Sock Snowmen & Decorative Jars

Homemade Christmas Ornaments



"Sock Snowman"

Submitted by Melinda Thomas of CA

"I have been making these sock snowmen for years. They are fun and easy and can be simple or you can get as creative as you want. I have made them with my kids classes at school for parent Christmas gifts. Now that was an adventure! My kids and their friends have sat around the kitchen table and made them. I have seen some interesting creations over the years!!"
Supplies:

Coffee or tea

socks
cotton batting/fiberfill
twine or yarn
buttons
strips of material
hot glue gun
paint pen, marker or eyebrow pencil
blush from your make-up drawer
nail polish
Instructions:

These snowmen are made from baby socks, size 3 months, or however big you want them. You first tea or coffee dye the sock. Depending on how grungy or dark you want the sock depends how dark you make your tea or coffee. Let the sock dry.

Cut the top of the sock off, where the sock would be folded over. Stuff the sock with cotton batting until the body is nice and fat. Tie the top closed with yarn or twine. Then take a piece of yarn and tie around where the neck should be and pull until you have a neck for your snowman.

The hat is made from the piece of the sock that you cut off. Tie some twine around one end to make a hat. Leave the twine long enough to make a hanger. Put the hat on the snowman and hot glue it to his head, just a couple dots will do. Tear a piece of fabric for his scarf and tie around his neck.

His face can be done with a paint pen, permanent marker or even an eyebrow pencil. His nose is just a dot of nail polish, his cheeks are done with a touch of blush and a Q-tip. Hot glue some buttons to his tummy. You now have a simple tree ornament.

You can get more elaborate and stitch the face on with embroidery thread. You can use small bells for the tummy instead of buttons. Use your imagination. You can also make large snowmen with big tube socks. Just put a jar lid in the bottom of the sock, then stuff it and proceed as with the small snowman. The jar lid enables it to stand. You can add arms of wire or twigs from the yard. Hats can be made from old sweaters or tops of old wool socks. Get creative and have fun with these.

Found this craft on:

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/christmasornaments08/babysocksnowman.htm


Decorative Jars

You'll need a glass canning jar, fabric you find appealing, twine, a glue gun and something to put in your jar. I just threw this together from things around the house. I put pinto beans in mine. To cover the lid with fabric, place the fabric on the lid (while it's attached to the jar) and use a rubber band to secure it while you cut the right amount of length for twine. Then just trade one for another. You don't have to use twine, you can use ribbon, buttons, hemp cord...anything you find appealing-have fun with it!!