How to make a golden snidget from Harry Potter
Although this fantastic bird has yet to make it to the big screen, I think this precursor for the golden snitch deserves to be made real. This extremely rare, very cute bird is mentioned in the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, described as a round, fat gold-feathered bird with red jewel eyes and incredible speed and agility. Based on this, I've created my own version of a snidget, which I meant to be hung as a holiday ornament, but could be modified to pin to a costume.
I drew inspiration for this project from depictions below. Going clockwise starting with the upper left, there's the drawing from the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book released in 2001 (unknown illustrator), how it appears in the video game Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup (2003), concept art by Emmanuel Orquendo (2015), and the illustration by Olivia Lomenech Gill in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Illustrated Edition (2017).
Materials
-Foam spheres (1.5 inch diameter)
-Gold ties
-Gold eye pins
-Fall leaf sequins
-Gold sequin pins
-Metallic gold paint
-Red rhinestones-Gold leaves
Tools
-Wire cutters
-Hobby knife
-Superglue
1. Gather the materials
All of these materials can be found at a good-sized craft store. The foam spheres, gold ties, and gold leaves can be found in the florals or wedding supplies section. The rhinestones can be found in scrapbooking or in beads/fabric work. Don't be too fussy about the gold paint, since it will mostly be covered by the sequins. I went for the 1.5 inch diameter foam spheres with smooth sides. If you want to go a size larger, you could use cut a 1.5 inch sphere down for the head instead of using the gold tie. If you can't find the gold ties, you can also substitute gold-colored beads and wire.
2. Carve out the neck
To ensure that the head of the snidget looks like it belongs to the body, you need to carve out a circular depression. There are plastic tools for working with foam, but I made do with a hobby knife. Don't go too deep, at most you want half of the bead of the gold tie to be enclosed in the foam.
3. Paint the body
Paint a smooth-side foam sphere gold. Simple enough right? This can be done with a regular acrylic paint with a brush or using a spray paint. I used a gold spray paint, though it's not very metallic looking. Doesn't matter too much though, since most of the body will be covered in feathers. If you're spray-painting be sure to apply outside for the best ventilation. In either case, it's best to impale it onto a bamboo skewer first, to ensure that the paint job doesn't smear and dries properly.
4. Create the head
Next, get the gold tie and rhinestones. Apply a small bit of superglue about halfway between the holes in the bead, at a point halfway between where the tie comes out and where it pass through to the other side. Set the red rhinestone and allow to dry.
On the mirrored position on the other side, set the other eye. Give it some time to dry properly.
Cut the wire so that about 1 inch of the wire remains attached the bead. Save the cut portion of wire, you'll need it later for the bill and head plume.
Apply some glue to the bead where it meets the wire, and some to the depression in the foam. Impale the wire into the center of the foam depression and press it into place until the superglue dries.
5. Place the eyepin
If you want to hang the snidget like an ornament, you'll need an eye pin. Depending on the length of the eyepin, you may need to cut it down to about 3/4 to 1inch length. Embed the eyepin about 1/2 inch back from the head. If it doesn't stay in, apply some glue to the pin try again.
5. Add the wings
I used some gold fake leaves as the wings. Sometimes they're found in the wedding supplies, or with the florals. They come with a bendy wire, but I found it's easier to trim off the excess wire. Apply superglue to the base of the leaves and stick to each side. Be careful though, the fabric on the leaves are very thin, the superglue can seep through and stick to your fingers.
6. Adding the feathers
Get out the leaf sequins and the sequin pins. The pack of sequins I got came in three colors: gold, bronze, and copper. I used the gold and bronze sequins for variety, but you could just opt for solid gold. Start on the neck, fixing the sequins by pushing pins through the small holes. To mimic my pattern, apply the sequins in layers down the front, and try to keep it symmetrical.
If you have problems getting the pins to conform to the curve of the sphere, add a little superglue. The superglue slightly discolors the sequin, so try not to use much.
7. Adding the bill
Remember that leftover gold wire from the head bead? Time to use it. To give the snidget a head plume, thread a leaf sequin onto the end of the wire and glue the sequin into place.
Finally, trim the wire. You can be flexible with the length, but I recommend leaving about a bead's width and a half.
8. Finishing touches
That's about it! All you need to do now is to add some fishing line through the eye pin, and maybe a Christmas ornament hook. Enjoy the charming company of your new snidget friends!
I drew inspiration for this project from depictions below. Going clockwise starting with the upper left, there's the drawing from the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book released in 2001 (unknown illustrator), how it appears in the video game Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup (2003), concept art by Emmanuel Orquendo (2015), and the illustration by Olivia Lomenech Gill in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Illustrated Edition (2017).
Materials
-Gold ties
-Gold eye pins
-Fall leaf sequins
-Gold sequin pins
-Metallic gold paint
-Red rhinestones-Gold leaves
Tools
-Wire cutters
-Hobby knife
-Superglue
1. Gather the materials
All of these materials can be found at a good-sized craft store. The foam spheres, gold ties, and gold leaves can be found in the florals or wedding supplies section. The rhinestones can be found in scrapbooking or in beads/fabric work. Don't be too fussy about the gold paint, since it will mostly be covered by the sequins. I went for the 1.5 inch diameter foam spheres with smooth sides. If you want to go a size larger, you could use cut a 1.5 inch sphere down for the head instead of using the gold tie. If you can't find the gold ties, you can also substitute gold-colored beads and wire.
2. Carve out the neck
To ensure that the head of the snidget looks like it belongs to the body, you need to carve out a circular depression. There are plastic tools for working with foam, but I made do with a hobby knife. Don't go too deep, at most you want half of the bead of the gold tie to be enclosed in the foam.
3. Paint the body
Paint a smooth-side foam sphere gold. Simple enough right? This can be done with a regular acrylic paint with a brush or using a spray paint. I used a gold spray paint, though it's not very metallic looking. Doesn't matter too much though, since most of the body will be covered in feathers. If you're spray-painting be sure to apply outside for the best ventilation. In either case, it's best to impale it onto a bamboo skewer first, to ensure that the paint job doesn't smear and dries properly.
4. Create the head
Next, get the gold tie and rhinestones. Apply a small bit of superglue about halfway between the holes in the bead, at a point halfway between where the tie comes out and where it pass through to the other side. Set the red rhinestone and allow to dry.
On the mirrored position on the other side, set the other eye. Give it some time to dry properly.
Cut the wire so that about 1 inch of the wire remains attached the bead. Save the cut portion of wire, you'll need it later for the bill and head plume.
Apply some glue to the bead where it meets the wire, and some to the depression in the foam. Impale the wire into the center of the foam depression and press it into place until the superglue dries.
5. Place the eyepin
If you want to hang the snidget like an ornament, you'll need an eye pin. Depending on the length of the eyepin, you may need to cut it down to about 3/4 to 1inch length. Embed the eyepin about 1/2 inch back from the head. If it doesn't stay in, apply some glue to the pin try again.
5. Add the wings
I used some gold fake leaves as the wings. Sometimes they're found in the wedding supplies, or with the florals. They come with a bendy wire, but I found it's easier to trim off the excess wire. Apply superglue to the base of the leaves and stick to each side. Be careful though, the fabric on the leaves are very thin, the superglue can seep through and stick to your fingers.
6. Adding the feathers
Get out the leaf sequins and the sequin pins. The pack of sequins I got came in three colors: gold, bronze, and copper. I used the gold and bronze sequins for variety, but you could just opt for solid gold. Start on the neck, fixing the sequins by pushing pins through the small holes. To mimic my pattern, apply the sequins in layers down the front, and try to keep it symmetrical.
If you have problems getting the pins to conform to the curve of the sphere, add a little superglue. The superglue slightly discolors the sequin, so try not to use much.
Here's a few more angles on the finished feather patterns from the front, back, and side.
Remember that leftover gold wire from the head bead? Time to use it. To give the snidget a head plume, thread a leaf sequin onto the end of the wire and glue the sequin into place.
Then apply a little glue along the 1 inch of wire below the leaf sequin. Feed the wire through the back of the head, and poke it out through the front. In order to get the wire to stick, you may need to add a little more glue to each hole, and press the wire to a side of the hole.
8. Finishing touches
That's about it! All you need to do now is to add some fishing line through the eye pin, and maybe a Christmas ornament hook. Enjoy the charming company of your new snidget friends!
Good luck and keep crafting!
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