The Golden Snitch is the most important piece of equipment in the game of Quidditch. It is small, lightning fast, hard to see, and earns 150 points to the team that catches it first.
I have seen several Golden Snitches that you can buy but none of the ones I've seen capture the fragile appearance of the wings the way the Golden Snitch in this craft does.
What You Need To Make This Golden Snitch
- Ping pong ball
- Gold skeleton leaves
- Pencil
- Hot glue gun
- Glue for hot glue gun
- Gold spray paint
- Plastic soda bottle lid that ball will fit in (to prevent ball from rolling around while you work on it)
- X-Acto style knife
- Glue
- Black paint
- Paint brush
- Shallow plastic bottle cap, any color (for stand - make sure the ping pong ball fits nicely on top of it and won't roll off)
- Metal jar lid, any color (for stand - make sure it is slightly wider than the shallow plastic bottle cap)
- Decorative gems (optional)
Do You Need Any Of The Above Items?
Instructions
Search the Internet for a picture of the Golden Snitch from the movies and print it out.
Use a pencil to draw the Snitch's designs onto the ping pong ball. Leave an area on the bottom undecorated, just like in the video, since this is the part of the ball that will sit on the display stand (aka bottle cap lid).
Use the hot glue gun to trace the design with glue. Make sure your lines are as neat as possible and that the lines are of equal width. Cut off any stringy bits.
Use the gold spray paint to paint the ball and glue gold. Paint the entire ball. Be sure to go somewhere with good ventilation for this step.
Use an X-Acto type knife to cut hols on opposite sides of the ball where you want the wings to go. Please make sure children do not do this step! X-Acto knives are very sharp and can easily cause injury. I suggest that you look at the finished snitch to get an idea of the best place to make the holes.
Place the ball on top of an upside-down plastic cap from a soda bottle. This will keep the ball from rolling around while you work on it, but it will not become part of the display stand. You will use two different lids for the stand.
Choose two skeleton leaves that are about the same size. Dab a bit of blue on the end of each leaf and insert them into the holes you just made. If necessary, hold each leaf in place until the glue sets. When the glue holding the wings dries you will be done making the Snitch, so next is the display stand.
Paint the smaller of the two lids (the one the Snitch will sit in) completely with black paint. Allow to paint to dry. This lid will be upside down, so the Golden Snitch can sit inside the lid.
The metal lid will sit flat side up. Place a dab of glue on the bottom of the painted lid and set the lid on top of the metal lid. Make sure the painted lid is centered on the metal lid.
Paint the exposed part of the metal lid black. Allow the paint to dry.
Optional - Add any decorative gems to the stand, like you see in the video.
When you are done painting and decorating the stand, it is ready to hold the Snitch. Place the Golden Snitch on the stand and display it where ever you want in your home.
