I've been wanting to try my hand at making a snow globe tumbler ever since I started to see them pop up all over my TikTok feed. They are such an excellent project to make and give as gifts; I've seen loads made themed to holidays such as Halloween with tiny pumpkin sequins and black and orange glitter floating around inside.
They'd also work really well as wedding keepsakes or gifts - change the glitter up to match the wedding's color theme, and then vinyl the wedding date with a bridesmaids name along the front! For a video tutorial showing you step-by-step how to make a similar tumbler, pop on over to the Design Bundles YouTube Channel and check out the Snow Globe Tumbler Tutorial with Glue.
The possibilities with these snow globe tumblers really are endless; there are so many different colored glitters and sequins you could use.
Once you start making them and see how easy they are, you won't want to stop at just one - I've already got ideas for Christmas-themed ones I'd like to make!
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This DIY snow globe tumbler is simple to make; the only slightly tricky bit is using the drill to make a hole in the bottom, but once you've done one of them, it's super easy to replicate.
For this tutorial, we are making a 'slow flowing' effect with the glitter by mixing vegetable glycerin and water. Below you will find the full supplies list to make this an easy project!
You can use other liquids such as saline or contact lens solution, but when I tested these out, I found that shaking the tumbler to move the glitter created a lot of microbubbles meaning the glitter would sit in odd pockets around the rim of the tumbler.
For more creative options, Design Bundles has a huge selection of FREE SVGs to choose from. You can download them now and get crafting immediately.
This tutorial has the potential to get a bit messy, so I'd suggest working on a wipe-clean surface or putting down some scrap paper to collect any rogue glitter.
The first step in this DIY project is to drill a hole in the outside wall of our double-walled tumbler so that we will be able to add the glitter. Slow and steady is the key with this, so you want to go in at a low speed and not too much pressure to start - if you press too hard, the point of the drill bit can crack the acrylic.
Once you can see that you're starting to make a dent in the acrylic, you can apply a bit more pressure and speed to the drill. Keep an eye on how far you are, as you don't want to break through the outer wall and then accidentally crack or drill through the inner wall. It can be worth going back in with a larger drill bit and widening the hole slightly, especially if you're planning to use a chunky or shaped glitter.
Now that we've made a hole in our bottle, we need to clean up the edges and also remove any acrylic debris that's fallen inside.
I found the easiest way to do this was by taking a small craft knife blade and running it around the edge to remove the 'fluffy' bits of acrylic and then turn the tumbler the right way up and shake it until any other little bits of acrylic fall out. It's not the most technical way of doing things, but it works!
You want to slowly add the glitter to your tumbler by pushing it into the hole you've made in the base. This is another step where slow and steady is the way to go - I found that pouring a little glitter onto the bottom of my tumbler and then tapping the side of it helped a lot to fall in, and then could use some craft tweezers to push the rest through.
Make sure to give the tumbler a bit of a shake once you've got the first lot of glitter in (cover the hole on the bottom with your finger!); you want to make sure it works its way down the sides of the tumbler and gives you room to add more.
To see if you've added enough glitter to your snow globe tumbler, you want to give it a shake (remember to cover the hole!) and see how well the glitter disperses. The amount of glitter to use in a tumbler is entirely personal preference, but I found mine looked best when I had a nice even coverage of glitter like the picture below shows.
Another way to measure would be to add a piece of tape over the hole and then stand the tumbler upright and tap it so that all the glitter falls to the bottom. If you've got a 1-2cm layer of glitter, then you should get a similar coverage as I have in my finished snowglobe tumbler.
The liquid for our tumbler is a mix of 50/50 water and vegetable glycerin. It's better to have more than enough than not enough, so I'd suggest mixing 50ml of vegetable glycerin with 50ml of water in a clean cup.
Give it a stir together to make sure it's thoroughly combined.
Take a pipette and slowly start adding your liquid to your cup. I found it was easiest to push the pipette so that it was angled between the acrylic rather than just squirting it directly into the hole as it can splash or overflow if it hits an air bubble.
To minimize air bubbles, you can tip your tumbler slightly so that the liquid runs straight down the sides of the cup rather than pooling on the top surface.
For your snow globe tumbler to work well, you need to leave a bit of a gap for an internal air bubble. If you fill to the point where the liquid has reached all the way up the sides of your tumbler and is just covering about half of the base, then that's a good place to stop.
Place your finger over the hole and move the tumbler around to release any other trapped pockets of air - make sure you are happy with the fill level and the amount of glitter you have.
Follow the instructions that came with your glue epoxy to mix up a small amount. Make sure to follow the necessary safety steps and precautions given on the packaging.
Before we apply the Epoxy to cover the hole in the base of our snowglobe tumbler, we need to make sure that it is completely dry. Tilt the tumbler slightly (you can fold some paper to proper it up on one side if that helps) so that the air pocket is over the area with the drilled hole. Take some kitchen towel and wipe around the inside of the hole to clear any moisture and also wipe over the base to make sure that it's dry too.
Once the Epoxy has thickened up a bit, you can take your wooden stirrer and dab some on to cover the hole. It will flow into the hole a bit but should be thick enough to not 'pour' inside. Leave to cure fully for 24 hours.
Now that the tumbler is fully sealed, it's time to add a design. I'm a lover of all things glitter, so what better quote to add to the front of my tumbler than this I'm so crafty I sweat glitter SVG File! However, you may prefer to shop some of these alternative Sweat Glitter SVG files or even any of our SVG Designs available to download instantly - the choice is yours!
To make the quote stand out more, I added a white background using the offset function in Cricut Design Space.
Wipe down your tumbler before applying your vinyl. It's best to use an alcohol wipe or spray to do this as it'll ensure there is no oily residue (like the vegetable glycerine) left on there.
Apply your design to the tumbler and carefully smooth it down, making sure to work from the center out to eliminate any air bubbles.
There we have it - our finished snow globe tumbler. It's always a good idea to leave vinyl to 'cure' for 72 hours before washing your tumbler, and remember not to leave it submerged in water to clean.
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Happy Crafting!
We'd love to know what you think of this tutorial and if you make your own version, be sure to share images on social media and tag us or post them in our Facebook Group, The Design Bundles Customer Community.
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