These illuminated fishbowl Snowmen are so cute!
I've seen similar tutorials in many places - this is my take on it.
MATERIALS
3.5" Fishbowl or Floral Bowl x2
Glue (I used Maker's Mark)
Rock Salt
White, irridescent glitter (optional)
Electric Grinder (optional)
7' LED, Battery-Operated Lights
E6000 Glue
Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
1 Pair of Ladies' Fuzzy Socks
Black & Orange Acrylic Paint
Painting Supplies (small paint brush, water cup, papertowel, qtips)
Step 1
Coating The Inside Of The Fishbowls
Optional: Pour the rock salt and glitter into your electric grinder and pulse a couple of times. This will create varied sizes of rock salt for better adherance to the glass. Pour a little bit of Maker's Magic (glue) inside the glass bowl and swirl it around making sure to cover the entire interior. Pour any excess glue back into the bottle.
Pour rock salt and glitter mixture into the bowl and carefully turn fishbowl so that the glitter and salt totally coats the interior of the bowl. Pour any excess salt and glitter out.
Allow coated fishbowls to cure for at least 12 hours before moving on to the next step.
Step 2
Lighting Up The Base
Open your strand of LED lights and find the center point. Coil the loose half of the wire up to the center point and drop it into the bowl
Step 3
Preparing the Base for Stacking
Look at your base bowl and decide which side looks the best. This will be the front.
Use your hot glue gun to "pin" the lights to the back of the bowl - just a small drop of glue will suffice.
Use your E-6000 glue (in this case, I used B-7000 glue) to drizzle a small strand of glue along the rim of the base.
Step 4
Adhering The Top Bowl
Place the top bowl top up over the opening of the bottom bowl. Make sure the bowls are center and even to one another.
Step 5
Secure the Joint
The E6000/B7000 glue takes a little while to dry, so you can double secure the two bowls by rimming the joint in hot glue.
Step 6
Lighting Up The Top
Coil the remainder of your LED Lights and drop them into the top bowl, making sure to keep the battery compartment out of the bowl.
Use your hot glue gun to drop a dollop of glue on the edge of the bowl to secure the wire lights in place.
Step 7
Preparing Your Sock "Hat"
Cut the toe off of one sock, with your cut mark about an inch behind the heel as shown above.
After you've cut off the top of your sock, roll the excess down, making sure not to cover the heel.
Step 9
Placing the Sock "Hat" - Back
Starting at the joint on the back of the snowman, use your sock to cover the lighting battery pack, and wrap the rest of the sock over the rim of the bowl.
Do not glue the hat to the back of the bowl, as you'll need to be able to remove the hat to change the batteries.
Step 10
Securing The Sock "Hat" - Front
Keeping the edge of the hat slightly rolled, use your glue gun to adhere the hat to the front and sides, remembering to leave the back of the hat unsecured.
Step 11
Preparing The Sock "Scarf"
Cut your second sock in half lengthwise, as shown above.
Step 12
Tying The "Scarf"
Keeping the heel at the back of the snowman, tie the halved sock around the joint between the two bowls.
Step 13
Securing The "Scarf"
Pull the knot as tight as you can around the craft, then squeeze a dollop of hot glue behind the knot to secure the "Scarf" in place.
Step 14
Painting The Eyes and Mouth
Use a fine paintbrush and black acrylic paint to add 2, medium sized dots for the eyes.
Use the end of a Q-Tip to get perfect dots for the snowman's mouth.
Don't worry if your painting isn't perfect, you can use your nail or a toothpick to correct the features once they are dry.
Step 15
Painting The "Carrot" Nose
Clean your fine paintbrush and use your Orange Acrylic paint to add a "carrot" nose as seen above.
In the event that the paint looks streaky, you can always wait till it dries completely to add a second coat.
TA-DA!
Your DIY Fishbowl & Sock Snowman is complete!
For an extra cute touch, have an "adoption" drive Christmas day! Let every adult couple choose one and give them a "Certificate of Adoption"!
HAPPY HOLIDAY CRAFTING!
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