How to Make a Golden Snitch

Last Updated: March 4, 2023

Ever wanted to make a Golden Snitch? It might not fly on its own, but crafting your own decorative Golden Snitch can be a fun way to celebrate and show off your love of Harry Potter and the beloved game of Quidditch. With a few simple materials and tools, which can be found at any craft store, you can soon have your very own handcrafted Golden Snitch.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Ping-Pong Ball

1
Make a paperclip stand for your snitch. First, take a ping pong ball, and make a small hole. This can be done with anything sharp and small. Unfold the large paper clip and form it to make an appropriate stand. Stick the paper clip into the hole in the ball.^{[1]
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2
Paint your snitch. Put down some newspaper beneath the ping-pong ball so that the paint doesn't stain your workstation. Use a metallic gold spray paint cover your ball with at least two coats. Let it dry.^{[2]
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3
Make the outer shell of the snitch. Take the other ping pong ball, and cut it in half, using either an exacto knife, a kitchen knife, or scissors. Draw a swirl pattern on each half of the ball that mirror each other. With a small pair of scissors, carefully cut out the swirl patterns. Paint the swirl patterns and the ping-pong halves, and let them dry. Use plain white craft glue to stick the cut-out swirls back to the ping-pong halves, somewhere where the cut-outs don't overlap with the holes in the ping-pong halves.^{[3]
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4
Make wings. Cut out the plain paper into two identical wing shapes. The easiest way to do this is to fold the paper in half and cut both wings out at once.
- You can do the wings as you like, but an idea is to cut out 2 appropriately-sizes half circles, and then cut "flaps" out of the straight sides, to make feathers.^{[4]
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5
Attach everything together. Glue the cut-out half-ping pong balls to the actual ball on the stand. Put some glue on the end of each wing, and tuck it in the swirls. Hold it together for a few seconds so that they stays on. Let the glue dry before you remove your finished snitch from its stand.^{[5]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Styrofoam Ball

1
Paint the snitch. Use metallic golden spray paint on the styrofoam ball.
- Put newspaper down so you don't stain your workstation
- Stick a toothpick to hold the ball while you paint it.
- Make the coats light so that the paint doesn't melt the styrofoam.
- Let it dry.
2
Attach glitter or sequins (optional). As an alternative to using paint, you can use glitter or sequins. If you want to use glitter to decorate your snitch, just spray the ball with adhesive, and sprinkle glitter over it. Brush off excess glitter and reapply until you are happy with the result. If you want to use gold sequins, stick small pins into the sequins, and then stick them into the styrofoam ball, until the ball is evenly covered with sequins.^{[6]
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3
Attach feathers. Take two gold, yellow, or white feathers, coat the ends with glue, and stick onto the ball.
- Make sure the wings are perfectly opposite one another on the ball.
- If the stems of the feathers are strong enough, they can be stuck directly into the styrofoam, without the need for glue.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Christmas Ornament

1
Prepare the wings. On a plain sheet of paper, draw the wing shape you want for your snitch. A simpler shape will make the wire easier to form. Form two lengths of wire into the shape of the wings.
- Cut about four inches of wire for each wing using wire cutters.
- Bend the wire using wire cutters into the shape you've drawn for your wings.
- Twist the two ends of the wire together into a tight coil.
2
Finish the wings. Fold the paper with the wing shape drawn on it in half so that you can cut out two identical copies of the wings. Cut the wings out. Using plain craft glue, coat the length of the wire wings. Place the paper wings on the wire, and let dry. Spray adhesive on each side of the wings and sprinkle glitter on them. Shake off the excess glitter.
- Alternatively, you can use tissue paper. Push a sheet of tissue paper onto the glue-coated wire, and then cut it down to size.
3
Attach the wings. Apply a liberal amount of super glue to each wing coil. Hold the coils onto the ball for thirty seconds, or until the connection is stable.
- Make sure the wings are on opposite sides of the ball.
- If your ornament is made of glass and not plastic, you might need to use something other than super glue, like fabric glue.

Community Q&A

Question

Is there any way that I can make my snitch metallic?

Cecilia Flores

Top Answerer

You could use metallic paints of any kind. Spray paint, nail polish, acrylics paint, liquid eye shadows, any metallic liquid. If it doesn't dry down, use a transparent spray on sealant.
Question

Could I use a tennis ball, and real feathers? It is a school project so I need to make it well.

Community Answer

Yes, but use a lot of coats of paint on it. Use lots of feathers to make the wings full. Hot glue them on.
Question

Do we need to use the golden spray paint?

Community Answer

No, but you should use a color close to gold, such as yellow. It's your snitch, so personalize it!