Today I’ll be sharing with you how to make a Snowman from old sweatshirt material, odds and ends, and a little patience. I asked my mom if she wouldn’t go through her considerable stash of fabric and look for pieces she didn’t care for anymore; she found this:

I don’t like it either, but that doesn’t matter, because we’re going to paint it. Any old sweatshirts lying about that have seen better days? You’ve got your material as well.

First, lay your fabric out, doubled over, and cutout a snowman shape. This will give you both sides.

• Stitch the sides together (right sides together), leaving a whole at the bottom and turn it out so the fuzzy side is on the outside.
• Stuff it with shredded office paper (we won’t be cuddling up to this snowman) and whip stitch the whole closed. You could use expensive cotton stuffing, but why?
• Thin white glue with water and smear over the entire surface. This will give a stiffer surface to paint on.
• Let dry on wax paper, turning over to allow both sides to dry completely.
• Paint with white acrylic craft paint - I used the cheapest “Apple Barrel" white paint in the large bottle. I just squirted it on an moved it around with sponges and brushes. This will take at least two sessions, because you have to allow the one side to dry before doing the other.

As you can see, this makes a ‘blank slate’ snowman. I took some corduroy (also free from my mum) and improvised a scarf and cap with a little bell on the end for this guy. I tacked them both in place with jewel glue (though I’m sure you could use something else). I did this before adding a face, because I wanted to see what room was left first.

I then added a bead for a nose (a spring bead you can see a closeup of  below), and a couple beads for buttons (these were picked up with a huge set of beads for $7 at a garage sale), each attached with jewel glue. After the glue dried, I touched it up with paint to make it blend better. Finally I painted on eyes, mouth and arms. You could use more objects for this, but I wanted it this way; I thought more beads might make it busy.

Doesn’t he have great texture? That’s from the fuzzy underside of the sweatshirt fleece.

Ex amore victoria!
Ryan