25 Days of Handmade Christmas: Day 9

When I first came up with the idea of this series, I was looking at a cute sock snowman from this guest blogger! I asked if she would like to participate and she said yes, thus beginning my quest for 25 Christmas tutorials. I want to thank Christa for taking the time to write out a tutorial just for my 25 Days of Handmade Christmas. And now, on to the step-by-step for these adorable snowmen!!!

Sock Snowmen

By: Christa @ Life in the Making(s)

Hey everyone! My name is Christa, and I blog over at Life in the Making(s), where I post about crafting, sewing, and cooking / baking. I also make jewelry and accessories, so I am always busy making something! My favorite thing about Christmas is probably the cookies and candies... making and eating them! I will be sharing a few of those recipes this month, so be sure to stop by and check them out!

Today I'm here to show you how to make an adorable sock snowman, inspired by (where else?) Pinterest.

Here's what you'll need:

- A sock or two, depending on how thick they are. I got these at the dollar store, and they are on the thin side, so I stuck one inside the other for an extra layer. Make sure they are all white at the toe and heel. These are ladies' no-show socks, but you could use any size you want.
- Rice. I used brown, but white would probably work better.
- Polyfill.
- Fleece for hat and scarf.
- Scissors.
- Orange and black sharpies.
- Yarn or other string.
- 2 holly leaf sequins. I found these at Hobby Lobby.
- Red seed beads.
- Buttons.
- Needle and thread or glue.

Optional: sewing machine.

First up, pour some rice into the bottom of your sock(s). You need just enough so it will stand up on it's own, somewhere around 1/2 - 1 cup.

Next, stick in a handful of polyfill, and squish it down so it lays nicely on top of the rice. Add a second, smaller handful for the head, and tie off the top of the sock with a piece of yarn.

Trim off the ends of the yarn, and cut off the top of the sock to about 1/2" above the yarn. Figure out which side of your snowman should be the front, and draw on eyes, nose, and a mouth with the sharpies.

Cut a piece of fleece for your scarf. Mine was 1 x 12". Make sure it stretches the long way. Pull gently on the ends to stretch the fleece, so the ends turn under, as shown.

Tie the scarf around your snowman's neck, and trim the ends if you need to. Cut slits in the bottom for fringe. Sew or glue the buttons down the front of the snowman.

Now for the hat: Cut a piece of fleece that will fit around your snowman's head (with a little extra for a seam allowance) x how tall you want your hat. My piece was 9 x 6". Lay your fleece right side down, and fold up one long edge by about 1/2". Then fold the fleece in half so that the short ends are together, and sew or glue along the short edge (shown by the blue line above). I used my sewing machine for this step, but you could also hand sew or glue it.

Turn the hat right side out, and place on your snowman's head. Tie a piece of yarn around the top of the hat.

Trim the ends of the yarn, and cut the fleece down to about an inch above the yarn. Cut slits in the top of the hat.

Tuck the holly leaf sequins into the brim of the hat, and sew or glue in place. Sew or glue red seed beads onto the brim of the hat for the berries. Sew or glue the hat to the snowman to keep it in place, and tack down the brim as well.

All done! You can also use ribbon for the scarves, and add little bows, bells, etc for decoration, like I did in these other examples:

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I have, and don't forget to stop by Life in the Making(s) to check out some more of my tutorials!

Thanks for having me, Kelsey!