Fun
Snow globe
Grab the glass and give it a shake: the snow swirls up and drifts slowly down over a tiny village, a Christmas tree, a snowman — or your own photo.
Drag the globe from side to side, tap it, or press Space.
Save your snow globe
The GIF shows the globe being shaken and the snow drifting down; the PNG is the globe as it is now.
Play and explore in your browser. No account needed.
Frequently asked questions
How realistic is the snow?
The flakes are simulated in a liquid rather than falling through air. A shake stirs the liquid into a swirl with smaller eddies that die away over a couple of seconds; each flake follows the moving liquid with a little lag and sinks at its own slow speed, and the heavier gold glitter sinks faster. Flat flakes flicker as they tumble. After a firm shake about half of the snow is back on the ground after 7 to 10 seconds and nearly all of it within about half a minute, much like a real globe.
Why doesn’t shaking my phone do anything?
Shaking the device needs motion sensors, so it is only offered on phones and tablets. On an iPhone or iPad, Safari asks for permission first: press Shake with your phone and choose Allow. If you declined, Safari may not ask again until you open the page in a new tab; dragging the globe and the Shake button still work. Android browsers normally allow motion without asking. Computers have no motion sensor, so drag the globe or use the button there.
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The photo is read and drawn by your browser on your own device and is never sent to a server. It is scaled down to at most 1,600 pixels to keep the animation smooth. Use the zoom and position sliders to frame it; the bottom of the picture sits behind the snowy ground, so keep faces in the upper two-thirds.
Can I send my snow globe to someone?
Yes — download it as a GIF and share it in a message, email or post. The GIF shows the globe being shaken and the snow swirling and settling for 5 seconds at 20 frames per second, 360 or 480 pixels wide, and it loops forever. The PNG is a still picture at 1200 × 1440 pixels, good for printing or a card.
What changes if my device is set to reduce motion?
With reduced motion on, the globe stays still on its base instead of wobbling when you drag or shake it, shakes are gentler, and the snow does not swirl up by itself when the page opens. The snow still moves when you choose to shake the globe.
About this tool
This virtual snow globe tries to feel like the real thing. The glass has a thick rim, soft window reflections and a bright highlight, and it sits on a turned base that you can make walnut, festive red, ivory or gold, with a brass plaque carrying your own short message. Inside, you can choose one of three little worlds — a snowy village with glowing windows and a chapel, a decorated Christmas tree with presents, or a snowman in a top hat and red scarf — all drawn from scratch for this page.
Shaking is physical. When you drag the globe, it moves and tilts in your hand and springs back to its stand when you let go; the liquid inside lags behind the glass, so every sudden change of direction throws the snow the other way and stirs up eddies. On a phone you can shake the device itself. The flakes then settle slowly, each at its own pace, onto the snowy mound at the bottom, where they stay until the next shake.
To make a personal globe, put a photo inside — a family picture, a pet or your home — or write a name or a greeting in any colour. The photo stays on your device: it is drawn by your browser and never uploaded. When you are happy, download a looping GIF of the globe being shaken, ready to send as a winter greeting, or a sharp PNG of the scene.
The page is light on a phone: the scene, base and glass are drawn once and reused, only the few hundred flakes are redrawn each frame, and drawing stops entirely once the snow has settled, the tab is hidden or the globe is scrolled away. The globe respects your device’s reduced-motion preference and can be shaken with the keyboard, too — focus it and press Space.