Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Snowman From a Can

Today I thought I'd share a project my oldest son (now 20) made when he was about 8.  He made these for family and friends and filled them with candy.  They are very simple and 're-use' items, which is always a good thing! I was going to post this in NewlyWoodwards Dare to...post, but it is now closed, but here it goes anyways!
If I had more time today, I would do a step by step tutorial, but as you will see from my last picture in this post, I am dealing with pre-Christmas decorating disaster and know if I don't get it done today it will haunt me tomorrow!
So, here are the directions in written form ...for now!
You need:
An old coffee can, juice crystal can or any other kind of resealable container, plastic or cardboard.
Enough white felt to wrap around the can.
A bit of black felt for the mouth.
Orange felt for the nose.
2 buttons.
Red (or your preference) stretchy fabric (we re-used a red t-shirt!)
Some floss or wool.

First, measure the length around your chosen container and add another 1-2 inches for a seam allowance.  Then measure the height.  Cut a piece of white felt in a rectangle with those dimensions.
Wrap it around the container to double check your measurements.  Now you are going to sew it into a tube to slip over the can.  
Now you can cut out 4 black 'coal' circles (no need to be perfect!) from the black felt, and a triangle for the nose.  Make the orange triangle as long and fat as you would like.  Fold it in half so it makes a thinner triangle.  Stitch along the long side to form the 'carrot' nose.  Now you can play around with the face.  Experiment with placement until you like what you see.  Hot glue the black circles on for the mouth and the buttons on for the eyes.  Then hand stitch the nose in place.
The hat and scarf  can be any colour you like (or have on hand!)  Take the measurement from around the can, add a tad more for ease, plus a seam allowance and stitch into another tube.  Fit it over the top of the can to cover the lid.  Roll up the bottom edge and tie the top with some wool or floss.  Next, again using the measurement around the can as a guide,  cut a long strip of the fabric for the scarf.  Cut the ends to form tassels and tie it around the bottom of the can. There you go! 


Sorry about the lack of tutorial pictures.  As you can see from the below picture, I have my work cut out for me today as it is!  Plus, the kids and I are baking cookies today for friends and their karate Sensei.  I think I had better get a move on!!!

Out with the everyday...in with the holiday!

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