Chasing Snowflakes — How to Preserve Them Forever
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SNOW DAY!! Snow always makes me want to release my inner Lorelai Gilmore. I’ve been fascinated by snowflakes for as long as I can remember. I even made them the theme of our wedding. Over the past few years I’ve been spending more and more time out in the snow trying to photograph individual flakes. I love my snowflake pictures, but one of my favorite things I’ve done is actually preserving real snowflakes. It also happens to be probably the number one thing people ask me how to do. On a snowy day, you can find me laying in an open doorway with my “snowflake catching kit” (which lives in the freezer year-round for some reason), attempting to capture some flakes. It has taken a lot of trial and error, and I still don’t have a 100% success rate, but I’ve got a pretty reliable system going. Read on if you’d like to know how I do it. It is worth the effort if you decide to give it a try!
First, here’s what you need:
microscope slide covers
LIQUID super glue (NOT gel!) **
tweezers or paintbrush (to pick up flakes)
box or plastic tub (to cover your work area)
optional: black or other dark colored paper to catch flakes on
** A couple of notes about the super glue: You can find packs of little tubes of it that are perfect for this purpose. I don’t know about you, but once I use super glue once and put the cap back on, I often can’t get it off again. Rather than waste a big bottle/tube, I just use the tiny ones. Also, I meant what I said about not using the gel version. I read somewhere that you shouldn’t use it, and I tried it anyway. That was a mistake.
Not every snowfall is the same. For one thing, I’ve learned that it needs to be well below freezing to get the best results. If the temperature is hovering too close to freezing, even the most perfect flakes will most likely melt while you’re working with them. Sometimes you get the delicate, perfectly-formed flakes, and sometimes it just comes down in wet clumps. We want the individual flakes. Before I get too excited, I generally open a door and stick my arm out to see what lands on my sleeve.
Once I’ve determined that the snowfall is the right kind, I take all of my supplies—anything that will be touching the flakes—and put them outside in the snow to cool. Even though I keep my “kit” in the freezer (except the glue, which lives in the fridge), I still put it out for 20 minutes or so. I put the slides/covers, tweezers/paintbrush in a zip-top bag so they don’t accumulate snow. I cover them with the box/bin for extra protection. They just need to get really, really cold.
Once everything is cold enough to work with, I start looking for some pretty flakes. If your paper is already covered, you can always shake it off and start over. Once I find a pretty one, I use the paint brush or tweezers to gently pick it up and transfer it to the slide. If it looks good on the slide, I squeeze a drop of superglue onto it, and then gently press a slide cover on top of that. You don’t want to crush the snowflake. Sometimes I put multiple snowflakes on one slide and cover it with another slide.
Once the first slide looks good, I set it aside and repeat those steps until I’m satisfied with what I have. (Or until I can’t feel my fingers anymore.) Then, as long as the temperature is supposed to stay COLD for at least a day or two, I leave my slides outside. I cover them up so they have some protection, but then I leave them. They definitely have to stay out of the sun. After 24-48 hours, I bring them inside and put them in the freezer for a week or two.
After the glue has properly hardened, the snowflake is preserved! You no longer have to keep it in the freezer. How amazing is that?! This one is my favorite, and I’ve had it for years!
