If you're really serious about a White Christmas, this is how you do about it. Over at Instructables, user MakeSnow has a step-by-step guide to building your own backyard snow machine that will cover your lawn in fresh fluffy white stuff anytime the weather is cold enough to keep it from melting on impact. All you need is just over $100 in your pocket when you visit the hardware store, and the time to put it all together.


MakeSnow, true to his name, walks through all of the steps required to build an "internal mix" snow machine, meaning the air and water mix inside of the machine's plumbing before being ejected through nozzles to cover your yard. You'll definitely need to print out the shopping list of fittings, valves, and hoses before you go to the hardware store, and you'll also need a pressure washer if you don't have one already (which admittedly will up the price significantly - MakeSnow had a pressure washer) but once you have all of the necessary supplies, only air and water are required.

MakeSnow's instructions are great, and for the sake of disclosure, it looks like he also sells some of the parts you'll need for your setup if you don't get them at the hardware store, but the machine works as advertised. It still has to be pretty chilly outside to work, so don't expect to pull this out in the summer and go sledding in the yard, but if you live somewhere it gets cold during the winter but never seems to snow, it looks fun to build. Do you have a better design? Perhaps you'd just rent a snow machine from a party planner instead? Whatever you prefer, let's hear it in the comments.


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