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What would Christmas be without snowballs? So, what better scented gift to give, then primitive snowballs that will last all year

This is an breezy, simple craft to do and you will receive hours of enjoyment in making snowballs. I warn you this can be addictive.

It is just like being a kid all over again, when you create one of these delightfully cool snowballs or icicles.

Make old fashion Vintage looking Winter icicles, snowballs, and snowflakes for Christmas or Winter Weddings. A bowl of festive snowballs or icicles make a wonderful center piece for festive occasions. Surround yours with candle light.

They are fast, fun, and best of all, easy. Get ready to have a great afternoon with the kids in the kitchen.

Maybe you can even make a little extra money at the next craft show.

These creative primitive grungy crafts look great as decorations in your country decor. Try placing them in baskets, old primitive boxes, old pans, wooden dough bowls. Add a sprig or two of Christmas green, pinecones, a few red berries dried, or use your imagination and see what you can come up with.

I have no idea when my mother first discovered the recipe for making primitive snowballs, but I assure you she was not the creator.

My mother loved to find new crafts for us to do every year at Christmas and this was my favorite. I loved those times with my family, the 1950's and 60's. Moms were mom and dads were dads. I hope you will find this recipe will bring hours or joy with your family, as it did with mine.

Make your snowballs in all sizes. You can use the Winter Traditional White coloring or make the Down and Dirty Grungy Snowballs. You can have them scented or unscented, the choice is yours. I love to add Prim glitter to mine. Gives them more of a holiday feel and frankly, looks the big brown bowl on the white table cloth, filled with snowballs, doesn't hurt the look.

These are very inexpensive to make and so easy, even your children need very little supervision. Now if you are a perfectionist, making these to sell at a craft show, you may want to leave the children to their own side of the table.

Ok, here we go

A Christmas Tradition with a Vintage Twist

You will need the following.

A pack of any size styrofoam balls found at any craft store or craft section. The same recipe is used in making the icicles too, but instead of styrofoam balls use the cheap plastic icicles. When making snowflakes, dab the compound on with a sponge brush. Snowflakes can be purchased at most any store. The cheap plastic kind.

White joint compound, found at any hardware store. (my mother used drywall mix, but times have changed and I don't think we need to add difficult mixing of drywall compound to the recipe)

German Glass Glitter, Mica Glitter, or Diamond Dust found at any craft shop or on line.

Grunging supplies

Real Nutmeg

Have a bowl of glitter ready on the side.

Acrylic craft paint or water based stain, brown is the preferred color, but don't be afraid to experiment.

Mix the following together:

Joint compound

Candle scent, if you want your snowballs scented, the strength is your choice, but a little goes a long way.

A few drops of the colored stain or acrylic paint -the color choice is yours, winter blue, snowy white, creamy, or old fashion winter white.

Add nutmeg or cinnamon to your mixture if you want little flecks of dirt added to your snowballs.

Roll the styrofoam balls generously in the joint compound mixture.

Then drop in the bowl of glitter glass (my personal favorite) Make sure you coat the snowball evenly all around.

Pick it up, gently, and shake off the excess glitter. Place the snowball on a pizza pan that is lined with old fashion wax paper.

They have to dry for 2 or 3 days at the least. Make sure you turn the balls over once or twice a day.

Tips for Packaging

Bag up 6 to 12 of the various sized snowballs in a cello bag with a festive bow and the grungy primitive tag. Add a sprig of green and a bow of twine and rag strips. You can get those bags from the grocery store that are paper with the see through plastic window in the front. Those make a great for display at you craft show and are prefect for gift giving. Mix them with the waxed dipped rag balls, fill a big old blue mason ball jars. Add a vintage postcard strung on a ribbon. You can have a truly primitive grungy Christmas gift that anyone would love. You could even make a lamp with the old blue mason jar.

You can cut pieces of brown twine, sting the twine the icicles and snowflakes for cool Vintage Old Time Christmas Ornaments. Hang the ornaments on your old fashion Christmas tree.Put a hook in the snowballs before you roll them in the glitter, grungy mixture. The hook will dry solid in the snowballs. I like making my own hooks from old rusty pieces of wire purchased from craft stores.

Congradulations! See, it wasn't as hard as you thought it was going to be. Anyone can make a snowball! Have fun and until next time - craft on, from the candle making supplies team at www.wicks-wax-scents.com