Friday, November 11, 2011

Christmas Craftin' in November

In hopes of having a fun filled December without needing to finish last minute decorations, I am getting to work now on my craft to-do list.
Thanks to Pinterest I have a TON of fun ideas, crafts, and recipes to try out this holiday season so I will be a busy little bee making our house a Christmas WONDERLAND.
When planning my crafts, I KNEW I wanted to start out with a fun craft I pinned quite a while ago.
I found TWO versions of really cute snowmen that I knew I wanted to recreate.

Here are the projects I found via Pinterest:





Source: etsy.com via Kayla on Pinterest





Aren't they adorable?! Who wouldn't want to recreate these?

I got started this week and I am ALMOST done...
For this fun project all you need is some wood, paint, dowels, some tools, and whatever embellishments you want for your snowmen. You can completely make them your own which is great and the best part about these little guys is that they are about $7 a piece depending on what buttons and fabric you use.

To start I had my hubby get some wood for me. I started out with just a 2x4 but after my first snowman was done I ended up using a 2x3 and a 2x8 we had lying around. I talked to my husband and we decided what sizes would look the cutest and he used our saw to cut my desired lengths.
I ended up with 3 snowmen, each with 3 pieces of wood....9 pieces of wood total.


Here is a picture of us trying to figure out the best snowmen shapes.

You can sand your wood right away but I decided to paint first.
Either way works well but I knew I wanted to have a distressed look so I just sanded them once rather than twice.


Make sure you take your time painting. You need to let each coat dry and do one side at a time so you don't end up with newspaper stuck to your snowman.

Once the wood is painted and you have sanded the wood (if you'd like the distressed look), you'll need to put some dowels in the wood to make the snowman stay together.
My wonderful husband drilled holes in the wood and put two dowels in so they would be secure. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of this process, but if you have any questions, just let me know.

When my snowmen were all put together I just glued on some googly eyes and buttons and my snowmen started coming to life. I knew I wanted a more natural look because I love the country Christmas look. I found really cute pinecone fabric for the scarves and used sticks for the noses. I just drilled a hole in the face and stuck in a stick from outside. My hubby taught me how to use the drill for this and I think the noses turned out so cute.

Here is how they turned out:


This guy was my first snowman. Here are all three:


My only dilemma now is the hat situation... I pictured pinecone hats and just fell in LOVE with the idea.
We picked up some pinecones and Andrew sawed them in half to make the perfect hats:


Cute huh?!

But then....I wanted to see what felt looked like:


Cute AGAIN.

So now I'm in a pickle. I LOVE the natural look of the pinecones, but the felt is super cute too.
So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me by telling me what you like best:


No hats.


Felt hats.


Pinecone hats (I still would need Andrew to help me cut one last pinecone).


OR a mixture?!

What do you think? Overall I'll love these little guys no matter what they wear on their heads, but I'd appreciate your opinions.

If you want to come over and make some of your own, let me know! I'm having a craft night at my house in a week and a half and can't wait for a fun girls night! Also, if you end up making your own version, let me know so I can check them out! :]

HAPPY CHRISTMAS CRAFTING!

10 comments:

  1. Hi.. stopping by from Its fun to craft. I like the mixture. But anyway you do it they are adorable. Also, I would love for you to link this up my Friday party. Its new so the more link ups the better :)

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  2. Your little snowmen turned out so adorable! I am leaning towards the felt hat... I like all three but I'm old fashion and Frosty always wore a Top Hat. Anyway, that's my two cents :) Stopped by from The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday party. AJ@queenofmynest

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  3. Sorry... Saw your link from A Diamond in the Stuff. AJ@queenofmynest

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  4. @Simply AJ Thank you so much for your advice. I love the top hat too so I'll definitely use it on at least one snowman. :]

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  5. Thanks for linking up to Sassy Sites FFA party on Friday!! I LOVE to see all of the great ideas! All week this week, we will be doing Thanksgiving themed link ups. Monday is all about Turkeys, so if you have something you've created that is turkey-ish :)... come by tomorrow and link it up!!

    XOXO!!
    marni @ Sassy Sites!

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  6. I like the mixture of both! They are adorable by the way, I like yours better than the Pinterest ones! :)

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  7. These are so cute!! I like the pinecones, but the felt is cute too!!

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  8. These fellas are so cute! I love wood crafts. I am like you...torn between the two. I love pine cones and they look cute but there is something to the traditional looking felt hat too! Honestly, you can't go wrong...they're both great! I would love for you to share these guys at my Wednesday party!!!! Hope to see you there. http://theshadyporch.blogspot.com/

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  9. Hi Kayla, you and your hubby did an excellent job in making these snowmen. They are so cute. Thanks for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris

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I would love to hear what you think. Let me know what's on your mind and if you like what you see at Love: The Lawrences.