Making Snow Globe - Using Sculpey for Figure?

Cafe Society
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I’ve got directions for making snow globes and thought they’d be a handy Christmas gift for the grandparents if I involve the twins in the making.

So for the the little figure in the piece, I thought about buying some Sculpey and letting the kids have at it, and using model glue to hold the components together. Perhaps I’ll even let the kids daub the baked figures with a little acrylic paint.

But how would baked sculpey handle being immersed in water for a long period of time?

Is there some other (cheap, easy to use) material that we should try instead? I know someone with clay and a kiln, but I’m not sure how baked clay would respond to immersion in water, either.

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I’ve used Sculpey for figures that we later put outside in the garden. It’s water proof enough. I’m not so sure about model glue holding it together - epoxy might be more durable. Acrylic paint will probably end up flaking off.

Ceramic is completely waterproof after being fired.

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Bookmarking thread.

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I’ve used Sculpey clay for years & had great success making snow globes. Sculpey does fine in water once baked. They do make a sealer if you’re concerned but mine are 8 yrs old & still looking new. Add glycerin (in cake decorating dept) to water to thicken it & help keep it clear. When you have added distilled water, glycerin, glitter, & have inverted sculpture into globe, apply epoxy* by wrapping rope-shaped piece around base where it will contact the water, invert base & insert into globe, allowing any excess epoxy to ooze out, smoothing epoxy as necessary around base insert where it meets globe to insure no holes. Leave inverted until dry. Check for leaks by turning right-side-up onto paper towel for several minutes then checking for dampness. Use clear silicon sealant for any leaks. Or can apply more of 2-part epoxy to leak area & submerge in water to activate. Also, I use hot glue to attach Sculpey pieces to each other after baking.

*epoxy I found works best comes in plastic “tube” about size & shape of a roll of Rollos candy. It’s water-activated & designed for use in fountains, fish tanks, birdbaths, etc. It’s greenish-blue & turns white when dry. Follow instructions on your product. Mine was a 2-part putty that req’d taking equal parts of each & kneading together until uniform color. NOTE: EPOXY & SILICON WERE NOT CHILD-FRIENDLY & SHOULD ONLY BE USED BY ADULT FOLLOWING PRODUCT-SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS!

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As a snowdome collector clever friends have occasionally done it for me. Agree with everything LimaEchoAlphaHotel recommends as good practice. There are also things that don’t seem to work so well after a few years:

  • Acrylic or other paints never seem to hold and eventually bubble or flake. It probably gets down to hard to manage issues like finger oil on the surfaces. Much better if possible to use the range of colours that you can get with your favourite oven-baked modelling clay.

  • Glues of any sort have a much reduced shelf-life underwater. Where possible try to pin big parts together by building on a wire armature or using pins to reinforce joints.

  • Definitely use distilled water, and boil everthing else. Its amazing how often slime grows in tap water.

  • While getting multiple colours isnt cheap they can last forever if kept in a sealed container [apparently dont react well to PVC, a friend has a glass jar that’s kept them fine for more than 10 years].