DIY: Making Snowmen

DIY: Making Snowmen – Step by Step

These soft snowmen are easy to make with a piece of cotton fabric, some filling and a few creative details. Let your imagination guide you: every snowman will be unique.

How to make the snowman

1. Sewing the snowman

• Cut and sew the shape of the snowman.
• Leave a small opening at the bottom so you can turn and stuff it.
• Stuff the snowman firmly and then sew the opening closed neatly.

2. Strengthening the body with Powertex

• Coat the entire snowman with Powertex Ivory and let it dry (you can speed this up with a hairdryer).
• Repeat this step once more.
• The next day the snowman will be firmer and ready to decorate.

3. Decorating: buttons, nose, scarf and more

• Decorate the snowman with buttons, a small nose, a scarf and any other fun details.
• Use your creativity: no two snowmen need to look the same.

4. Attaching the arms

• Make a small hole on each side of the snowman.
• Fill the hole with hot glue and insert a small twig or stick.

5. Eyes and mouth

• The eyes can be made from small seeds, a tiny felt circle or simply a drop of glue.
• For the mouth, use several small glue dots or a fine line of glue.

6. Shading for depth

• Mix Provincial Beige and Burnt Umber separately with Retarder.
• Use these mixes to add soft shading around folds, buttons and other details.
• Thanks to the Retarder you can easily blend the paint and partially wipe it back.
• Then paint the areas that need to be black.

7. Extra winter details

• Add a hat, a broom, a scarf, little bells, moss or any other accessories you like.
• Finish with a light touch of white paint for a real winter look.

Tray as a winter street background

Would you like to create a complete little winter scene? Use a wooden tray as a background for a small snowy street.

1. Painting the tray

• Use the same paint colours as for the snowmen.
• Apply one or two coats of white paint.
• Lightly sand after the first coat for a smooth finish.

2. Drawing and painting the houses

• Sketch small houses (for example from a reference photo) loosely onto the tray, they do not need to be perfect.
• Paint the houses in different tones with a warm sepia look by mixing Provincial Beige and Burnt Umber.
• Add windows, doors and shutters.

3. Details and finishing

• Outline the contours of the houses to make them stand out.
• Optionally apply some crackle medium in places for a weathered effect.
• Finish with a coat of matte varnish.

Materials used

• Piece of cotton fabric (old or new)
• Stafil filling: 79904, 79905, 79906, 79909
• Powertex Ivory: 1996813
• Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium: 58603 (60 ml) or 583703 (237 ml)
• Paint: white, black, Provincial Beige 57029, Burnt Umber 57007 (75 ml) or 97007 (250 ml)
• Hairdryer, glue gun, brushes
• Small sticks, wooden shapes, Stafil embellishments
• Snowflakes to Scatter: 44684 etc.
• Fabric scraps, rusty bells, buttons, moss or tillandsia 42666, small seeds (for example star anise)