VINTAGE JOINTED SNOWMEN ORNAMENTS!!

Here we go again!  We are running out of time and running out of money to finish shopping for Christmas presents.  I have an idea!  How about taking a little time on the last few weekends to make ornaments for those loved ones who have everything?  A personalized ornament along with a heartfelt Christmas card or baked somethings?  How can one go wrong with that?  Two years ago, this is exactly what I did.  I bought some candy containers from Michaels and filled them with baked food for the gods and one of these personalized ornaments.  They're so cute and the best thing is that they would more likely grace someone's tree for years to come and remember the giver!

So our staple here is again the paper clay from the last project.  You will need the following:

Glue gun
acrylic paints
miniature and flower shaped buttons buttons
miniature pompoms
letter plastic beads from Walmart (the ones kids make name bracelets with)
any soft and thin fabric to make the scarf
cinnamon sticks or just sticks from outside
wire
toothpicks
1 1/2 inch styrofoam balls
1/2 inch thick styrofoam sheets cut into 2 in. x 3 in. rectangular shape for the body
Cracle medium

For the head:  Cover 1 1/2 inch styrofoam balls with a thin layer of paperclay.  Stick toothpicks halfway through and apply glue around the tootpick to hold it permanently in place.

For the styrofoam body:  Sand the edges to make it rounder.  You can use a piece of styrofoam as a sander, it works fantastically.  The shape doesn't have to be perfectly straight because it is vintage, the irregularity will give it character.  Cover with paper clay like the head

Let dry for about 2 days. You can tell it is dry when it looks chalky.  When completely dry, paint with gesso or just white acrylic paint.  Paint a second layer of diluted sky blue color, haphazardly but not completely covering the body.  This will be the under layer color that will you will see coming through the cracks.  Do the same with the head but use a touch of pale yellow. 

Apply crackle paint.  When dry, paint the entire head and body with a creamy white.  Do not use stark white as you want this to look vintage.  So you can add a tinge of brown or beige to your white instead.  Let dry and crackle.  Seal with gel medium or varnish.

Glue buttons for eyes.  I found some miniature glass ball ornaments and used those for the nose, but you can use buttons or pompoms, or whatever you want.  Paint the mouth by using black dots and then paint rosy cheeks with pink color.

Apply glue on the other end of the toothpick and insert through the top of the body leaving a half inch gap between the head and the body. 

Glue two pompoms for buttons as shown above.

Tie a piece of fabric around the neck and apply some glue to hold it in place. 

For the beanie cap, I purchased infant socks in red, blue and white and cut triangles with two edges sewn together.  Turned it inside out and then folded over twice.  Then I glued it to the head.  At the top of the beanie, I stitched a piece of cord, knotted to make a hanger.

Lastly, I attached the sticks to the side for the arms and legs (cut legs slightly longer) and threaded a piece of wire through so there is movement.  Then did the same for the hands and strung the letter beads through and curled wire on both ends to finish.  Viola!  Special ornament gifts for less than maybe 2 dollars!  All you need is time.

Until my next rant.... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!