Sea Shell Snowman Ornament

Here's a simple way to use up some of those sea shells you've been holding onto since your last trip to the beach...a sea shell snowman ornament!

Some sea shells already have holes in them, and those are perfect for this craft. Just paint a snowman face on your sea shell and thread a string through the hold on your shell and it's ready to hang on your Christmas tree!

Merry Christmas!

Paper Mache Sand-Man (Snowman)

I don't have any pictures of the process, but I volunteered to make a paper mache sand-man (snowman) for my kids' Scout troop float in our Christmas parade last year. The theme was "tropical Christmas" which is why it's a sand-man.

I blew up three balloons and covered them in paper mache. When they were dry, I popped the balloons and used the holes where the balloons weren't covered to stack my body parts on top of each other.

I used more paper mache to paste the body parts together and let that dry.

When that was dry, I painted the sand-man a tan color to cover up the ink from my kids' homework assignments which made up the majority of the paper mache.

Once the paint was dry, I made a watered down paste with school glue and water. I spread that over the sand-man a bit at a time, and covered that with sand.

After the sand was dry, I hot glued some sea shell buttons, the sun glasses, carrot nose (which I made from a rolled-up piece of construction paper), and lei. I added a bucket for the hat.

If you want a snowman instead, just paint it white and skip the sand part!

Paper Plate Snowman

We finally got some snow recently and my 2 year old had so much fun sledding! Sadly, it was not snowman snow, so she has yet to experience making a snowman, but we got creative and made a paper plate snowman inside.

All you need to make your snowman is a paper plate, black construction paper, pom poms, orange foam or construction paper, and white school glue.

I cut out all the shapes we needed and put some glue on the plate...

Then she placed all of the pieces on the glue dots. You could definitely be more adventurous and let your toddler pour the glue themselves or place the pieces wherever they want, but this was fun for both of us so I'll call it a win.

Footprint Snowman

It's been in the 50's-60's here while I've heard stories and seen photos of the 8-12 inches of snow my relatives got for Christmas in Utah. But, that doesn't mean we aren't dreaming of at least a little snow this winter! In the meantime, we'll make our own snowmen of sorts...out of our feet! This is a perfect footprint craft, and it was relatively quick to do.

I love the side-by-side comparisons of my children's feet as time goes by. Soon, I won't be able to fit my 9 year old's footprint on the same page as his siblings!

Just paint the bottom of the foot white, and press it onto a piece of paper (we used black cardstock). If the footprint is incomplete, just fill it in with some more paint. Quickly wipe/wash the foot off before your child goes wandering through the house! When that dries, paint on some eyes, a mouth, buttons, a nose and a scarf to complete each snowman.

Now you have some adorable little footprint snowmen to last through the ages :). We made some extra snowmen to put on homemade cards for my kids' teachers at church.

Thanks Crafty Crafted for the cute idea!

Popsicle Stick Snowflakes

We go through a lot of Popsicle sticks in our house. They are so affordable and versatile! Plus, they are easy for little hands to work with. These snowflakes were a breeze for my boys to make and they needed very little help from me.

Painting Snow

I don’t know what your snow is like, but we rarely seem to get the type of snow that is right for snowballs and snowmen…it’s too fluffy and doesn’t stick. We just had our first snow, so to add a different element of fun, I put a few drops of food coloring in water guns, filled them with water and handed them to my boys…

It’s a simple way to “paint” the snow, and the water guns are small enough that it is used up before the kids get too cold to have fun with it. What do you do to enjoy the snow with your little ones?

(I’ve seen the idea to use a water bottle filled with colored water, but we only had water guns on hand so we made do :))

Shredded Snowman

If you’re looking for a fun winter craft for your little ones to do, make a shredded snowman with them! I know it’s not the prettiest snowman ever, but it was simple and my 3 year old loved it…

All you need it a piece of paper, a bunch of shredded paper, glue, and whatever you want to use for the eyes, nose, mouth & arms (paper, googly eyes, etc).

Have your child spread some glue in circles for the snowman body parts and then have them sprinkle shredded paper on those circles. Add the eyes, nose, mouth & arms and you’re done :). This was the perfect activity for my 3 year old while his big brother was at school.

Thanks Baby Center & Pinterest!

Sock Snowman

I saw these sock snowmen on a friend’s blog last year and can’t even link to it since the blog is no longer there, but the idea is adorable and super easy…

Fill a long sock with rice and tie it into 3 sections to create your snowman. Add buttons, a scarf, a hat, or whatever you want to make your snowman unique. I like to think of my sock snowman as French with his beret, scarf and sunglasses :).

I’ll be linking up to Works For Me Wednesday.