DIY Snow Globe Tumblers (2 WAYS!) // Tutorial & Video

Have you been wondering how to make those awesome glitter filled snow globe tumblers you’ve seen all over Pinterest?

I’ll show you two different (and easy!) ways you can make them in this step by step tutorial!

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Let me just be real for a minute: me and glitter don’t usually play well together.

I mean, you know how glitter is. Once you open the bottle you can pretty much expect to find it on every surface of your home, including your toddlers face and the dog.

Despite my typical avoidance of the shiny stuff, I decided to give these DIY snow globe tumblers a try, and they did not disappoint!

I found a super cute shop on Etsy that sells all kind of gorgeous glitter mixes and picked out a couple for the occasion.

My daughter loves blue, so I went with the pretty tropical blue color above and I mixed it with some opal holographic glitter. The effect is very mermaid-esque!

For the Venti tumbler, I went with this winter wonderland mix that has both large chunky glitter and fine glitter mixed together.

It even has snowflakes! It’s perfect for the holidays.

This project was my first time using epoxy, and honestly, I was pretty nervous.

The good news is Gorilla Glue makes a super convenient 2 part epoxy kit that makes mixing the perfect 1:1 ratio a breeze!

What is the best liquid to put in a snow globe tumbler?

Now, I mentioned that I was going to show you two different ways to make these tumblers. The difference is in the liquid you use to suspend the glitter inside the tumbler.

I decided to go with the two liquids I was the most comfortable/familiar with: clear Elmer’s glue mixed with water, and contact solution.

There are several other options you can use like glycerin or baby oil mixed with water. We’re keeping it nice and simple today though.

The glue/water mix makes a much slower moving glitter tumbler. At first when you flip the cup over it looks like the glitter isn’t moving much at all, but then it starts oozing down and it looks really pretty.

I like the glue/water mixture because the glitter stays suspended longer and doesn’t just fall to the bottom right away.

With the contact solution, the glitter moves quite a bit faster. It falls to the bottom pretty quick, but if you jiggle the cup around a bit it moves around, unlike the glue mix.

The contact solution is a lot easier to pour in because it’s already in a squirt bottle, plus it just flows faster, so that’s a plus.

I’d say of the two of these, the best liquid to put in a snow globe tumbler is the glue and water mixture.

Alright, now that we got all that out of the way, let’s make some snow globe tumblers!

How to Make a Snow Globe Tumbler // Supplies You’ll Need:

• Double-walled Starbucks tumbler (or other brand) – I used a Venti and a Grande, either will work
• Different sizes of glitter, some large some fine
• Liquid options: I used contact solution in the smaller one and glue/water mix in the larger one
  • Option 1: Contact solution
  • Option 2: Clear elmers glue
    • empty squirt bottle
• Gorilla glue epoxy
• Protective gloves and mask for epoxy
• Drill with 1/4” bit
• Clear tape

Step 1: Drill the hole

Using your 1/4″ drill bit, carefully drill into the bottom of the cup close to the outer edge.

Go slow, it’s going to take a minute. You don’t want to drill too fast and accidentally bust the inner wall of the cup. The goal is to make a hole only in the outside layer.

Once you make it through the outer wall, you’ll hear a popping noise due to the vacuum seal breaking. Don’t worry, it’s not too loud (in case you’re like me and hate jump scares).

If you notice any pieces of plastic still hanging on, just get a pair of tweezers or your Cricut poking tool (I’m not sure what the proper name is) and carefully pop them out.

Step 2: Add glitter

There’s really no easy way to put the glitter in the cup. Since it’s chunky glitter, it doesn’t just nicely fall into the hole.

I tried using a paper funnel, but the big glitter chunks just jammed up the hole.

Instead, it’s easier to just pour some glitter on the bottom of the cup and rake it into the hole with a tool of some sort. (Again, I used my Cricut poker.)

Every once and a while I picked up the cup and tapped it against my hand to move it all down to the bottom of the cup. You want to have about an inch of glitter inside once you’re done.

Step 3: Pour in the liquid

Ok, here’s where your options come into play. You need to decide if you’re using the clear Elmer’s glue/water mix, or contact solution.

If you go with the glue mix, you’ll need one part glue to two parts water. I ended up using about two ounces of clear glue and four ounces of water for my mixture.

Pour them into a measuring cup and stir to combine. Then, pour the mixture into an empty plastic squirt bottle.

I used an old (nontoxic) glue bottle I had laying around that I cleaned out really well, but I also put a link in the supply list to some ready to use squirt bottles.

Insert the nozzle of the squirt bottle into the hole on the bottom of the cup and squeeze the liquid in. You want to fill it up all the way to the top. At the end, some bubbles might come out of the hole and it gets a little messy, just have some paper towels on hand.

That’s how you fill it up with the glue/water mixture. Now let’s see how it’s done with contact solution!

This method is about 10x easier, simply because there’s no measuring, mixing, or transferring to a different bottle to do.

You’ll just open up your bottle of contact solution, insert the nozzle, and fill ‘er up. Easy peasy!

Regardless of which method you go with, you’ll want to cut a square of tape to cover the hole before we move on to the next step.

I used clear packing tape because it’s what I had on hand. I think it’s stronger than regular scotch tape, so it’s probably a better choice anyway.

Step 4: Sealing the hole

Now for the scary part! OK, it really isn’t scary at all, it just requires some prep work and safety precautions.

You NEED to wear a mask for this, and rubber gloves, and be in a well ventilated space! This stuff is very strong smelling and very toxic.

If you can, you should probably do this outside. If not, at least open a few windows and keep your kids and pets far, far away.

Once you have all that covered, the actual process is easy. Just follow the instructions on the package! If you get this epoxy, it even comes with a handy mixing tray right in the package.

Mix it up according to the instructions and smear a generous layer over the piece of tape. Make sure you cover all the way around, going past the edges of the tape so it’s really secure.

Then, let it cure for at least 24 hours before using the cup.

Done!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will try making your own DIY snow globe tumblers! It was easier than I expected and they make great gifts.

You could also cut out some decals with your Cricut if you want to jazz it up a bit more. I’ve also seen people glue rhinestones around the Starbucks logo to make it extra fancy.

If you make one of these, share a picture over on Instagram and tag me @marchingnorth, I love seeing your creations!

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DIY Snow Globe Tumblers (2 WAYS!) // Tutorial & Video