When Perzy tried the trick with a lightbulb, he discovered the brightness wasn’t improved. But what if he added something to the water that the light could bounce off of? Perzy started with white semolina flakes, used in baby food at the time. “He poured [them] into the glass globe, and [they] got soaked by the water and floated very slowly to the base of the globe,” his grandson, Erwin Perzy III, told the BBC. “This effect reminded him of snowfall.” Inspiration struck: What if he used his technical expertise to create a tiny diorama in his snowy little world? Perzy made a miniature replica of the Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary in Mariazell, Austria, placed it in his water-filled globe, sealed it, and mounted it to a gypsum base that he painted black. And voila—the first snow globe was born.
If you just can’t get enough zombie snow globes, be sure to head over to Etsy shop goodsbygoose and grab this decidedly more morbid take on the concept featuring a survivor in a life or death battle with an undead creature. Did I mention this one glows in the dark? As if you needed more of a reason to snag this great gift. This mad scientist snow globe is the perfect gift for anyone you know who spends his or her life down in the basement tinkering on something and laughing maniacally—or someone who happens to be a regular scientist with aspirations for more. Admit it, this is definitely the most “precious” snow globe you’ve seen in a while. (Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.) Extra info at custom snowglobes.
Anatomy of a Snow Globe: Originally the globes were made of glass and the figures inside were made of porcelain, bone, metals, minerals, rubber or wax. The snow or “flitter” as it’s called, could have been ground rice, wax, soap, sand, bone fragments, meerschaum, metal flakes or sawdust. Producers tried everything. The base was either round or square and may have been of stone, marble, ceramic or wood. Today, all but the best quality globes are plastic. The liquid is just water in the plastic snow globes. Glass snow globes often include glycol, an antifreeze, to keep the glass from breaking if frozen. A little dust doesn’t bother snow globes – but they don’t like direct sunlight.
Poinsettias have a mythic past. Poinsettias are a truly magical plant, according to one Christmas legend. A Mexican myth tells the tale of a poor young girl who gathered some weeds to give as a gift to Jesus on Christmas Eve at her church. When she laid the weeds down at the nativity scene, they suddenly transformed into a beautiful bouquet of bright red flowers, which are known as Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night, in Mexico. Some believe that the plant represents the star of Bethlehem. And others remember Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico who introduced Americans to the plant in 1828. Source: https://www.qstomize.com/collections/custom-snow-globe.