A Recycle/Upcycle Snowman Tutorial

A year or so ago I made a few French Snowmen out of recycled bits and laces and I thought I’d share some tips so you can make some of your own! This is a fun project to make with your kids as the hot glue can easily be replaced with glue dots for safety…

How to Make Little Snowmen out of Recycled Bottles

Supplies you’ll need:

recycled bottles (like aspirin, vitamin and other bottles from around your home)

styrofoam balls in various sizes

chalk paint and paint brushes

black permanent marker to create a face, or use paint(s)

buttons

fabric and lace scraps for scarves and aprons

glue gun and glue

scissors

gravel from your driveway (for weight inside these light bottles!)

Directions:

Begin by painting your bottles with white chalk paint or leave as they are. I painted right over the product labels since they are often hard to get off even with soaking in soapy water. Apply several coats of paint to cover. Add a few small rocks or gravel inside your bottles for weight and stuff in cotton balls if so desired to keep the gravel from rattling around.

Next, glue on a styrofoam ball to fit the bottle opening. Glue on the original bottle cap to create a “Snow Man” hat or an oak tree acorn cap to create a “Snow Boy.” For a “Snow Woman” or “Snow Girl,” create cute scarves and/or aprons out of bits of lace and fabric scraps.

This is where you can get really creative! I am lucky that we live where there are a type of oak trees with these super large acorns. They have the best acorn caps!! These caps are the inspiration for how I began making these Snow people.

Turns out this species of white oak is rather rare and is a native of Mexico and Central America, called Quercus insignis. The acorns themselves can be up to 4″ in circumference! The acorn cap I used on this “Snow Boy” below is rather small compared to some of the other caps.

Here are the Snow People I made a couple of years ago in this post: A Christmas Craft ~ Snow People from Recycled Bottles. Back then I painted each styrofoam head but this time I didn’t bother, simplifying the process. Also, I just used a Sharpie marker to make this year’s Snowmen faces instead of painting them on, but either way is very fun to do!

I’ll be making more soon but this little guy went off as a gift for a friend who was holding an open house sale at her home about an hour away. I’ll share more of that trip soon… 🙂

That’s it for me this time, friends!

I hope you have enjoyed this fun Snowman Tutorial.

Happy Snow Day,

Barb