Wired Felt Snowman

I thought you might like to see another of the crafts featured at this year's Family Christmas Workshop. This is another felt ornament that I emulated from a scrapbooking page by Rebecca Sower.

This little guy can be dressed in various ways, like with a felt vest or stocking cap, even some little boots. We went with a simple scarf and ear muffs.

For supplies, you will need the following:
- white felt (self-adhesive felt works great!)
- red fabric or felt
- fabric for a scarf
- sturdy but pliable wire
- 2 poms for the ear muffs
- orange felt for the nose
- 2 buttons
- 6-8 seed beads for the eyes and mouth
- gold string for a hanger
For tools, you will need scissors, wire cutters, tacky glue, and (optionally) hot glue.


Begin by cutting a template for your snowman, making a shape that's appealing to you. We're making ours about 6" tall, but you can adjust larger or smaller. (Smaller ones would make great lapel pins.) Then, use the template to cut two snowman shapes from the white felt.

Cut a length of wire for the arms. Apply a generous layer of glue to one of the felt snowman pieces. Place the length of wire in position for the arms. If needed, add more glue around the area of the wire to ensure stability. Alternatively, self-adhesive felt makes this step less messy.

Place the other snowman felt onto the glued section, sandwiching the wire between the two sides.

Next, create a template for your mittens, and cut two sets of the mittens from the red fabric.

Apply some glue to one of the mitten sets and place the mittens around the tips of the wire.

Repeat for the other side.

Next, place the scarf around the neck of the snowman.

Gently tie the scarf around to the front.

Use scissors to snip fringe into the ends of the scarf.

Apply glue to the front of the snowman to secure the ends of the scarf.

Position the scarf into the glue.

Next, add a couple of buttons to the belly of the snowman.

Cut a nose from the orange felt. Pinking shears add a nice edge if you have any handy. Glue the nose to the center of the face.

Next, glue the eyes.

Draw a thin line with glue for the mouth and apply the seed beads. Try using a pin to maneuver the tiny beads into position. The glue keeps the seeds from rolling away and dries invisible.

You could also apply some blush to the cheeks. Then, set the snowman aside to dry for a few minutes.

Twist another length of wire into a curled shape for the ear muffs and trim to size.

Use hot glue to secure the poms to the ends of the wire. You can use tacky glue, but the ear muffs will need to be set aside to dry.

Position the ear muffs and glue in place.

Tie the gold string in a loop around the wire of the ear muffs for a hanger.

As soon as he's dry, he'll be ready to decorate your tree or add some cheer to a package.

While you're at it, make several! Since he's flat, he stores very neatly.


Try some different outfits while you're at it! If you give this project a try, please let me know and I'll link you up. I'd love to see what you come up with!


And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.



I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Sock Snowman

Here's another quick and easy idea for Christmas. It's inexpensive and great for younger children. For this craft, I modified a muslin and sock snowman I found on eHow.

The supplies you'll need are:

1 - small white sock
1 - small piece of orange felt
2 - 7mm black poms
1 - 6" thin strip of black felt, cut on one side with pinking shears
1 - 6" length of 1/8" red satin ribbon.
1 - small embellishment, such as a star or snowflake
2 - small rubber bands
fiberfil
For tools, you'll need sharp scissors and fabric glue, and optionally pinking sheers.

Begin by cutting the cuff from the sock, cutting across at the heel.

Loosely stuff the toes with fiberfil.

Secure the stuffed sock with a small rubber band.

Fold the red ribbon in half and tie the ends together with a large knot.

Insert the knotted end of the ribbon into the cut end of the sock cuff.

Secure the cut end of the cuff around the knotted end of the ribbon with a small rubber band. Tug the exposed loop of the ribbon to form a hanger.

Place the uncut end of the cuff over the rubber banded end of the stuffed toe section.

Roll back the edge of the cuff and secure with fabric glue.

Your sock should look something like this.

Next, cut the orange felt to make a nose. Pinking sheers add a nice decorative edge.

Apply a thin line of glue outlining the mouth.

Apply the strip of black felt onto the glue line for the mouth.

Add a spot of glue in the position of the eyes.

Place the two poms onto the spot of glue.

Add a spot of blush to the cheeks.

Glue the embellishment to the snowman hat.

And that's it! A cheery snowman to brighten someone's Christmas tree.

Let me know if you make one -- I'd love to feature your finished product!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.



I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Santa Snowman Earrings

It's that time again -- time to prepare for our annual Family Christmas Workshop event. Actually, it's been that time for a while, which is a good part of the reason why I've been absent for a bit. Now that the preparation is well underway, I'll catch you up on a number of the craft projects we're offering this year.

Each year we offer a pair of earrings. They are very simple to do, even for the youngest of visitors, and they make great gifts for teachers. This year, we're doing snowman earrings with a festive red Santa hat.

The supplies needed are 2 of each:
- French hook or equivalent
- extra-long quilter's pin (not the standard head pin, but an actual pin with a point)
- 10mm round white bead
- 6mm x 8mm red cone bead
- 5mm white pom
- 1"-length mini red rick-rack
- 1/2" square of plush fabric


Gather the supplies and lay them out on your work space. I find that working with jewelry crafts is always easier if done on a piece of fabric, like felt. It keeps the parts from rolling around, plus makes them easier to see.

Begin by folding a piece of the rick-rack in half, and spear the pin into the folded edge just inside the fold.

Slide the rick-rack to the head of the pin.

Next, add the round white bead.

There are some FABULOUS and inexpensive options for the 10mm white bead. The white agate is lovely, as well as the frosted crackle glass. Check out your options before settling on plain white.

Spear the piece of plush fabric in the center and slide it onto the pin to the top of the bead. There will be lots of excess fabric at this point, which is fine for now. You'll be trimming it up in a bit.

I used a plush fabric that reminded me of the same thing used for the super soft bathrobes. Fleece and terry cloth are additional options. It can be anything that will leave a little "fluff" when trimmed.

Next, slide on the bell bead, wide side against the plush fabric.

I learned after-the-fact that these are not easily found. I purchased mine off of ebay here. I haven't found them anywhere else. But you could also substitute a different shape and accomplish the same basic effect.

Now, position the point of the pin into the center of the pom and spear the "knot" on the inside of the pom. This might take a couple of tries, depending upon how tough your pom is. It's important to get the center of the pom, to keep it from pulling off the pin.

Using a sharp pair of scissors, trim the plush fabric to make a shapely trim for the hat.

You can experiment a little with different lengths for the trim. Just remember, you can always cut more but you can't put it back on. The pin hasn't been closed yet, so if you mess up, you can always slide the beads off and try with another piece of fabric.

When you're content with the trimming, use a pair of wire snips to cut off the point of the pin. You should have about 3/8" to 1/2" of wire left beyond the pom, depending upon the length of your pin. Shorten the remaining length if necessary.

Use your jewelry tool to turn the end of the wire to form a loop for the French hook. Insert the hook and close the loop.

And finally, use a sharp pair of scissors to trim the length of the rick-rack scarf to your preference.

And you're done! Aren't they fun?

You can change these up a bit and make them less seasonal by substituting different colors for the scarf and hat. And a semi-circle bead would give the effect of a sock hat, rather than a Santa hat.

To make it more general, substitute the 3-piece hat with a black cylinder bead and black sequin.

If you try this, I'd love to feature your finished project. Just let me know!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.



I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!