Look At Frosty Go!

I love snowmen! I think that they are just adorable! We don't get much snow here in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, so I have to rely on snowy crafts to get my fill. I found the cutest snowman on Pinterest. When I clicked on it to follow the link it brought me to the cutest website. She had snapped the photo at a craft show which meant.....boo hoo, they weren't for sale. I knew that they were needle felted and I just happen to know how to needle felt. So I made one and it turned out to be the cutest little snowman. Really very simple. I wanted to do a tutorial on him, but I know that not everyone needle felts (hey to my sweet sis!). That got me thinking, what do I have that we can use that is pretty much common in every household. Styrofoam balls, fabric balls, ping pong balls, acorns, etc? What about cotton balls?

The little guy on the left is made out of two cotton balls and the one on the right is needle felted.

 

 

Inspiration photo, via pinterest: heathercameronstylest.

Pattern for hat and nose.

 

 

Supplies needed and of course paint brush and needle. Brown circle is a thin wooden disk. If you don't have one just cut out two smallish circles from a cereal box, glue together, let dry and then follow the steps below.

You will unroll one cotton ball.

Now reroll it. Try to keep this ball smaller than the body ball. You can use your fingers to brush/smooth the cotton ball. Gently rolling it in your hand helps, but don't do this too much or your ball will start looking lumpy. A tiny drop of glue may be used to keep the newly rolled ball from unraveling.

In this photo I have made one eyebrow and am in the process of adding a seed bead eye. Finish the other eyebrow and other eye and then make the mouth (look at photo for placement). Cotton material can be a little tough for the needle to push through, so make sure that you have a very sharp new needle. If this step intimidates you or you struggle with it, just use glue instead. Snip a tiny length of thread (1/8" or smaller) for the eyebrows and mouth. A needle can be a useful tool in helping you to manipulate the thread into place. Glue eyes on, using needle to place drops of glue on the cotton ball before adding the eyes. If the orange felt nose looks too squarish and not round enough to look like a carrot, gently roll that between your fingertips and glue in place.

I found that curling the hat around the end of a pencil helps the hat hold it's shape so that you are able to easily glue the sides together. After the glue had dried, coat the hat with mod podge and dip it into the fine glitter-shh...I don't know if this is proper etiquette but I just dip it right into the bottle, sometimes double dipping.

Looks like a marshmallow with a face!

 

Paint the wooden disk then apply mod podge and glitter. Now assemble the snowman in these steps:

1. Glue body onto disk.

2. Glue head onto body.

3. Glue hat onto head.    

The cotton ball snowman is kind of fragile. He doesn't like being messed with a lot, because he is just a cotton ball after all. Very carefully tie his "scrap of ribbon" scarf on or you could aways glue a bow on-cute! After this step you can add some cheeks. Makeup blush applied with a cotton swab is all he needs or just leave him plain.

Even though the cotton balls are way more fragile than the needle felted balls, I still love this Little Cotton ball Snowman!

 

BFF!

 

What different personalities each one has even though they were made practically the same way :)

 

 

On the Frosty shelf. Tutorial for the Glittery Paper Icicles on yesterday's post.

Have a wonderful, keep those fingers busy kind of day!

Holly

*ps. be sure to go and check out ImagiMeri's blog to see the awesome vintage ornament wreath she is giving away! I love those wreaths.

 

 

 

Clanky, Clanky, Chink

This morning DH, D#2 and I went antiquing and Christmas browsing. Well....actually I went antiquing and D#2 came along because I promised to take her to the wonderful Peppermint Forest and DH came along to get lunch (and to drive b/c I hate driving in town!!). The antique store is called The Sleepy Poet. I am not sure how many vendors they have but it must be over 100. I found one sweet booth that was almost like a yard sale. Her prices were very good. Here is what I bought. Notice all of the "unreplaceables" aka glassware/ceramics.

 DHubby was in charge of the buggy and let's just say the store's floors were cobblestoned. Whenever D#2 and I lost hubby all we had to do was be quiet and listen for clanky, clanky, chink and we knew right where he was. I must remember to bring some jingle bells and tie them to the buggy so we will never lose him in any store, ever! In his most awesome practical mind he thinks if I am not near a buggy the less I buy b/c who in their right mind wants to shop with their arms full of unreplaceables, books, cookie cutters, large fisher price castle, keeping up w/ D#2 and chase after a buggy!?!?  And on an empty stomach!?!? *snort* doesn't work.

I have created these cute little Christmas Snowmen Shakers. They were so fun to make and when shaken they "jingle".

The Snowman on the left has a different mouth than the pattern.

Supplies:

~felt in assorted colors

~jingle bells (tiny, about the size of an English pea, you will need about 8)

~12" wooden dowel painted * I spiraled a ribbon down one and painted the other then put glitter on it)

~ribbon for the hat band

~poster board or light weight cardboard (from cereal/snack boxes)

~scrap of fabric for bow tie

~stuffing

 1. cut out all pattern pieces

2. cut out all felt pieces *note to cut out 2 face, hat and hat brim pieces

3. Using the pattern for face, hat and hat brim cut out 2 of each out of cardboard about 1/4" smaller, hat brim requires only one cardboard cutout.

4. Stitch cheeks, nose and eyes to face. A tiny drop of glue will help keep pieces from shifting while you sew. Using buttonhole stitch on nose and cheeks and tack stitch for eyes. Draw mouth on with a disappearing pen. Stem stitch mouth.

4. Sew white strip (3/4" x 12 1/2") to face.

5. To reinforce face and back of head cut out 2 cardboard pieces about 1/4" smaller than pattern. Do the same for hat but only one piece for hat brim.

6. After sewing white side strip to face apply small amount of glue to cardboard piece using brush spread thinly. *Please take care that the plain side not colored side (with all of the wording) is glued to the back of the face. You do not want "Cheez-its" showing through on Snowman's face. Glue cardboard onto back piece.

7. Fill match box with jingle bells. Follow instructions for adhering box and inserting dowel step here.

8. Stitch back on, stuffing as you go.

Hat

1. Glue cardboard pieces to back of front and back piece. Let dry.

2. Glue sandwich for brim: bottom brim, cardboard piece (cut 1/4" smaller than pattern), top brim. Let dry.

3. Stitch hat front and side strip (3/4" x 8") together. Then stitch on hat back.

4. Lightly stuff.

5. Stitch hat top to brim, using buttonhole stitch. You will match up the long sides of the hat top to the long sides of the hat brim, making sure to center. This stitching will keep the hat top tightly on the brim, so it is not necessary to worry about stitching the short side of the hat top. *If this is confusing please let me know in the comment section and I can upload a picture :) 

6. Glue ribbon to hat. Glue on holly leaves and berries.

7. Add scarf or bow tie.

8. Now you can add glitter to dowel. I also like to apply mod podge to my ribbon spiraled dowel. This keeps the ribbon from unraveling.

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Print size should be set at 8 1/2" x 11". It should fit a whole sheet of copy paper.

Above: I use a tiny hole punch to punch out holly berries. Since I use a wool blend felt the cut is pretty sharp but sometimes sharp tiny scissors are needed to help out. The long doll need is a wonderful tool for picking up the tiny berries to adding glue to places. I love this useful needle!

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and if it is as clear as mud, just email me and I will try to explain better. Have a wonderful, crafting weekend,

Holly