Merry [home] Making Day 1: Yarn Ball Snowman

Welcome to my week of Christmas Craft Tutorials!  It's my very first, and I'm so excited to share it with you!

Today, I want to show you how to make this adorable yarn ball snowman.  As a lover of all things yarn, I was itching to find a way to incorporate some of the stringy fun into my Christmas celebrations.

It's surprisingly simple, and a wonderful gift for your family and friends!

Cast of Characters:

♥ 3 styrofoam balls, graduating sizes (I used 2'', 2.5'', and 3'')

♥ yarn (I used Red Heart Holiday because I liked that it was a cream color instead of pure white--for my country snowman--and I loved the subtle sparkles.)

♥ black felt

♥ black fabric paint

♥ hot glue gun

♥ orange Fimo clay (any clay that bakes to harden)

♥ buttons

♥ sewing needle and colorful thread (I used green)

♥ blush

♥Q-tips

Step One: Build Your Snowman

Use a sharp knife to level off the bottom of the smallest ball, and the top and bottom of the medium and large balls.

Use the hot glue gun to secure the three balls together.

Step 2: Wrap the body with yarn

Secure the yarn at the base of the snowman using hot glue.  Wrap around the balls to look like actual balls of yarn.  Messy and haphazard is fine--it adds to the country charm!

Make sure that you tack down the yarn every once in a while.  You want it to be secure so that it doesn't unravel in the future.

Wrapped up and ready for the next step!

Step 3: Make the felt hat

Cut a large circle out of black felt.  It's diameter should be about 1.5 inches bigger than the diameter of your smallest styrofoam ball.  Out of the center of your black felt circle, cut another circle, leaving about 3/4ths of an inch all the way around the large circle.  Measure a rectangle that is wide enough to go all the way around your smaller circle, and about as tall as your snowman's head.

To sew the hat, set the circle on top of the rectangle and use a blanket stitch to sew them together.

Remember, if sewing isn't your thing, you can easily glue this hat together and not have to worry about it!

Attach a cute button to the hat, glue three more buttons to the middle ball, and glue the hat to your snowman's head.

(For buttons with holes, I used the green thread and went in and out of the holes a few times to give it a sewn-on look)

Step 4: Decorate the snowman's face

Pinch off a small amount of orange Fimo clay and roll it to make a cone.

Place it on a baking sheet and bake it according to the instructions on the wrapper.

Use your black fabric paint to add coal eyes and a smile.

Test your paint out on a napkin or something first to make sure you get all of the air bubbles out before you aim it at your snowman!  Also, remember that fabric paint takes several hours to dry, so be careful not to touch it.

Take a Q-tip, swab it around in your blush, and lightly brush his cheeks to give your snowman a warm glow.

You're all finished!  Now, wasn't that easy?  :-)

As with all of my craft tutorials, the inspiration for this Yarnball Snowman was entirely mine, and I ask that you not sell any of the ideas you get from this website. 

I would love to hear that your family and friends loved receiving these as gifts!

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