DIY Snowman Kit

Hi! Are you about ready for Christmas? I'm getting there. We're in the process of moving across country as well (moving + Christmas + two birthdays = not my best idea) but I'm still trying to keep as many traditions going as possible.

Each year I try and make a little something for our friends children. Two years ago I made the Indoor Snowball Fight. Last year for Christmas I made Do It Yourself Snowman Kits.

These are fun and inexpensive and you may have many of the supplies already. Ready to see how to make them? Let's go!

Here are the supplies I used: artificial carrot, black river rocks, large buttons, chop sticks, fabric scissors, golf tees, E6000 glue, a black top hat (from the Target dollar section but I've also seen some similar to this at Hobby Lobby), a wire hanger (not picture), and a fleece blanket.

The first step is making the carrot nose. As you can see in the photo above the carrots I used had some fake greenery in the top. I pulled that out and then used the E6000 to glue in a chopstick. The chopsticks work great but are too long so first I scored a grove around the whole thing using strong kitchen shears and then it was much easier to break it along the score line and glue it in.

Next I glued the golf tees to the black river rocks and the backs of the large buttons. I bought the river rocks from the Dollar Tree and I tried using ones that had a flat side for the tee to stick. I used larger rocks for the eyes and five smaller rocks for the smile.

Lastly, I used wire cutters to cut off the two bent ends of a wire hanger (where the red marks are on the photo below.) Then I squeezed them together so they made two very skinny U's. I pushed these through the two long sides of the hat from the outside top of the brim, right near the ribbon. (Sorry! I forgot to take a photo of this part.) This way, when the kids put the hat on their snowman they can use the hangers to dig into the snow so it won't blow away so easily.

To finish the kit I cut the blanket into 6 inch strips for the scarf and then wrapped it in a gold ribbon with a note attached.

We had so much snow last year but it was so cold that it was terrible for packing. This chubby little snowman was actually made by piling snow up on top of a large planter. He was very jolly.

And here is one of the happy recipients of our gift. I love his snowman. The curve of the eyes and the missing carrot nose make him look a bit mischievous :)

Hopefully I'll get the time to post about the gifts I made this year. I've been able to mail them all out except one because I still have to wrap the other gifts that go along with it for the rest of the family.

I hope your holiday preparations are going smoothly and you're keeping those traditions alive!
~J