By Sarah Dexter
How to make: Softy the Snowman
You will need:
- Hot-glue gun
- Cotton batting
- Scrap of fabric
- Scissors
- Colored paper
- 1 large button
- 3 small buttons (optional)
If you don’t have some of these supplies around the house, try checking out The I.D.E.A Store. They have a large variety of crafting supplies, and every purchase helps support the local K-12 education foundation (the Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation).
1. Divide and Glue
Divide and ball your cotton batting into three sections: small, medium, and large. This cotton could be taken from old stuffed animals, pillows or the decorative spider webs you may have left over from Halloween; that’s where I found mine.
Then take the large button and hot glue the button to the bottom of the largest cotton ball. This will help it stand up.
2. Build and bundle
Dab a spot of glue on the medium cotton ball and place on top of the large cotton ball. Then dab another spot of glue on the smallest cotton ball and place on top of the medium-sized cotton ball, which builds the body of the snowman.
Next take the scrap of fabric and cut into a long, thin strip, which will become the snowman’s scarf. Bring the fabric strip around the small and medium cotton balls, crossing one end over the other, making an “x.” Glue the overlapping section to secure the scarf.
3. Top hat
To make the snowman’s hat, take the colored paper and cut out a rectangle. Then bring the two short sides together, creating a cylinder. Glue along one side to bond the pieces.
Next cut out another rectangle that will be the bottom of the top hat. Glue around the edge of the cylinder and place in the middle of the rectangle. Then glue the hat to the top of the snowman’s head.
4. Buttons (optional)
Take the two small buttons and glue to the middle cotton ball of the snowman. Then, glue the last button to the top of the bottom cotton ball.
5. Face
Using the black paper, cut out two “pieces of coal” for the eyes and then cut four or five pieces for the mouth. Next cut out a long skinny triangle for a carrot nose using orange paper. (If you don’t have either of these colors at home, you can always use white paper and crayons/markers to get your desired color).
Glue on the eyes, nose and that quirky coal smile — and Softy the Snowman is ready to go!
Sarah Dexter is the communications intern at the I.D.E.A Store in Champaign.