These handcrafted and hand-painted Snowman Christmas tree ornaments are made out of scrap pieces of pine wood. If you don’t have a saw or a scrap wood pile…you could use wood Tumbling Blocks (game blocks from Dollar Tree) or Jenga-style wooden blocks. Size doesn’t have to be exact, just slender rectangular in shape.
My husband cut me blocks from his scrap wood with each block measuring approximately 1 1/4″ to 1 1/2″ wide, by about 4″ tall by 3/4″ in depth. Like I said, measurements don’t need to be exact. Use fine sand paper and give them a little buffing to make sure that the edges are smooth. You can skip that step if you’re using pre-purchased Tumbling Blocks from Dollar Tree (kid’s game section in the store). You can purchase them from Amazon for a great price too!
I made 15 of these ornaments as I’m going to be attaching them to Christmas gift boxes and bags as an additional gift for the recipient. So, I set up an assembly line making them. I laid out all of the blocks and painted them with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint on all sides. If you want to save time you can certainly use white spray paint. Let them dry until the paint is no longer tacky.
Measure around the top of the snowman’s head with a tape measure. Add 1″ to the circumference. That number will be the width that you need for your fabric swatch by 4″ tall. Cut the rectangles out of cotton fabric. I used homespun fabric which I picked up at the craft store by purchasing fat quarters in the quilting section.
To save time I used a hot glue gun instead of sewing them. Fold the circumference edge under by a 1/4″ of an inche and tack down with hot glue. Then glue that edge around the top of the block, overlapping in the back. Use hot glue to adhere the to back seams together with the raw edges underneath and hidden. At the top of the hot fold under by 1/4″ and tack down with hot glue so that no raw edges of fabric are showing.
Cut a piece of 1/8″ wide ribbon or hanging string 4″ long and knot the two ends together. Put a squirt of hot glue down into the top of the hat and use a pencil to shove the knotted end down into the glue so it’s hidden out of sight. You can use twine, satin ribbon, cotton fabric, etc. to make a bow around the upper 1/3 of the hat as shown in the photograph. Tack it down with a tiny glob of glue. Let it set before moving on.
For the facial features. I dipped the end of a paint brush into black acrylic craft paint and dotted on 2 eyes and 4 smaller dots for the mouth. You can use orange craft paint to make a carrot shaped nose or…make one out of air-dry modeling clay which is what I used. I like the dimension that it gives to his face. If you’re using modeling clay…make the carrot shaped noses from orange clay a few days before you make the ornaments. The clay needs time to harden-up before you use them. Use a tiny dab of hot glue to adhere the carrot nose to his face.
Finishing up – I tied a matching or coordinating homespun fabric scarf around their necks. Just tie it around and knot the ends together leaving a little “tail” length. Trim with scissors. To add interest to the painted-on buttons…they vary. Some of the snowmen have 2, 3 or 4 painted on round buttons. Others have square or heart-shaped ones. You could also glue on tiny black seed beads if you prefer. You have a lot of options!
Additional Tips: Don’t use heavy wood that can weigh down tree branches too much. Stick to lighter-weight woods and keep the size of the blocks manageable. Regular craft glue takes too long to dry, use a hot glue gun to speed things up. If you want to protect the painted finish you can spray them once painted (and dry) with 1-2 light coats of clear acrylic sealer before adding their embellishments. If you plan on making a lot of them…I do recommend setting up an assembly line. I made the clay noses one day, several days later I painted all of the blocks white and then a few days after that I decorated them.
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This is another cute craft to make with my grandkids. Since I do not have nay scrap wood I shall have to use tumbling blocks.