Thursday Tutorial

I've been working on some snowball ornaments lately.  They are so easy so I thought you might like to know how to do them too!

You buy these little white buckets at the dollar store (Dollar Tree)  They are in the wedding department.  They are packaged three in a pack. 

I take mine outside and spray them with my favorite spray:  Rust-oleum Rusty Metal Primer. 

When I made these last year, I painted the buckets with red.  Do whatever color works best for you.  Next I made the snowballs.  Last year, I used styrofoam, but that gets pretty pricey so this year I decided to make my own.

 

I had some plaster of paris so I stirred some up and rolled them into little balls.

                          

Okay, so here are a few tips I learned from trial and error....alot of errors.  Mix the plaster in small batches.  It will become too dry to mold within about 20 minutes or so.  I stirred it up in an old cool whip container and used plastic utensils that I could toss when I was finished.

 

Mix the plaster on the dry side.  It is easier to handle, dries faster, and doesn't puddle while drying.  Roll the balls around in your hand as if you were making cookies.  Oh, yeah.  Put down wax paper or plastic wrap for them to dry on.  Let the balls dry overnight.

 

Next I took the balls outside and sprayed them with sealer and sprinkled with glitter.  Just a bit of glitter goes a long way.  I printed out "Snowballs 4 Sale  5c" and cut into little signs.  Last year I used my tag punch and though cute, packing them was difficult and several tags got bent. 

 

Use a paper towel (I use the Select a Size towel by Bounty, but a half of a normal towel will work just fine)  Wad it up, squirt a little hot glue in the bottom of each bucket and push down.  Grab a small amount of fiberfill and roll into a ball.  Add a bit of glue and push down on top of the towel.  Add your snowballs.  I glue each one on the bottom and then a bit to hold them together.  I glue three in a triangle on top of the fiberfill and then put one on top of those, pyramid style.   Glue on the label....just use a glue stick if you want and add a bow.......voila.....snowballs in a bucket!