Making a lucky clover globe

Fun activity for you and your crumb-snatchers for St. Patty's Day!

Bear in mind, these pics were taken with a crappy cell phone camera, but if you are like me, directions are clearer along with text. :)

I got this idea from Family Fun magazine and tweaked it a smidge.

First, you will need clear glass ornaments. Since it is late February and Christmas decorations are hard to find, I dug out some old glass balls that were red. I remember stripping color from glass balls when I was younger, so I went the route I knew. Submerge in bleach and water (making sure the solution gets inside the balls as well. Let 'em soak.






I discovered after the red paint was gone that the balls were also coated in silver on the inside, and instead of leaving them clear, they had a gray cast. I braced the balls on top of Mason jars and filled them halfway with ammonia. You want to swish it around a bit and then fill to the top with ammonia. Let them sit.

Now that the balls are clear, you will need the following for your mini-terrarium:

• 1 Tbs Green fishtank gravel
• Activated carbon (for fishtanks)
• damp soil
• clover (or seeds...but I wasn't patient enough for that!) You can dig up clover patches in your yard.
• Chopsticks
• Ribbon
  

You might also want to recruit a couple of cute little Leprechauns.

Layer one: Carbon. Leprechaun #1 and I made a little paper funnel to get the carbon in the ball with limited mess. Straighten out the layer with your chopstick.

Next, layer in some fishtank gravel. Try to keep the layers separate. We just dropped these in one or two at a time.

The next layer is pretty messy, but that is part of the fun! We put it in in clumps at the top, and pushed it into the ball with a chopstick. When the dirt is in (1 or 1 Tbs), poke a hole in the center of the dirt with your chopstick. This is where you will place the clover.

The clover went in the same way, gently through the top, guided into the hole in the soil with the chopstick. A ribbon through the ornament holder completed the project. Voila!

You may want to glue the top on as the ball could be a little heavy, depending on how much soil, gravel, etc. you put in it.

Bain sult!