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Bitz & Giggles

Delicious bitz & tips for a happy life.

Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar

 Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar - An LED tea light illuminates a decorative winter scene inside of a mason jar. Such an easy and beautiful decoration for winter and Christmas!

 As a child I loved snow globes. It’s like a little magical place inside of a jar. To this day, I have an admiration for anything glass with something cute or beautiful inside it. And it’s not only the glass and the scene inside. . . if it’s lit, it’s even more magical.

Today I’m going to show you how you can make your very own illuminated snow scene right inside of a mason jar. I have to say that when I thought of this, I thought it was pretty brilliant and I bought some ice cream that day to celebrate. I’ve never seen a tealight used this way in a DIY project. Maybe you have. If you have, don’t let me know about it. It will completely burst my bubble.

Here’s what you need to make your own magical scene inside of a jar:

  • Wide mouth mason jar with lid and cover (Kerr brand is the best because one of the sides of the jar is clear)
  • Battery-operated tealight
  • Button magnet
  • Glue
  • Faux snow
  • Ribbon
  • Whatever you’d like to place in your jar (I found the snowman and tree in the Christmas section at Walmart and both were under $1)
The first thing you want to do is grab your mason jar and put the faux snow inside. Put in just enough to be able to cover the bottoms of your figures. I did this part outside because I didn’t want snow all over the house. This stuff can get a bit messy.
 
Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar - An LED tea light illuminates a decorative winter scene inside of a mason jar. Such an easy and beautiful decoration for winter and Christmas!  
Now place your figurines or items in your jar. If you really want to secure them well, you could glue them to the bottom of the jar before you add the snow, but I like to reuse my jars so I left my penguin and tree free-standing.
 
I mentioned earlier in my post that I scored both of these items for under $1. That is the total to gosh truth and I was ecstatic about it.
 
Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar - An LED tea light illuminates a decorative winter scene inside of a mason jar. Such an easy and beautiful decoration for winter and Christmas!
 
Now you can come back inside. Brrr. I should have worn a jacket.
 
Pick up your tealight and adhere the magnet to the back with glue. Position it so you can still open the back to remove the battery if needed. The button magnet fits perfectly to allow access to the battery.
 
Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar - An LED tea light illuminates a decorative winter scene inside of a mason jar. Such an easy and beautiful decoration for winter and Christmas!
 
Now, place your tealight on the inside portion of the mason jar lid. I turned my tealight on to make sure it was working properly, as well. Turn the lid upside down and give it a good shake. Does the tealight stay attached to the lid? If so, it means your magnet is strong enough. If not, you may need to try and find a stronger magnet. My button magnet seemed to work just fine.
 
All you really need to do to turn your tealight on and off is to unscrew the top of the jar and flick the switch on the back of the tealight. Now, if you have a remote-operated tealight, that would be even better, but I promise you, it’s not a ton of work to turn this baby on.
 
For this part, I went outside again. Why? Well, not because this step is messy. Just because I love natural lighting and want the best photos for my readers. You are welcome. This part is easy. Just put the lid with the tealight back on the jar and then screw on the top.
 
If you really wanted to, you could paint the lid black or dress it up a bit. I’m going to be putting my jar on a shelf so you really won’t be able to see the very top of the jar anyway.
 
Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar - An LED tea light illuminates a decorative winter scene inside of a mason jar. Such an easy and beautiful decoration for winter and Christmas!
 
Then I tied a bow around the top of the container just to dress it up a little more. The ribbon I used is white iridescent so it kind of picks up whatever color is around it. It actually looks a little purple below.
 
Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar - An LED tea light illuminates a decorative winter scene inside of a mason jar. Such an easy and beautiful decoration for winter and Christmas! 
And this is my favorite part. . .seeing how it lights up in the dark. The little light casts just the right amount of glow to light up the scene inside the jar. You have to make one of these this year. It is so simple and so much fun. What are you going to put in your jar?
 
Illuminated Snow Scene in a Jar - An LED tea light illuminates a decorative winter scene inside of a mason jar. Such an easy and beautiful decoration for winter and Christmas!
 

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  4. Angela Beattie says

    I love this illuminated scene in a jar, I’m definitely going to be making some this coming Christmas, thanks for the idea.x

    Reply

  5. Tina Maria Ratzke says

    Wow, this is so simple and cute. When I was a kid my mom would have us do a version in a baby food jar with distilled water and glitter. This is so much better. Thanks for posting. Happy Holidays!

    Reply

  9. Barbara says

    How clever, cute and simple! Not to mention magical! As one who has become addicted to faerie gardening of late, this is a perfect extention of that hobby for me, especially since I’ve been looking for a way to add some soft lighting to our sunporch. I can scatter these little vingettes here and there, add a touch of whimsy and still have soft lighting in the evening hours = all i n all, a great idea, thanks for sharing this.

    Reply

  10. Linda says

    This is brilliant. I made ones at Christmas with little lights in it but always struggled to make the battery box hidden Since you still need to be able to turn them on and off I would leave it outside the jar and try to hide it behind the jar. This is a much better solution!

    Reply

    • Sara says

      Erin, maybe 2-3 inches or so? They were just mini figurines I found at Walmart in the Christmas section. I bet you could find some there today since all of the Christmas stuff is already coming out!

      Reply

  13. Amber says

    I think I will begin a tradition of letting each child choose a trinket and make one of these each year. I love “yearly” crafts that can be displayed like this!

    Reply

  15. Pam says

    I absolutely love this idea!!!! I have a ton of mason jars sitting around. Now I have a neat idea of something really awesome to make for my Grand kids!!!! Thanks!!!

    Reply

  16. Sharon Bedard says

    I love the luminaries. I’m going to try it with angels as a table decoration for our church Christmas party.
    Thank you for the great idea.

    Reply

  17. Colleen McGaughey says

    This is such a cute idea. I would like to make these as gifts for co-workers, but I wouldn’t want to glue the figure into the jar. Is there a way to keep it from toppling over if the jar has to be transported?

    Reply

    • Robyn says

      I was thinking of using “blue tac” or something similar to secure the decorations and unless they pick up the jar and look underneath it, the snow would hide it. Also wouldn’t wreck the ornaments.

      Reply

  18. Marlene says

    Hi Sarah,
    I love your idea for this snowglobe! I tried making some last year and they really needed some light but I could not figure out how to get the tealight in the jar to turn it on. A magnet is perfect! I am usually very crafty, but I missed on that one lol! Thank you for this!

    Reply

  23. Martha says

    I pick.ed up this idea from Pinterest just this year. I’ve been looking for some lighting ideas for my holiday table that will delight my grandboys and I think this is it! Thank you!

    Reply