25 Days of Christmas: Day 22

For day 22 of my 25 Days of Christmas challenge, I have another fun gift idea for the holidays. You can get this really cute snowman wrapper for free from Aimee Asher of you can design your own. Wrap it around a gift of your choice to make it more festive. You also use gloves for the hat so you could use it to make the gloves more fun if they are the main gift or you can buy a cheap pair at the dollar store and include it with another main gift. I chose to wrap it around microwave popcorn which is perfect to pair with a dvd or blu-ray gift.

Supplies Needed:
Snowman wrapper
Microwave popcorn (or you could use a chocolate bar, etc)
Pair of gloves
Tape
Ribbon

Simply cut the snowman wrapper to size and tape it around your item, in my case, the microwave popcorn. Next take your gloves and put one inside the other so the person gets a pair still. Then place the gloves over the top of the snowman's head. Next tie a ribbon in a bow around the gloves and you have a cute snowman with a hat! You can add a scarf using felt if you want but I chose not to. Pair with a Christmas favorite dvd or blu-ray for an awesome gift!

25 Days of Christmas: Day 13

For day 13 of my 25 Days of Christmas Challenge, I wanted to make peanut snowmen. These little guys {or gals} are adorable and can be used as a snack and a decoration or can be turned into an ornament or to add characters to your favorite holiday display.

Supplies Needed:
Bag of peanuts in shells
White paint
Black and orange sharpie
Ribbon, yarn or string - various colors
Acorn tops
Hot glue gun

You'll need to start by picking out decent looking peanuts out of the bag, I decided to make 3, but you can pick out however many you want to make. What I mean by "decent looking" is some peanut shells can look dis-formed and unless you want your snowmen looking that way, I suggest your classic peanut shell look. Next, paint your peanut shells white. You can do this with spray paint or with a paint brush. While you wait for the paint to dry, you will need to find some acorn tops outside. You'll need as many acorn tops as painted peanut shells you have, therefore I needed 3. Once your paint is dry, take a hot glue gun and glue the acorn top to the top of the peanut shell for his hat. Then take your black Sharpie and give your snowman a mouth, eyes, and buttons. If you're making any snow-women, use a red sharpie to give her sexy lips and rosy cheeks! Then take your orange Sharpie to make the carrot nose. Finally take the string, ribbon or yarn and tie around your snowman's neck for a scarf. You can take multiple pieces of string and braid them together for a fancier scarf.

If you're making a whole bags worth of snowmen and women, you can place the finished product in a clear or decorative holiday bowl for a cute display and a snack. You don't eat the peanut shells which is why they can still be edible, even after using paint and Sharpies! Crack 'em open and the peanuts inside should be unharmed. Or, if you're only making a couple like myself, you can tie a loop of ribbon or string around the back of the scarf and use them as ornaments. Or if you have a gingerbread house display or a holiday village, add these little guys as characters into your mini winter wonderland.

25 Days of Christmas: Day 5

For day 5 of my 25 Days of Christmas challenge, I decided to make snowmen ornaments out of bottle caps. I like to try and save bottle caps and wine corks because there are a lot of creative ways to use them in crafts and projects.

Supplies needed:
3 bottle caps per snowman
White paint
Ribbon
Hot glue
Something for the face and buttons (black and orange sharpies work)

Start by painting the inside of the bottle caps white. You may need to do multiple layers depending on the type of paint you use. Once the paint is dry, cut a piece of ribbon that runs the length of 3 bottle caps, and hot glue it to all 3 caps, make a loop at the top so you can hang the ornament. Finally give your snowman some flare. Use the black sharpie to give him eyes, a mouth and buttons. Then use the orange sharpie to draw a carrot nose and you're all done! If you're a crafty person and have extra supplies lying around, feel free to get creative when decking out your snowman. You can use things like beads, buttons, paint, colored sharpies or markers, etc. to give him additional features and accessories!