What Material to Make Waterproof Confetti From: A Tutorial

As much as I hate cleaning up confetti, I LOVE using it to decorate.

But the best kind of confetti is the kind that’s inside a snow globe – because there’s no cleanup involved. And it’s beautiful forever!

But you might be wondering how to make your own confetti, or what material to make waterproof confetti from.

Because wouldn’t it be cool to have confetti in the shape of ANYTHING you want?

So what material is used to make waterproof confetti?

Well, there’s not a cut-and-dry answer here. I’ve found a few different materials that work well for DIY confetti for a snow globe.

I’m going to discuss three materials I’ve tested and used to make waterproof confetti below.

I’ve included specific instructions for how to make them work in a Cricut Maker 3 as well!

After I discuss materials, you’ll see a demo of them (including how they look when added to glycerin water)!

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking one, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you.

Best Material for Waterproof Confetti

It’s just common sense that regular paper and cardstock are not waterproof, and therefore not good choices for putting in a snowglobe.

You could try to laminate it before cutting, I suppose, but that’s a lot of work for tiny pieces of confetti – and in my experience, laminated paper is water-resistant, not waterproof.

So then I thought about what prepackaged confetti feels like, and the answer is simple – plastic!

And there are several ways to find appropriate plastics that can be cut with a Cricut or Silhouette machine.

Cricut Party Foil

Is Cricut Party Foil waterproof? Yes, it is!

Usually, the cheapest place to get it is your local Michael’s, or the Cricut website if it’s on sale. You can also find it on Amazon.

And while the official description from Cricut simply states that it’s meant to cut out shiny decorations, I would argue that Party Foil sheets are for confetti specifically. Because it’s absolutely perfect for it.

If you want to know how to make metallic confetti for your water globe, this is the only product you need to pay attention to. I haven’t found anything else that really works – and I’ve tried!

I’ve only found one place to get a reasonable Cricut Party Foil dupe, and that is PhotoIG on Etsy.

Unfortunately, right now, neither of these metallic foil suppliers has a lot to choose from.

This is due to a global plastics shortage (I wish I was kidding). Craft plastics are not a priority for manufacturers right now.

If you can’t find the color you’re hoping for, I recommend trying to make do with what’s available now – because there’s no sign of a restock any time soon.

Or you can check out one of the other materials below – but they do not have the holographic look of traditional confetti, nor do they sink.

This material can be used on pretty much any modern cutting machine (all the way back to the Cricut Explore 2), and can be used with the regular silver Fine-Point Blade (though I recommend the gold Premium Fine-Point Blade for cutting tiny things like confetti).

When cutting your material through Design Space, there is a materials option called Party Foil you should use.

Will Cricut Party Foil sink in a snow globe?

In my testing, the party foil behaved exactly as snow or any other loose objects in a snow globe should: it sank to the bottom after floating around in the water for a bit.

Adding glycerin to your water will help it float around a bit longer before it sinks to the bottom.

A ratio of 1-2 tablespoons of glycerin per cup of water should do the trick!

Plastic Art Sheets

I actually stumbled across these plastic sheets during a desperate search for particular colors of Cricut Party Foil. And I was pleasantly surprised!

Although they are not shiny or holographic, these plastic craft sheets work perfectly for cutting out small bits of confetti in my Cricut Maker 3.

They can also be used in the original Maker and machines as old as the Explore Air 2!

The sheets are thick enough to be nearly opaque (the yellow and frosted white are the most translucent) if that’s important for your confetti.

The bad news: the colors are still limited, and they aren’t shimmery like the party foil.

But the pack I got did come with red, hot pink, yellow, green, blue, white, black, and frosted white.

When cutting, along with the Fine-Point Blade (Premium if you have it), you’ll want to choose the Foil Acetate material setting and allow it to complete the default number of passes (two) so it can cut through the material all the way.

Will plastic art sheet cutouts sink in a snow globe?

This is where you might not love using plastic confetti in your snow globe.

It doesn’t sink. Like, at all.

So it depends on what your goal is with your snow globe.

I distinctly remember having a mini snowglobe as a kid where all of the fake snow collected at the top rather than settling on the bottom, and to me, it just looked like a cloud! It certainly didn’t ruin the effect for me.

Even with floating confetti, it’ll still swirl around the water when you shake the snow globe.

Adding glycerin isn’t necessary to help it float, but it can keep it from rising to the top so quickly!

In this case, I recommend adding even more glycerin to the water – 4-5 tablespoons per cup.

Plastic Folders

Times are tough for finding plastic and foil sheets to use with your Cricut to make confetti.

But when all else fails, there’s one thing you’re bound to find in any general store near you: school folders!

I first discovered the usefulness of these things in crafting when I made hat brims to attach to Babybel cheeses (in the wax) to look like Mario hats for my son’s birthday party.

So when I needed an alternative plastic I could cut with the Cricut, I knew I had to try it!

The best part: I found some clearance folders in late fall at Walmart for just ten cents apiece. Score!

Just cut the folders in half (removing any spine with metal grommets or layered plastic), then cut any pockets off. You can use the front, back, and pockets of the folder for cutting.

The material of these folders is the exact same plastic that those more-expensive plastic art sheets above.

Sure, you’ll have to cut them up to use them in your Cricut – but it is WELL worth the savings, in my opinion.

Since they are the same type of plastic, you’ll still use the Foil Acetate material setting and cut with the Fine-Point or Premium Fine-Point blade.

And just like the plastic art sheets, confetti cut from these plastic folders will almost certainly float instead of sink.

Keep that in mind when choosing your confetti material!

How to Make Waterproof Confetti with Cricut

Now I’m going to show you how to make your own confetti with your Cricut!

What material you use from the list above doesn’t really matter; just make sure to choose the Blade and Material settings as I described them for your chosen material.

If you prefer learning from videos, I have one showing you exactly what to do at the bottom.

1. Choose your confetti shape(s)

The sky’s the limit! – almost.

While the whole point of making your own confetti is that you can cut anything you want, you’ll still want to be mindful of the intricacy of your cut shape.

The more detailed it is, the more likely it will be that something goes wrong in the cutting process. Simple silhouettes are better than trying to add facial features or fine details.

For this example, I chose to cut out little unicorn heads! If you’d like the SVG, just fill out the form below.

Cut it out. Literally.

Enter your name and email below to get access to your FREE unicorn head SVG compatible with Cricut Design Space!

It’s so magical!

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Thank you!

Check your inbox for the link to the SVG! Add michelle@brightcolormom.com to your Email Contacts so you never miss anything 😉

2. Upload your SVG cut file to Design Space

After opening Cricut Design Space and clicking on New Project, go to “Uploads” on the left side and select your chosen SVG file.

Once it’s uploaded, choose your new Cut Image and click “Add to Canvas.”

3. Resize the shape on the canvas

Your SVG is probably going to pop up larger than you would need it to cut for making confetti.

Make sure your dimensions padlock is “locked,” then click and drag a corner of the shape and shrink it down to your desired size.

Try not to go smaller than 1/4 of an inch, or your machine may have trouble.

Unless your snow globe is teeny tiny, this size should be fine.

4. Duplicate your shape a LOT

You’re going to want to cut a whole bunch of the same shape, so you need a whole bunch of copies on the canvas to do them all at once.

You can right-click and select “Duplicate,” you can go to Edit in the canvas menu to select Duplicate, or if you’re using a Mac like me, just press Command+D on your keyboard over and over to keep duplicating quickly.

Don’t worry about dragging the layers around so they’re not touching each other; Design Space will automatically place them with space between them when you click “Make It.”

5. Choose your cut settings

After clicking “Make It,” Design Space will show you a preview of how your shapes will be laid out during the cutting process.

You can make changes to your mat size and material size at this time.

Make sure your machine is turned on, then click “Continue.” Now it’s time to get the cut settings right.

In this example, I used the Cricut Party Foil, so I chose that exact material setting from the list.

Then it automatically tells me what blade to use – in this case, the standard Fine-Point Blade. 

Now it’s time to put your foil or plastic sheet onto a Standard Grip mat (the green kind).

Make sure you press out as much bubbling as possible and press it firmly to the mat so it doesn’t move while cutting.

Once the mat is ready to load, press it into the machine till it stops, then hit the flashing Load button.

The machine will pull your mat through to make sure it’s the appropriate size.

Then click the flashing Make/Go button so it will start cutting!

6. Check your cut

BEFORE unloading the mat from the machine, pull up a corner of your material to make sure it has cut all the way through a few pieces of confetti.

If it hasn’t, simply hit the Make/Go button again for another pass.

(In my case, some of the confetti shapes had already come off the sheet, so I knew they’d been cut all the way through!)

7. Collect your confetti

Once you’re sure the cuts have all gone through the material, it’s time to take off the excess and toss it! Using your fingernails (my preferred method) or a scraper tool, gently remove your confetti pieces from the mat.

And the best news ever is that there are no additional steps toward making this confetti waterproof. It already is!

Get the rest of your snowglobe supplies ready and have fun. Just be sure to use glycerin in your water so the confetti has that slow-motion falling effect!

Video Tutorial for Making Waterproof Confetti

This is a great project to do with the kids!

Recruit them for the removal of the confetti from the Cricut mat – their little fingers usually do a great job.

If you have any questions or comments about making your own waterproof confetti, you are welcome to leave them in the comments below.