Spun Cotton Snowman Craft Project Tutorial

Nothing says winter wonderland like a festive snowman and creating these charming spun cotton figures is super easy and fun. With hundreds of possible combinations, customize each one individually or make a matching set. Finished snowmen measure 2-1/2" to 4" tall.

Supplies: Spun Cotton Pieces to Make Snowmen: Balls, Heads, Bodies, Noses, Hands

Bases: Dresden Medallions or Spun Cotton 1/2 Balls

Hats: Plastic or Spun Cotton

Scarf Material: Tiny Tinsel Chenille, Velvet Bows and 1/8" Ribbon, Wired Chenille Roping

Buttons: Dresden Stars or Tiny Spun Cotton Balls

Items to Hold: Velvet Leaves, Berries, Mushrooms, Pine Sprigs, Stamen, Flowers

Additional supplies: Hot Glue or Clear-drying Glue (like Elmer's or Alleen's Tacky Glue), Scissors, Paint, Paint Brush, Pipe cleaners or Skewers,

Step 1: Paint spun cotton buttons and stovepipe hats using a skewer or pipe cleaner as a handle and let dry. We used black paint to imitate coal.

Step 2: Begin to assemble basic snowman shapes. Glue head + ball (body) + base (like below left). Glue nose + body + Dresden medallion (like below middle). Or glue tiny ball nose + head + ball (body) + Dresden medallion (like below right). We will add hands later.

Step 3: Add a scarf. Wired Chenille: A wired chenille scarf works best on all snowman assemblies, especially ball head + ball body as it fits nicely in the "neck" space. Cut a 6-7" piece of wired chenille, wrap it around the neck then twist it twice (like closing a twist tie) to secure. Trim ends as desired and bend wires for character (like a wind-swept look).

Tiny Tinsel Chenille: This soft trim works best on unitized snowman shapes, like above center. Cut a 15-20" piece of trim, wrap it 2-3 times around the neck, tie a knot to secure, trim ends to desired length. To add it to a ball head + ball body shape, experiment with wrapping a longer length around more times.

Bow Tie: This look works best on unitized snowman shapes. To create a bow tie use a velvet bow + a length of velvet 1/8" ribbon in a similar color. Cut about 3" of 1/8" velvet ribbon, glue it around neck with ends meeting in front, finish with a velvet bow glued in front over ribbon ends. Let dry.

Step 4: Add snowball hands and any held items. Hands can be positioned on sides, on only one side, or clasped in front.

Glue hands in place and let dry.

Group berries, mushrooms, leaves and sprigs -- cut stems to fit into hole in spun cotton ball "hand" or twist several items together leaving stems longer to be held between clasped hands. Glue in place and let dry.

Step 5: Add hat and buttons. Hats can be tilted for character or placed upright. Glue in place and let dry. Determine placement of buttons, glue in place and let dry. Display proudly.

Tips: Use the end of a paintbrush to gently press into the stovepipe hat base to create a depression. This will allow it to sit better on the round head.

Snowmen are equally adorable whether holding a single item or a mix. Try having him hold just one statement item like a colorful mushroom.

Adding the scarf early in the assembly is intentional -- it's much easier to determine hand and button placement when you already know the scarf location.

Use a tiny round ball as a snowball nose: The same size ball used for buttons also double as a nose.

It is not necessary to paint the white spun cotton pieces that will remain white. We only painted the coal buttons and stovepipe hat.