Janie Driscoll’s Snow Globe

by Ralph Dewey

The Balloon HQ Challenge this month is a Snow Globe design.

Here is a design that Janie Driscoll shared with me at one of the Florida Super Jams. It takes a bit of work, but it is something different and special for Christmas. It can either be a table decoration or placed on the recipient’s wrist as a bracelet.

Materials

You’ll need some tiny Styrofoam beads like Steve Spangler Science brand WSTY-500. Plus a plastic bottle with a tapered spout like shown in the photos. I cut the hole larger on the bottle’s spout to help the beads flow better. I found the bottle at Hobby Lobby. You will also need three 5″ round balloons, one clear, one Qualatex Snowman Face imprint and one red balloon. Plus a scrap or two of a #260 balloon.

Preparation

Use a pencil or slender stick to insert the snowman balloon inside the clear round balloon. Insert the nozzle of the Styrofoam beads bottle between the clear balloon and the Snowman Face balloon. While it is inverted, squeeze the bottle to inject some beads. The bottle squeezing action will slightly inflate the clear balloon and help the beads to go in.

Inflate them so the clear balloon is a little larger than the Snowman Face balloon and tie their nozzles together.

The Base

Take a 3″ scrap of a #260 balloon and tie two knots in one end. Tie the other end around the knots of the two balloons. Inflate the 5″ red balloon to about 4″ and tie off the nozzle. Poke the two knots of the scrap #260 into the knot of the red balloon so you can make an apple twist into it. Use another scrap of #260 balloon to tie around the apple twist knots to prevent them from untwisting.