I had a woman purchase these 2 snow-people from my Etsy last week - a boy and a girl. A snowman with a mustache, isn't that the funniest thing you've seen all day?? After she got them, she thought that it was so cute that she bought another one! So, while I make the new one, its a perfect time for me to teach YOU how to make one yourself. Doesn't that sound exciting? Just don't put me out of business, k?
Supplies needed:
1 tube sock - Men's (preferably white, unless you want a funky colored one)
Rice
Polyfill or other cottony stuffing
Buttons
Hot glue gun
Pins with colored pin-heads * See picture
Rubber bands - 3 per snowman
1 Jingle Bell
Some white thread or white embroidering thread
Tapestry or Yarn Needle
Knifty Knitter Spool Loom - This is the one I use ** see other scarf options below
2 different yarns - complimentary colors, I like to use the frilly Lion Brand Fun Fur for these along with a plain color. Or you could do 2 different shades of the same color, as I do in this tutorial.
*These are the pins I use for the eyes. You could use different colors depending on what color scarf you make! (The red ones kind of creep me out though..)
Directions:
Starting with your tube sock, lay it flat and measure about 11 inches from the opening. Cut the sock at this spot. You will now have 2 pieces of sock! Put aside the part on the right, the toe part. We will revisit this guy later.
Now turn the other part inside out. Scrunch up the cut end evenly and put a rubber band around it tightly, pretty close to the end.
Turn it back right-side out. Now we are going to throw some rice in there. I don't usually measure how much I put in there, but for your sake, I will. I put about 1 cup of dry rice into the sock. FYI - its really hard to pour rice out of a measuring cup into the sock with only 2 hands.... This is probably why I don't measure?? Generally, I cut a diagonal hole in the rice bag and just pour until it looks right.
Now you want to take your cotton stuffing and stuff, stuff, stuff! The first piece or two that you put down there, you will want to smoosh it into the rice, so that the rice kind of travels outward and upwards. Then stuff on top of that until you get the shape you like. Smoosh it around, move that stuffing and rice around until it feels right. When you get the size you like, put a rubber band around the top, right where the stuffing ends.You will have leftover sock at the top. Totally okay.
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| Dunkin' Donuts to keep my crafting skills alive. |
Looks like a tall, fat, white turd, huh? haha.. My snowman measures 6.5 inches from bottom to rubber band. So now we want to get rid of the excess sock at the top. Cut it off, leaving about 1/4 inch above the rubber band. Like this:
Okay so we need to give him a head, so figure out where you want it to start. I like to start it just above where the ribbed section starts. Put a rubber band around there, but not too tight, just enough to give him a shape. He might look a little lumpy and weird, but its okay.
Now is the time to turn him to find the best angle for his front. I like to put the lumpy parts in the back because its easier than trying to smoosh and shape them into something smooth. For the most part, the head is always the right shape, but if not, you can work that pretty easily.
Let's put his hat on now! Take the toe part that you cut off earlier and fold the cut part up about 1/2 inch, and then fold it AGAIN about 1 inch. Then, carefully, put it on top of your snowman's head, covering up his silly ponytail on top. If you don't cut off the excess top, you will have a huge lump here when the hat is on top. I like to pull the back and the sides of the hat down to almost the rubber band, so it looks like a real hat. The front should be up to allocate for his face. I also like to shape the hat so that the top is pulled down next to his face. This helps hide the bump from the top of his head.
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| Fold it up 1/2 inch... |
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| Then fold it up about 1 inch. |
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| Put his hat on! |
Say you wanted a longer hat, you would go back to the beginning where you cut this piece initially, and just make it longer. Sure, it makes the snowman a little shorter, but its still adorable!
Okay, okay, time to make our scarf. Cast onto the small end of your Spool Loom (side with 5 prongs) using both strands of yarn, and continue working the yarn until it measures about 12 inches long. Cut off a long tail, and use a yarn or tapestry needle to cast off. Pull tight, and pull the tail through the middle of the scarf to hide it. Do the same for the other end.
** Other scarf options - If you don't have a Spool Loom (really, they are only $5 at Wal-Mart), you could cut a piece of fabric instead and just tie it loosely around the neck. Or you could crochet one, or knit one. Whatever your preferred crafting style is!
Cut a piece of yarn about 10 inches long and thread it through your needle. (For this part, I use the yarn that is least frilly/furry, and the most easily-threadable through a needle. If you see the light blue yarn I used, its super fuzzy and hard to get through a needle eye. Going for the least-frustrating!)
Wrap your scarf around your snowman's neck and arrange the way you want it to look. Pull it a little tight around the neck, so its longer (just don't choke him!). While holding it place, stick the needle up through the bottom, going through both layers of scarf, over a 1/4 - 1/2 inch across the top, and then back down through both layers again. Tie both ends together with a double or triple knot. Cut the excess strings less than 1 inch from the knot. I usually just leave these there, once you fix the scarf, you won't even be able to see it. Because, really, who is going to be checking out the underside of your snow-person's scarf?
Cut 1 piece of yarn from each color that you used for the scarf about 20 inches long. This is the hard part...Using both strings together, tie a bow around just the very tip of the hat. Less then 1 inch from the end. Make the loops long. If you want longer loops, then you would just need to make your yarn longer, 24 inches or more.
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| This is how it is supposed to look, but the strings are a little short for my liking. I usually have them go down to the bottom of the snowman. |
Take your thread and thread it through the hole in the jingle bell, then through the same hole in the same direction that you just did. See the picture below if you can't figure out my weird wording lol. Then thread one side of the string through your needle, and through the very tip of the hat. Tie this piece to the other end with a double or triple knot, and then cut the strings short.
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| I know I said use white, but I ran out.. |
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And here he is!
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| I love using mismatched buttons for these. I've used plain black ones before, but they just look so boring! |
Adorable, no? Hope you made it through the entire tutorial...sorry it was long. Show me the little snowmen and women that you create! I would love to see them :)
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