Handmade Holidays Snowman

I didn't plan to participate in Kathy's Handmade Holidays because I'm not very crafty. Then I remembered this guy and decided to give him his moment in the spotlight.



I made several of these a few years ago, complete with matching fleece hats and scarves. The one I kept for myself never got matching accessories so he gets whatever is floating around in the box at the bottom of the coat closet. We dressed him for hunting season while Clarence was away, hunting at Uncle's cabin. Clarence, of course, didn't notice until I mentioned it.

He is made from a cedar fence post, cut in half, nailed to a square of scrap wood to help him stand. Clarence drilled a hole, cut a piece of dowel, and rounded the end of it somewhat by sanding to make our carrot nose. I painted him with acrylic paint, then put Thompson's water seal over the paint in hopes of making him somewhat weatherproof.

For the hat and scarf, I think I used about a half yard of fleece for each snowman. (As a heads up: I think fleece is on sale at Joann Fabrics for Black Friday.) The scarf is a strip (~4-5 inches?) made from the fabric leftover after making the hat. I eyeballed everything so just go with what looks good to you. You can fringe the ends of the scarf or not.

For the hat, I measured a piece of fleece that would fit around the post. I cut it to size and hand stitched it to form a tube. I then took some thread and tied it around one end of the tube, a couple inches down from the top, similar to closing a bread bag. I snipped the fabric above the thread every 1/2 inch or so, so it looked like fringe. Fold the bottom edge up to make a hat brim and put it on the snowman.

This is a simple project if you have access to a couple power tools, especially if you can sweet talk someone into helping with the cutting and sanding like I did. If you're quite ambitious, you could even drill holes in his sides and add some twigs for arms. You could also save the sewing and use a hat and scarf you already have, like I've been doing.

I like that he's a winter decoration, rather than just a Christmas decoration, so he can stay for a long visit before being stored away.