. I used some clear nail polish on the ribbon ends to keep it from fraying.

Step 3) Take the mint container cap and fill it with hot glue in layers (cool between layers). This helps to raise the height of the object you're inserting in the globe to above the cap height. The glue also seals the hatch to the cap so that it can't be opened once the glitter goes in.

Step 4) Once the glue layers are almost as high as the cap, add a little more hot glue and then position the wood figure in the glue making sure it's level and straight. (Note: make sure to check that your figure fits the height and width of the container beforehand.)

Step 5) Flip the container over and add a teaspoon or two of the glitter. Take the cap with the glued wood figure and insert it upside down into the mint container and snap the cap in place. Note: You could add some glue to the rim of the container before you add the cap to seal it together so it won't come apart. The containers I used snapped together fairly tightly so I didn't add any glue on the cap edges to seal it.

Step 6) Cut a length of decorative ribbon and string it through the opening at the top of the mint container, tie off the ends and voila! snow globe pendants.

I tried using a bunch of different glitters and I found that the rainbow glitter worked the best because it was so light that it almost floated about in the container like snow, but the other kinds of glitter worked well too. Using the prepainted wood shapes made it a really quick and easy craft but I think the kids would have a lot more fun painting the blank wood shapes themselves. I'm sure it would work just as well with Christmas images drawn or glued onto heavy cardstock or even holiday stickers placed on the inside back.

Happy Monday everyone, hope your holiday crafting is going well, only 17 more days to go!

Comments

[kat]

probably dating myself by saying this, but it reminds me of ornaments we made using the square flash cubes, we would cut the plastic outside, throw out the bulbs, then use the bottom to glue on a little santa or tree and then re-glue them. oh, and we would make a hole at the top to attach a ribbon to it.

love your version, easier to work with :)

[i cant sew]

wow wow wow, that is so cute and such a great tutorial to follow. i would love to know how you put the red arrow on the photo (or even your name ) i have enjoyed making some christmas craft already but i think this will have to be on my to do list. thanks %*_*% rosey

[Carol Baicker-McKee]

Incredibly cute - and perfectly do-able with little guys. You have one creative idea after another. Thanks for this one!

[justJENN]

Good lord woman. I'll say it again, you are BRILLIANT. Who knew you could do so much with gum trash. Heh.

[barb]

So cute! These would make good tree ornaments, too. Very clever:)

[Jessica]

I'm currently reusing one of these containers as a travel container for Excedrin. I know that will have to stop once I have kids, but until then, it's very handy.

[Jennie]

another genius idea!

[Susan]

Fantastic! Super duper cute.

[Dee]

thats so awesome! I need to start eating mints now instead of gum...

[yucaree]

why are you so clever?? what a super cute -- and simple -- idea to reuse something that would go in the trash. it makes me wish i celebrated christmas and ate mints. ;)

[TracyM]

This is so cute ... of course I had to rush out and get the wood figures. What would you recommend for getting the sticky part off the mint container. I couldn't find the doublemint mints so I tried a tic tac container but I can't get the label off cleanly.

[Mariella]

Did I ever tell you that you are super clever??
Wonderful idea, I will try it with my kids as a Christmas Craft ... the granny is a Tic Tac mint eater ...!!

[Christy]

You are making me do a double take every time I go to throw away some candy wrapping! That is a super genius idea! Thanks for sharing it with us! :)

[esther coar]

as always - your work is perfect. my girls and i spent a few hours playing with our baby you made. it is rare i let them play with her - it was a wonderful way to spend some quiet time in this crazy season.

[Missy K]

That is such a creative idea! I love it.

[Brigid]

I am in LOOOOOOVE with your blog!!! I wish I had more time right now to surf all over it! I will be back though!! I am putting you in my favs! I am in love with all the softies! I have never made one and I REALLY want to try!! Thank you for all of this amazing inspiration!!!!!

[angela almond]

so cool - and I do not just mean the mints!!

[sharon]

These are just so cute. I think I would love to try and make them. I love things like this. Can you tell me please if you are going to have any more of little babies for sale. I keep peeking at your shop hoping to see them again. Would love to purchase a couple. Thank you

[Bus Stop]

This is a fantastic idea, well done!! I have couple of empty Tic-Tac boxes I was saving cos I thought i could keep seed beads in them, but this is a much more fun use for them!

[Jennifer]

What a great idea for next Christmas. Will have to bookmark this one.

[Vanessa]

Very clever. Great instructions too.

[bengovil]

tebrik ederim verdiğiniz bilgiler için teşekkürler

[Marjie]

What a darling idea--thanks fer sharing all your ideas