If you like to decorate spruce branches, various New Year's crafts or windows with artificial frost or snow, you can use regular medical cotton wool. This home alternative, unlike store-bought cylinders, is considered very budget-friendly. Additionally, you can use glue, glitter, tinsel and other items that can decorate the craft.
Below you can find several ideas on how to create artificial snow with your own hands. Any option is very simple, so you can make it together with your child. Unlike store-bought toys, cotton spraying will be more durable and long-lasting.
General rules for making snow from cotton wool
General rules for making snow from cotton wool:
- Cotton balls, which look like real snow, are quite neat and stylish. Since they are very soft and gentle, they can be used for active games, making various compositions or as a decoration for a New Year tree, if you use a fastener. The latter can be a satin ribbon or rope.
- For the base, you can use a crumpled sheet of paper or newspaper, the surface of which is soaked in glue, and then covered with several layers of cotton wool. As a result, the blanks will be quite hard and weighted. They are more suitable for creating various compositions or decorating the lower part of the Christmas tree.
- To make the blanks softer, use a ball of thread, a sock, a piece of gauze, fabric, a nylon stocking, New Year's tinsel, a piece of foam plastic or synthetic padding. The base can be any, since it will not be noticeable under the cotton shell. In this regard, it is allowed to use any material that is available.
- It is advisable to take the blank in white or light tones so that the base does not show through the top layer of cotton wool. However, if there are no other options, you will need to use a large amount of material.
- When choosing cotton wool, it is recommended to give preference to synthetic material, since it is quite fluffy and has minimal density and weight, unlike a cotton product.
- When working together with children, it is recommended that they be given the choice of material and decoration of the surface of the craft. Adults should work with the needle, as it is considered a dangerous tool that a child can injure himself with.
How to make snow from cotton wool for crafts
You can create cotton wool snow for crafts using a minimal set of tools. It is enough to use cotton wool with a needle and thread. The main material is very flexible and comfortable.
At the same time, it can be easily rolled, crumpled or used to form any decorative product. However, if there is no cotton wool, it is permissible to use cotton pads, which will need to be gutted first.
To make artificial snow from cotton material intended for crafts, it is recommended to adhere to the following steps:
- You will need to roll balls of different sizes from the cotton wool. To do this, you need to tear off a piece of material, then squeeze it and roll it in your hands.
- Next, take a needle and thread, stringing the prepared blanks on the thread. To prevent the finished snowflakes from constantly rolling down the thread, it is recommended to fix them with glue.
- Finally, small pieces of cotton snowflakes need to be tied to a thread that is secured horizontally.
Made of paper and cotton wool
Making artificial snow from cotton material and paper sheets is considered the easiest and fastest way. In this case, there is no need to decorate the papier-mâché. Despite the fact that the paper coating will not be completely uniform, the craft will look quite impressive. At the same time, real snow is never perfectly smooth and even.
To make a craft from cotton wool and a sheet of paper, you need to follow the steps below:
- First, you need to prepare a sheet of A4 paper. The workpiece should be cut into several parts.
- Afterwards, they need to be formed into balls of different diameters.
- At the end, the finished blanks need to be rolled in torn cotton material, having previously coated their surface with glue.
Made from cotton wool and PVA glue
You can make cotton wool snow for crafts yourself at home, using the following additional tools:
- glitter;
- brush;
- PVA glue.
Instead of medical cotton wool, it is acceptable to use synthetic padding. It also holds its shape well without weighing down the decorative craft.
When making cotton snow, you must strictly follow the step-by-step instructions below:
- You will need to make balls of different sizes from cotton material or synthetic padding.
- The surface of the prepared blanks must be coated with PVA glue.
- Next, apply a layer of cotton wool. Then, go over the surface of the material with glue again. Then, cover the ball with a layer of cotton wool again.
- The procedure must be carried out until the snow reaches a certain size.
- Finally, the craft should be coated with glue and sprinkled with glitter on top.
To make a cotton wool craft together with children, it is recommended to replace the glue with paste, which can be created on the basis of potato starch.
To decorate the craft, you need to prepare the following:
| Necessary inventory | Required quantity |
| Cool liquid | 250 ml |
| Potato starch | 40 g |
| Cotton wool | as needed |
| Glitter or other decorations | at your discretion |
You will also need a heat-resistant pan, a brush for applying the adhesive, and a stick or spoon for stirring the paste.
The principle of making snow from cotton wool and paste is based on the following step-by-step actions:
- Pour cold liquid into the prepared container. Then gradually add potato starch, stirring the mixture constantly to avoid lumps.
- Then the pan should be placed on the stove, setting the fire to minimum power. The mixture should be simmered until bubbles appear. It should be stirred regularly. If lumps appear during the heating process, they can be stirred with a fork or whisk. After making the paste, it will need to be cooled.
- Next, you need to form balls from the cotton wool.
- Using a brush, apply a uniform layer of cooled paste to the surface of the blanks. Then decorate the balls with glitter.
- Finished crafts need to be dried. For this, you can use a radiator or a hair dryer. At the drying stage, it is recommended to constantly turn the blanks over so that they dry evenly.
This option is more suitable for children, since safe materials are used, and the adhesive mixture is applied after it has cooled.
Once the snow globes are made, they can be used to make a New Year's garland. To do this, the blanks must be carefully pierced, threading a silver, blue or white thread through them.
By using a large number of threads, you can create a snowfall.
From gauze and cotton wool
It is possible to create artificial snow from cotton wool and a piece of gauze without using a sewing machine or patterns. This method of making a New Year's craft is considered relatively simple and quick.
To properly design artificial snow, you need to follow the steps below:
- You will need to place a piece of cotton material in the middle of the gauze piece.
- Next, you will need to sew the ball together using threads, cutting off any excess threads when finished.
- Afterwards, it is necessary to give the blanks a beautiful appearance. To do this, the balls should be rolled in cotton wool, which will need to be torn beforehand.
Made of fabric and cotton wool
Beautiful artificial snowballs can be created on the basis of cotton and fabric material. The material should be white so that it is not visible through the cotton. Instead of the latter, you can prepare synthetic padding.
A detailed description of the process of creating artificial snow from cotton wool and fabric is shown in the steps below:
- You will need to cut out 4 petals from white fabric. To make the blanks more neat, it is permissible to use ready-made stencils.
- To make one snowball, you need 4 petals that need to be sewn together, but you don't need to touch one of them. This is necessary so that the blank can be filled with cotton wool and then sewn up. When sewing the petals, you need to turn them inside out, using a sewing machine if possible, so that the lines are even and tight.
- The prepared form must be completely filled with cotton snow. Then the seam must be carefully sewn with threads.
- To make the areas where the seams were not visible, the snowballs need to be coated with glue and then rolled in torn cotton wool.
Made of cotton wool and tinsel
Along with cotton wool, you can also use New Year's tinsel, which will allow you to create beautiful and elegant snowballs.
As auxiliary tools you will need to prepare the following:
- needle and thread;
- nylon tights;
- hairspray.
When making artificial snow, it is necessary to strictly follow the steps below:
- You will need to cut out small squares from old nylon tights.
- Next, they should be filled with cotton material. The end result should be beautiful balls.
- After preparation, it is necessary to fix it with a thread so that the cotton wool cannot come out.
- Then the finished snowballs should be sprayed with hairspray. While the surface of the balls is sticky, it should be decorated with crushed shiny tinsel.
The result should be spectacular snow globes. They can be used to create Christmas tree garlands or to decorate New Year's costumes.
Sparkling snow
You can make cotton wool snow for crafts sparkling if you use simple shimmering sand.
The latter can be purchased at a store specializing in nail art.
The technology of creation is quite simple, and the production of a New Year's garland will require minimal costs. As a result, the Christmas tree toy will perfectly shimmer in the dark.
The technology for making artificial snow from cotton wool and shimmering sand consists of the following steps:
- Initially, the cotton wool needs to be torn into pieces of different diameters. Afterwards, they should be rolled between the palms.
- Then the prepared blanks must be soaked in glue and then sprinkled with dry glitter.
- When the balls are completely dry, they need to be strung on a thread and secured with glue.
- If there are bare areas or places that do not shine, they must be coated with glue again and sprinkled with sand.
Useful tips and recommendations
Useful tips and recommendations will allow you to easily and quickly create elegant artificial snow from cotton wool and auxiliary decorative elements.
Recommendations:
- To use cotton snow balls as decorations for a Christmas tree, it is recommended to decorate them with ribbon or other fastening.
- To make the surface of artificial snow balls brighter, you can decorate it with bright threads or paint it in different shades using gouache or watercolors. When using the latter option, you will first need to dilute the paint in liquid, then dip the blanks in it so that they are saturated with the desired color. Then they need to be dried on a sheet of paper.
- Cotton wool can be replaced with cotton pads, which are suitable for decorating various figures made from different colored elements. To do this, the sponges are painted with gouache and dried well so that the paint does not flow. After that, the blanks are fixed with paste.
The above methods will allow you to make artificial snow from cotton wool at home. You can choose any option that meets the requirements for the New Year's craft, so that it is durable, cold or soft, since each method has its own distinctive characteristics.
The cotton material gives the product durability and good strength.
Video on the topic: how to make artificial snow for crafts from cotton wool
New Year's decor made of cotton wool - artificial snow: