Create a group of carolers or a sleighful
of happy winter friends with your mismatched children's mittens, wooden balls,
and lots of imagination. The sky is the limit!
You will need
children's mittens
rice
cotton batting
11/4" diameter wooden balls
buttons
mismatched infant or children's socks
small pom poms
scrap material for scarves
silk florals (holiday springs, berries, flowers, etc.)
sleigh or basket
tiny black plastic eyes or black acrylic paint
rosey lipstick
black marker
Basic Snow Person
Fill the hand portion of a child's mitten with one or two handfuls of rice,
fill the rest of the way with cotton batting, be sure to fill thumb as well.
Cut a scrap piece of material for scarf and gently tie around the mitten
where the ribbing of the cuff meets the plain material of the mitten (end
of the cuff). (When tying scarf, point the scarf material away from the thumb
to make it appear as if the scarf is covering the person's other arm.) Fold
down cuff to cover scarf and form a turtle neck. Hot glue on wooden ball
to top of turned down cuff. Glue on tiny plastic eyes or paint on with black
acrylic paint. Use black marker for mouth. Gently dot on lipstick for cheeks
by applying first to your finger and then dotting onto face. Glue 2 or 3
buttons to tummy area. Glue a stem of holiday florals or greenery tucked
into the arm (thumb), and glue arm to the mitten body.
You can personalize each snow person
with different hats, scarves, florals, and more. Our examples show how you
can create an entire family of folks by simply using different colored mittens,
scarves, and different styles of hats and ear muffs.
Grandpa
Our Grandpa (pictured above) wears a top hat that is fashioned from a scrap
of scarf. Lay your basic snowperson face up on your work surface. Lay a
rectangular scrap flat and place under ball head. Fold a flap of the material
up to form the brim of the hat (see photo) and begin gluing in place, wrapping
around the head as you work. Glue final seams in the back of the hat so they
are not visible.
Little Sister
Little Jessica is wearing earmuffs instead of a hat. We simply cut a scrap
piece from the cuff of an infant's sock and glued it across the top of her
head. At the ends of the headband, glue two pom poms for the muffs.
Brother & Sister
Amy and Peter are wearing snow hats. These hats are both fashioned from infant
socks. To make Amy's hat we simply fit the cuff of the sock onto her head
and rolled up the edge of the cuff to form her hat brim. Then trim the end
of the sock off and fold over neatly then glue in place. Glue a pom pom to
the top. For Peter's hat, put sock on head the same way as Amy's, trim toe
portion off, then cut the end of the sock into three sections. Pull those
three sections together to form a cone type tip, glue three pom poms to that
tip.
Mom & Dad
A slightly larger mitten was used for Mom and Dad. Because the cuffs of the
mittens were much larger and thicker, we formed parka hoods by simply gluing
the ball inside the cuff and gluing the "chin" to the mitten itself.
You can display these snow people in
a basket with sprigs of greenery and holly berries, or place them in a sleigh.
Fill the sleigh with cotton batting and place each family member in their
seat. Place these cute little people on your fireplace mantel, or attach
a piece of gold cord and hang from your tree or in your doorway.
Basketful
Sleighful
Poem
If you'd like to give these folks as gifts, you can include this poem to
add just the right touch:
The Snow Folks
I look out the window,
And I see a place
That's covered all over
With white, frosted lace.
This place once had colors,
But it changed overnight.
And now it's a
Glistening, magical white!
I wonder who lives
In a place where I'd freeze,
If I didn't wear sweaters
And boots to my knees.
These folk must be snow
From their heads to their toes!
For I'd never be happy
With frost on my nose.
The folks who live here
Just love to be out
In the cold, wintry drifts
As the snow swirls about.
They're happy in blizzards.
They smile through a storm.
They laugh when it freezes,
But they cry when it's warm!
~ Author Unknown
From Our Readers
[click image to view larger]
Hi Amanda,
Hi I'm Carrie I tried your Snow Friends. Had fun and we all loved them.
I used a golf ball as the head and on th other one a big bead and macrame yarn as the hair.
About the Author:
Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She is also the owner of FamilyCorner.com Magazine. Subscribe to her free newsletter by clicking "sign up" below
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