Snowman Building Tips

BY JENNY GOLDSBERRY
Do you want to build a snowman? Whether it’s your first time or your hundredth time, here are some tips for building a festive snowman for the holidays.
• Make sure to test your snow first! Just because there are several inches of snow on the ground doesn’t mean it’ll make a good sculpture. If you can make a solid snowball, then you’re set to move on.
•When you start to roll the ball into a bigger base, make sure you roll it in every direction. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a cylindrical roll rather than a round ball.
• Next, if you want to add more life to your snowman, consider adding some color! Take a spray bottle of very cold water. The colder the water, the less likely it will melt the snow. Add some food coloring to your bottle and spray away. Now your snowman stands out even more with colors other than white.
Snowman Craft
BY ANN PARK

• First, you’ll want a wood base that is at least six inches by six inches. Drill a 1⁄4 inch hole through the base. Glue a dowel into the hole so that it stands upright.
• First snowball, use fabric about 20” x 10” and fold in half to create a tube. (I used white polar fleece, but you could use any fabric) Sew along one edge to create a cylinder. Gather the bottom edge and hot glue to the base surrounding the dowel. Add polyfill to create the snowball shape. Hand sew the top, gathering it to create the snowman’s waist. The waist should be somewhere about half way up the dowel.
•Second snowball: Cut a second smaller piece of fabric and sew one edge to create a cylinder. Gather bottom edge and hand sew onto the first layer of the snowman.

•Use craft wire to create the snowman’s arms. You could also use sticks if desired. The arms are attached to the center dowel and stuck through the fabric on each side. I used three thin wires together in one length. They are wound around the dowel and stuck out through each side to create the arms. The three small wires separate at the ends to make fingers.
•Second layer continued: Once the arms are attached, fill the second section with polyfill and gather the top edge. The second layer should cover up to about 3⁄4 of the way up the dowel.
•Create a snowman head. Use a circular piece of fabric and gather the edges together to create a head. Fill with polyfill. Hand sew head onto second layer snowball. The head piece should cover the end of the dowel, so it’s completely concealed inside the snowman’s body.
•Use a scrap of wood to shape the nose or a piece of modeling clay. Paint it orange and hot glue it in place. For the finishing touch, use buttons, beads, craft eyes, beads, scarfs, mittens, hats, any sort of accessories you want!