It’s snowing here… right now as a matter of fact. I look outside and everything is covered in white and glisten. I’m not going to break into song, I promise, but I really wanted to capture that snow covered look and bring it inside where it’s much warmer. So I mixed and measured and with a few house hold ingredients, I was able to come up with a texture mix that looks something like… snow covering. Now that I had the texture down, I wanted to snow cover something that I could use as Christmas decor, for a centerpiece, perhaps. Recently I made some paint dipped soup cans that I shared over at Inspiration Cafe. A soup can, so simple, right? I guess I like the hint of industrial style in those ridges 😛 Does anyone else see that? Anyway, I figured, why not try and snow cover soup cans. They’ll just end up in the recycling bin.
How to make Snow Covered Texture on Soup Cans:
Supplies:
- Soup cans (I used a coffee can for the centerpiece as well)
- A few pieces of corragated cardboard (about 4″ x 6″)
- Craft sponge brush
- Craft paints plain, metallic (or both)
- White fine glitter (optional)
- A plastic bin to catch the glitter (optional)
- Snow Covered texture recipe (see below)
Snow Covered Texture Recipe:
Stir the following ingredients together until consistency is thick and smooth, kind of like cake frosting.
- 1/2 Cup Baking Soda
- 1/2 Cup White Glue
- 1 or 2 Tablespoons of white craft paint
- 1/4 Teaspoon warm water
I started off with some soups cans, emptied and with labels removed, of course.
I gave some but not all of the soup cans a few coats of craft paint both plain and metallic.
Tip: I added a few sprinkles of baking soda into the paint mixture to help the paint stick to the tin cans more easily.
I mixed up the snow covered texture recipe.
To test the thickness, I folded several pieces of cardboard accordion style and then stood them up on their side.
I applied the snow covering to the top side of the cardboard and let it drip to make sure the consistency was to my preference. I let the test samples sit for about half and hour.
This let me see just how much dripping would occur. I had to adjust the thickness, as my first batch was a bit too thin.
You may like the texture to be thicker and less drippy. If so, add a bit more baking soda, and test again until satisfied. To thin out a bit, add a FEW drops of water or a bit more glue. Stir well.
With a sponge craft brush, I then applied a thick coat of the texture to the top of the soup can, allowing it to drip over both the inside and outside edge.
Next I held the can over a plastic bin and shook on a little bit of white glitter. I then placed the cans on a clean surface to dry overnight.
I applied the texture to most of the tips of the soup cans, and some to the bottoms of the soup cans.
When all said and done, I had plenty enough to make a centerpiece with taper candles and a few other Christmassy tid-bits.
Living in Chicago, you can’t avoid the winter – or the snow! I must admit when the snow starts to fall and cover everything outside, it really is pretty, though just a little bit prettier while still keeping warm~inside.
One could add snow covered texture to just about anything such as an old vase, a basket, a bird house… you name it because all you have to do is mix, apply and let it drip!
Do you have anything laying around the house that might look a tad bit more festive covered in snow?
11 Ways to make pretend snow
For more Christmas 2013
For more Soup Can projects
Thank you for stopping by. I hope your holiday season is going well. ~ Amy
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Mel says
How fun and snowy, we have some crazy hot weather coming our way later this week maybe I should get some fake snow to cool us down!
Feral Turtle says
This is gorgeous Amy!! I love it! Maybe you are onto the new snow paint recipe instead of chalk paint. You will be famous! We will call it Amy’s Snow Paint!!!! I see that the east coast is getting hit with some bad weather. Today Newfoundland is getting hammered so I suspect your snowfall is from the same system. We are in for more on Wednesday…..yikes. I am pinning this one!! Cheers.
heather f says
I love this! I thought for half a second when I was reading over your list of ingredients that I saw TOOTH Paste, and I thought, DANG, she is clever! haha. Love these! So gorgeous.
SheilaG @ Plum Doodles says
Oh, gosh, I love this idea, Amy- you’re a genius! Seriously, I want to make some. How fun to use soup cans, too- I love the upside down ones for pillar candles.
Alli says
I love that idea, Amy, but would have never thought of it. How awesome. I’m pinning! I just love soup cans. I just used them to hold flowers and greenery at my Carolina Coastal Christmas Party by wrapping them with jute, wide blue ribbon and glued a starfish to the ribbon. And now I have a great new way to use them. Thanks so much for sharing.
Doreen@househoneys says
Super creative, super pretty, and super easy!
I’m impressed Amy. Well done.
Have a wonderful holiday, and if you REALLY want cold weather, I’m happy to trade 🙂
Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. says
Gosh Amy, what a super cute idea!
Pam says
Love this and want to try on glass jar luminaries. What are you using to keep the pillar candles in place? Melted wax?
Amy says
Hey Pam,
I apologize for the delayed response. We were away the blog doing a townhouse rehab to urgently put on the market. Between working my full time job and working on the townhouse, I was not checking emails. But in answer to your question, I think I used sugar, but it also could have been rice. Both of those should work, so should fish tank gravel or something similar. Perhaps even those clear glass beads or glass pebbles since you are using glass luminaries. I hope this helps give you some ideas of what to use. Thanks so much and once again, I apologize for the delayed reply. Amy