Frosty Friends Recycled Craft

{Some frosty new friends made by Mia, Age 4}

Mia and I almost had our entire snow family made earlier today when Logan decided that the stacks of snowballs were like big blocks and he "boomed" them all down. So, once he was napping, I came up with a snowman craft for her to do (that should last a bit longer than our original snowmen). I had been wanting to do something with these plastic containers for months, anyway.

Materials for Snowman:

• plastic container (We used toddler puffs container.) 
• felt 
• scissors 
• pom poms 
• hot glue gun (adult use only)
• corkscrew pasta 
• black permanent marker 
• 2 black bottle caps (ours are Powerade)
• 1 black jar lid (from a container of peanuts)

Materials for Snowlady:

• plastic container (We used a toddler puffs container.)
• felt
• scissors
• pom poms
• hot glue gun (adult use only)
• corkscrew pasta
• black permanent marker
• cardboard ribbon spool
• large pom pom
• tape 
• optional materials: buttons, ribbon, pipe cleaners, fabric flowers

Basic Snowman Directions:

1. Cut a strip of felt for the scarf and glue it around the top indentation of your clean, dry plastic container. Tie a know and cut fringe on each end. (Tip: If your felt isn't long enough, cut a second strip, tie a knot, and glue it onto the first band of felt.) If you don't have felt, ribbon or pipe cleaners would work.
2. Place two dots of glue on the top section of the plastic container and adhere 2 pom poms for eyes. Any color will work. (Tip: If you don't have pom poms, buttons would work. Or you could draw eyes with a permanent marker.)
3.  Place a dot of glue beneath the eyes and adhere a piece of corkscrew pasta for the carrot nose. (Tip: You can dye your pasta first. Or, if you prefer, use an orange pom pom, button, or a small piece of orange construction paper rolled into a cone.)
4.  Draw a mouth on the snowman face using a permanent black marker.
5.  Place three dots of glue down the middle of the snowman body and adhere pom poms. You could also use buttons or draw them on with a permanent marker.   

How to Make a Snowman Hat:

1. Run a line of hot glue along the bottom edge of a black jar lid. Press down onto the top edge of the snowman.
2. Place glue on the top of one black bottle cap and press down on top of the lid.
3. Run glue along the bottom edge of a second black bottle cap. Press cap down so that it lines up with the bottom edge of the first bottle cap.
   

How to Make a Snowlady Hat:

1. Pull one cardboard circle off of an empty ribbon spool. (Tip: If you don't have a ribbon spool, you can cut a circle from a cereal box. You will also need to cut a hole in the center.)
2. Pull a large pom pom partially through the center hole. Secure the back with some tape.
3. Cut a square of felt slightly larger than the cardboard circle.
4. Run a line of glue around the cardboard (on the side with the tape). Cover the top side with the felt, wrap the edges around the underside and press down onto the glue. Add extra glue as needed.
5. Decorate the hat as desired. We used a gold pipe cleaner, twisted at the end to secure it, and then glued on a fabric rose. 
6. Finally, line the top edge of the plastic container with hot glue, and press the hat on top.