The Snowman Sled

November 28th, 2007

I love the look of vintage cotton spun ornaments and after making this snowman last year, I was itching to make more this year. This is my snowman sled…

With a vintage cotton spun looking snowman at the front:

And a decorated tree sticking out the rear:

Believe it or not, these things are not that crazy complicated to make and you can get everything you need from Michael’s craft store. Bear with me since this is going to be one crazy picture heavy post but step-by-step instructions are below. These are the supplies you will need:

And that includes…

One black roller ball pen
5″ piece of tan pipe cleaner
Red/white ribbon about 6″ long
3/4″ piece of black pipe cleaner
Red ball tipped sewing pin
12″ strand of miniature ornaments on a string

Small stocking (this one is from World Market, but you can find others at Michael’s or you could easily make your own)
1.5″ styrofoam ball
2″ styrofoam ball
10-15 cotton balls (the real cotton kind)
Small piece of black cardstock

Miniature tree (from Christmas Village aisles/sets)
Yarn, about 20″ worth
Hairspray

Tacky craft glue
Candy Cane
Wooden Sleigh (from Michaels for only 50 cents!)

You will not need, not pictured:
red acrylic paint
paintbrush
low temperature hot glue gun

The first step will be to paint your sled red using any craft paint. Set aside to dry.

Next, we will make the snowman. Last year, Amy tipped me off that you can use hairspray on cotton spun looking ornaments to set them. After some experimenting and more reading, you can also use wool or cotton roving if you have it (though cotton balls works fine for this) and spray starch. For the purposes of making this with the most typical household items, we’ll stick with cotton balls and hairspray.

Pull apart the cotton balls so you have a flat piece. Spray lightly with hairspray on both sides. Allow to dry.

Place a tissue over the dry cotton balls and iron lightly. This will act like starch on the cotton and make it stiffer and smoother.

Take your styrofoam balls and slightly twist one side on a table to make it slightly flat for joining the two balls together. The larger ball is you body and the smaller one is the head.

Using a low-temperature hot glue gun, join the head to the body.

Apply the tacky craft glue one portion of the head about the size of one your flattened and ironed cotton balls. Place and gently smooth the cotton ball over the glued area. Continue to apply the cotton all around the form. If you get any glue on your fingers, wipe them clean as they attach to the cotton and then to your fingers and frustration will ensue.

After you have glued one layer of cotton all around your snowman form. Smooth as best you can but don’t go too crazy, the final smoothing is yet to come. Spray liberally your form with hairspray and set aside to dry. Try to be patient or you’ll just get it all mucked up with sticky fingers + cotton. After it is has dried, roll the form around in your hands to smooth out the surface.

Now the body needs a hat. Cut a 4″ long rectangle by 1″ high. Using craft punches or circle templates, cut out two circles with a diameter of 7/8″ and 1″. Roll the rectangle to a diameter of 7/8″ and glue. (Use the circle you just cut out as a guide on how big it needs to be.)

Stuff the interior of the hat form with tissue.

Using the glue gun, glue on the top (7/8″ circle) and hat brim (1″ circle) to the bottom.

Using the glue gun again, glue the hat on to your snowman form.

For the face, punch regular size paper punch circles from the black cardstock scrap. You will need 4 of these. Also grab the black roller ball pen and red ball tipped sewing pin.

Glue on the eyes with the tacky craft glue as shown below, and stick in the sewing pin for the nose. (You may need to insert the pin at a downwards angle so you the sharp point doesn’t stick out the backside of the head.)

As pictured, glue on the paper “buttons” on the body with the tacky craft glue.

Using your fine point black roller ball pen, draw on a smiling face. Determine where you want the pipe to be and use a toothpick or other sharp point object to make the hole first. Then stick in the small piece of black pipe cleaner to make the pipe in its mouth. (I trimmed off some of the black chenille to make the black fluffy part shorter so it looked more like a pipe.)

 

Wrap the tan pipe cleaner around the backside of its neck to make its arms. Use the glue gun to glue down.

 

Now your snowman has arms!

Now, take your piece of yarn and wrap it around its neck several times to make its scarf. Knot at the neck and trim off about 1.5″ away from the neck.

Woo-hoo!! Your snowman is done. Now it needs a tree…

Grab your miniature bottle brush tree and bit of miniature pre-strung christmas ornaments. (You can find these in the miniature tree stuff aisle.)

All you have to do is put a little dab of hot glue on the tree and then put an ornament on top. Repeat all the way around the tree.

 

Then cut the string off that is between the ornaments and its done! Much easier than the snowman…

The candy cane is even easier, just take your red/white striped ribbon and slap a bow on that candy cane.

Now all the parts you need to make are ready!

Here they are in a test flight before the painted red sled and the addition of the miniature stocking. Cute as heck.

Entry Filed under: step-by-step, holiday