Snow Globe Gift Wrap

To create this gift wrap project, you will need 2-piece collapsible gift boxes – the ones that look like two box lids that slide into each other. You will actually need three of these box lids, so purchase two 2-piece boxes. You will have an extra lid left over for future use.

Start with the first box lid. Find an illustration or photo of a wintry scene. Print it to the size of the box. There are many images on the Internet you can use, or if you want to see your house in a snow globe, take a photo of it on a snowy day and print that out. Cut the image to fit the box lid and adhere it with a glue stick.

To add dimension to the image, hot glue two miniature artificial pine branches to the foreground of your image. You can purchase wreaths or boughs of artificial pine at crafts or hardware stores during the holidays. Just cut off a few inches of the branches with wire cutters. Use scissors to trim the branches so they have a triangular tree shape.

Cut an opening on the second box lid, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides. Use a ruler as a straightedge and a hobby knife to cut the hole.

Turn the second lid over and glue a piece of clear plastic to the inside of the box, covering the opening completely. Duct tape the sides as well where the plastic meets the box so that this area is completely sealed. For clear plastic, you can use overhead transparencies or clear plastic report covers. In the example in the photo, upcycled clear plastic packaging was used.

Pour a mound of iridescent confetti onto the three-dimensional tableau. The confetti looks just like snow, and the iridescent flakes add sparkle. Confetti is available in party supply stores.

Now slide the box lid that has the clear plastic opening over the box lid that has the tableau. At this point you can shake the snow to see if you have too much or not enough.

Using duct tape, seal the edges between the two box lids, so there's now one lid made from two. Also, the duct tape helps keep the snow from escaping the diorama.

Rather than leaving it white, you'll want to wrap the box in decorative paper. Cut a piece of wrapping paper that will cover the entire lid, and in the middle cut an opening that is a 1/2-inch smaller than the opening in the lid.

Position the opening in the wrapping paper over the opening in the lid. Tape the paper to the box.

Take the third box lid and wrap that separately so the top and bottom pieces can be separated without damaging the snow-globe section. Once both pieces are wrapped in paper, slide the top lid with the snowy tableau over the bottom lid.

After you place a gift in the box, secure the top and bottom lid together with some twine. Cut off an additional piece of artificial pine and tie a bow around it with the twine.