CHEER: FOREST IN A JAR DIY

Welcome to the third day of Christmas Cheer! Today's theme is "playing in the snow", and since we don't usually get snow in Atlanta, Jenny and I decided to share two snow related DIYs with you. :)

Growing up near Seattle, Washington, we always had lots of snow during the holidays. I remember grabbing our laundry basket and sledding down the hills at our apartment complex with my little brother and sister. We loved making snowmen and measuring how high the snow would get in one night. When I moved to Georgia on my 8th birthday, I was always disappointed in the lack of snow, but I've learned to really appreciate the little flurries and snow we get now and then. The ice storms...not so much. ;) This year, I'm not crossing my fingers for snow since we had a 72 degree day yesterday. It's feeling more like fall then winter right now. But maybe we'll get a couple flurries?!

Jon has been wanting to take me on a skiing trip to Colorado sometime. I would LOVE to go and see all of the snow covered mountains and stay in a cabin with a huge fireplace...that's definitely on our "before we have kids" list...and also maybe on our "after we have kids" list too. :)

For this DIY, I was inspired by all of the beautiful homemade snow-globes I've seen lately. I liked the idea of making a water-less display so I wouldn't have to deal with the potential messes. I also like that these are easily something you can make very detailed and intricate or just keep them simple like I did.

Supplies// For these mini forests, I used mason jars from around the house, bought light blue transparent glass paint from Martha Stewart, fake snow, white glitter, mini Christmas trees, and used a hot glue gun. You can also use mini animals or Christmas scenes to decorate your forest.

Steps// 1. Paint the outside of your jars with transparent glass paint. This just gives it a little bit of a blue tone and blurs the glass so it has a neat "blizzard" look. I did this for two of the three jars. Put jars in the oven on 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool. 2. Hot glue trees, animals and other found objects to the lid or bottom of your jar. I like to alternate between the two. 3. Sprinkle in glitter and fake snow. If you shake the jar a little, the fake snow will stick to the sides and look like it's falling. 4. This is my favorite part. For the jars with the forests at the bottom of the jar, take the lid and dab hot glue to the bottom of the lid to create glue strands. Delicately dip the hot glue strands in fake snow to make it look like it's snowing. This took a little bit of time and patience, but turned out beautifully.

If you're in the snow globe making mood, check out these other DIYs. :)
* Snowy Diorama - Martha Stewart
* DIY Wintery Snow-globes - The Paper Mama
* Holiday Snow-globe - Apartment Therapy 

Also, be sure to check out Jenny's homemade Marshmallow recipe on her blog later today! You can follow along with our 12 Days of Christmas Cheer on Facebook and with the hashtag #12DaysofCheer. :) Happy Monday!