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Craft Snow Recipes

Posted by Susan Frace on

Many of my winter-themed patterns contain a variety of snows that are no longer available on my site. This tutorial will give you the recipes to make the following snows: Extra Fine Snow Flurries, Sparkly Snow Flurries, Spiced Snow Flurries & Sparkly Spiced Snow Flurries as well as providing you retail sources for the supplies involved.

 

Gathering your supplies:

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site!  

 PERSONAL BLENDER (used to grind the snow):
 You're looking for something like these blenders. I have used both that are pictured & they do an equally good job.  I've used other's that have burned out immediately, one was a Hamilton Beach personal blender. That didn't work for this purpose because the cup was very tall & the base was quite narrow, so steer clear from that one & others like it. 
When looking for your personal blender, make sure it includes the following items:
  • (1) tall cup
  • (1) short cup
  • (1) 2-blade cap
  • (1) 4-blade cap
    Keep in mind, you do not need to purchase an expensive blender for this task. You can certainly use something you've picked up at a thrift store or yard sale, in fact, I recommend it! 
     
    NOTE:  Once you start using your personal blender for craft snow, set it aside for craft purposes only.  Do not use it to blend food.  

    Bella Blender:

    NutriBullet Blender:

    STYROFOAM (base for all snow):
    Make sure it's 100% Styrofoam, not plastic. I tried a combo Styrofoam/plastic snow as my base & it came out looking pretty ugly & gummed up my personal blender's blade. It needs to be 100% Styrofoam for this to work.
      Here are some additional ideas for sourcing your Styrofoam on the cheap:
    • White Styrofoam shapes (balls, cubes, rectangles, etc...) that you find in craft & hobby stores, sometimes you can even find packs of balls in the floral section of the Dollar Stores. 
    • White packing peanuts (my local kitchen supply store gives them to me for free!) 
    • Old Styrofoam coolers, cup & food containers (cleaned, of course & nothing with print or logos- you want your Styrofoam completely white) 
    • White Styrofoam shipping containers (used to protect TV’s, Computers & electronics) 
    • Check out your local floral or wedding supply stores. Some carry a coarse Styrofoam shred around wintertime to use as snow in their floral design or wedding themes...you can normally purchase it pretty cheap & in bulk at these places.  
    Almost any white Styrofoam will do...just keep your eyes open & you'll have no problem finding your own source. 
    MICA FLAKES (used in sparkly snow, sparkly spiced snow & mica powder):
    The search for the perfect Mica is over, I now carry it in my store! This used to be the most difficult supply to source because there are so many varieties available. This made it hard to find the correct one to work in these snows, I know I purchased a few duds that just wouldn't grind up properly, I believe some are not 100% natural, instead are mixed with synthetic fillers. That's a no-no for this project. You can purchase our 100% natural mica flakes HERE.
    SPICE MIXTURE (used in spiced snow & sparkly spiced snow):
    This is just a mixture of powdered or ground cinnamon & cloves - nothing fancy here. I currently have this mixture available in my store HERE. If you want to make your own, simply mix 1 part cinnamon to 2 parts cloves. Feel free to experiment with the ratio...more cloves will give it a darker color (but ground cloves can be very expensive so you may want to ration them a bit), using more cinnamon will give it a lighter/rustier color.  Depends on your personal preference & the project you're working on.

     Craft Snow Recipes:

    Ok, now that you’ve gathered all your supplies it’s time for the fun stuff...making the snow!  Please refer to the recipes below when you run across any of these snows in a Sew Many Prims pattern. 

      MICA FLAKES:

    Supplies List:
    • Mica Flakes
    • Personal Blender - optional
    • Tall blender cup (that came with your personal blender) - optional
    • 4-blade cap (that came with your personal blender) - optional
    • Mask (always wear a mask to avoid breathing in the fine dust particles)
    Nothing to do here unless your mica flakes are quite large & you'd like to grind them down into a more manageable size (smaller flakes are easier to adhere to your projects).  If that's the case, place the mica flakes into the tall blender cup fitted with the 4-blade cap & pulse until the flake size is to your liking.  You may need to tilt the cup (motor & all) as you pulse the blender to ensure even flake size, otherwise the flakes around the blade may get over processed & turn into powder. This goes really quick, so keep a close eye on the flake size.

     

      MICA POWDER:

    Supplies List:
    • Mica Flakes
    • Personal Blender
    • Short blender cup (that came with your personal blender)
    • 2-blade cap (that came with your personal blender)
    • Mask (always wear a mask to avoid breathing in the fine dust particles)
    Place the mica flakes in the short cup of your personal blender. I would do a cup at a time, but you can do as much or little as you'd like. Screw the 2-blade cap onto the cup.  Blend in short intervals until your mica has been ground down to a fine powder.  Now, this may take awhile so don't rush it.  I normally would pick up the blender (motor & all) while its running and slowly tip it to the left & right, back & forth to get the flakes flying all over the cup.  If you feel the motor heating up too much, just give it a break & start again after it has cooled down a bit. If you let it go too long you could overheat the motor. 

       

      EXTRA FINE SNOW FLURRIES:

    Supplies List:
    • Styrofoam (see suggestions under supplies)
    • Personal Blender
    • Tall blender cup (that came with your personal blender)
    • 4-blade cap (that came with your personal blender)
    • Mask (always wear a mask to avoid breathing in the fine dust particles)
    1.  Preparation:  If you are using solid Styrofoam like cubes, balls, blocks or anything of the sort you'll want to cut it up into manageable pieces....packing peanuts are a perfect size, so you won't need to do any prep work on them.  2.  Grinding:  Place your Styrofoam (whether it be cut up chunks, packing peanuts, shred or coarse pre-packaged snow) into your tall blender cup fitted with the 4-blade cap.  Turn on & tip the blender (motor & all) back & forth, left & right to get the pieces moving.  This stuff gets staticy so you may need to turn it off & remove the cup & give it a good shake.  This process shouldn't take long at all (especially the peanuts, shred & the coarse snow).  If the cut up chunks are taking awhile to grind down, keep your eye on the heat produced by the motor.  If it's getting too hot, just give it a break & start again after it has cooled down a bit. If you let it go too long you could overheat the motor.

        

      SPARKLY SNOW FLURRIES:

    Supplies List:
    • 1 cup Extra Fine Snow Flurries (following the recipe given above)
    • 1/2 cup Mica Flakes
    • Personal Blender
    • Tall blender cup (that came with your personal blender)
    • 4-blade cap (that came with your personal blender)
    • Mask (always wear a mask to avoid breathing in the fine dust particles)

    Place 1/2 cup Mica in the tall blender cup first, then add the 1 cup extra fine snow flurries & screw on the 4-blade cap. (I put the mica in first because it's heavier & will help push the snow down towards the blade).  Turn on & tip the blender (motor & all) back & forth, left & right to get the pieces moving.  This stuff gets static-y so you may need to turn it off & remove the cup & give it a good shake.  Stop once the Mica has been ground down to your liking & it has been incorporated well into the snow.  Always be mindful of the heat produced by the motor.  If it's getting too hot, just give it a break & start again after it has cooled down a bit. If you let it go too long you could overheat the motor

         

      SPICED SNOW FLURRIES:

    Supplies List:
    • 1 cup Extra Fine Snow Flurries (following the recipe given above)
    • 1/4 cup Spice Mixture
    • Personal Blender
    • Tall blender cup (that came with your personal blender)
    • 4-blade cap (that came with your personal blender)
    • Mask (always wear a mask to avoid breathing in the fine dust particles)

    Place 1/4 cup spice mixture in the tall blender cup first, then add the 1 cup extra fine snow flurries & screw on the 2-blade cap.  (I put the spices in the cup first to help push the lighter snow down into the blade)  Turn on & tip the blender (motor & all) back & forth, left & right to get the flurries moving.  The spices stick to the cup so it'll be hard to see what's going on.  I normally stop it to look inside.  If things aren't blended to my liking, I put the cap back on, give it a good shake & turn it back on. Stop once the spices have been well incorporated into the snow.  Always be mindful of the heat produced by the motor.  If it's getting too hot, just give it a break & start again after it has cooled down a bit. If you let it go too long you could overheat the motor.

    I use this snow on gingerbread men which makes them look as though they've been sprinkled with brown sugar. 

         

      SPARKLY SPICED SNOW FLURRIES:

    Supplies List:
    • 1 cup Extra Fine Snow Flurries (following the recipe given above)
    • 1/2 cup Mica Flakes
    • 1/4 cup Spice Mixture
    • Personal Blender
    • Tall blender cup (that came with your personal blender)
    • 4-blade cap (that came with your personal blender)
    • Mask (always wear a mask to avoid breathing in the fine dust particles)

    Place 1/2 cup Mica in the tall blender cup first, the spice mixture second and the extra fine snow flurries last.  Screw on the 2-blade cap.  (I put the heavier items in the cup first to help push the lighter snow down into the blade)  Turn on & tip the blender (motor & all) back & forth, left & right to get the flurries moving.  The spices stick to the cup so it'll be hard to see what's going on.  I normally stop it to look inside.  If things aren't ground up to my liking, I put the cap back on, give it a good shake & turn it back on.  When the mica has been ground down to your liking & everything has been well incorporated, you are done.  Always be mindful of the heat produced by the motor.  If it's getting too hot, just give it a break & start again after it has cooled down a bit. If you let it go too long you could overheat the motor.

    This snow is another great option for gingerbread men - this one with added vintage sparkle!


    Have fun making & using these snows to embellish all of your winter crafts!

    Keep on Crafting!
    Susan

     

     

     

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