We’ve been busy little elves around here getting some DIY projects finished before Christmas. Here’s the first one… snowmen that are the same height as Carter. How cute are these?!
These are super easy and inexpensive to make. All three cost me less than $15 combined. Here’s what you’ll need:
- wooden fence post {about $4 each at Home Depot for a 5 foot post, which you can cut down to your chid’s height}
- white paint
- black paint
- hot glue
- craft foam
- buttons
- hat and scarf {hint: get creative! I made these hats out of dog jackets, but socks also work well}
- poem printable {download for free here}
The first step was cutting the boards down to Carter’s height (28.5 inches). You can have them cut at the store if you don’t have a saw at home. I opted to lightly sand the boards because they were a tiny bit prickly. You know, being wood and all. 😉 Then it took two coats of white paint to get full, even coverage.
After that, it was time to decorate. I cut out orange foam by hand in roughly a carrot shape. Not feeling confident? Head to Google Images and print some to trace. I laid the nose out onto the snowmen to roughly line up the hats and scarves.
The scarves were from the Dollar Store (plaid) and Target dollar spot (blue snowflakes). I couldn’t find hats that I loved. I’ve previously used fuzzy socks, but couldn’t find the perfect pattern in those either. So while digging around at Target in the dollar spot, I found these little fleece dog jackets for $3. I slid them onto the snowmen, rolled up the edges, and tacked them in place with the hot glue.
Then I tied thread around the dog jackets to make a bundle of fabric, cut off the excess, and cut fringe to make the little puffs on top of the hats. I hot glued the noses and buttons in place.
Now comes the really fun part… Carter’s artwork! I used acrylic paint and Carter’s tiny fingerprints to make the nose and eyes. This was definitely a two-person job, so I called in my husband for backup.
One more shameless baby picture. Carter was very serious about his artwork! His fingerprints are pretty small, so we swirled them around for the eyes to make them bigger. I thought about using his toe print for that one instead, but opted for quick and easy.
Look how cute they turned out! I love how each one is unique.
The final step is to add on a cute little poem, which I attached to the back of the scarf.
How precious did they turn out? I know we will treasure these for years to come, and they’ll make perfect gifts for the grandparents too. I can’t wait to stand Carter up beside his next year!
Thanks to Mrs. Wills’ Kindergarten for the great idea!
The other quick craft we did? Mistletoes! His feet are so big compared to when we first started crafting with them back in March, and his little tiny fingerprints are so precious. Super easy too! {Update: click here to see our new winter footprint crafts with mistletoes and snowmen.}
