When I saw this craft, I thought it was too cute to not do. And as it turned out, it was so quick and easy and very, very thrifty (the cost of dollar store mittens and 1 regular candy bar). I usually give my daughters a pair of dollar store mittens each year anyway, which made this an easy "yes" on my list. I know my daughters will be tickled by these cute little snowmen.
The original idea comes from Amy Latta's blog, in this link.
Supplies:
- a pair of knit mittens, thinner mittens work better than thick bulky ones (mine came from Dollar Tree)
- one normal size, flat chocolate bar (I used regular Hershey bars)
- a black felt pen
- crayons for color, orange (for the carrot nose) and any other color (to fill in the buttons), pink for smile tips
- a long, narrow strip of felt or scrap of colorful fabric to make the scarf (about 1/2-inch by 9 inches)
- 1 small rubber band
- 1 sheet of white paper
- clear tape
- scissors
1) Wrap the sheet of paper around the packaged chocolate bar just a little bit loosely (so you can slip the candy bar in and out for decorating). Trim off the excess paper. The ends of paper are not sealed over the ends of the candy bar. Tape the back side closed.
2) On one of the mittens, invert (tuck in) all of the fingers and the thumb so they are on the inside of the mitten. Roll the other mitten up tightly and tuck inside the first mitten. This bundle of both mittens will become the hat of the snowman.
3) Slip the candy bar out of the white paper "tube" for coloring purposes. Use the black felt pen to draw the facial features, outline the carrot nose, and draw round buttons with cross-stitching inside each. Use the crayons to add color to the carrot nose, buttons and add pale pink cheek circles to the snowman's smile, if desired.
4) Slide the candy bar back into the now decorated paper sleeve. Pull the mitten "cap" over the end of the wrapped candy bar, leaving the rolled up mitten on the back side of the snowman inside the first mitten.
5) After adjusting the snowman's cap, secure the rubber band around the top of the mitten "cap" about 1 inch below the very top. This creates the illusion of a pom pom on the top of the cap.
6) Tie the felt or fabric scrap around the "neck" of the snowman as his scarf. Voila, you're done!
These took me about 15 minutes each to make, from start to finish, including some practice time drawing the features on scratch paper and redoing one snowman face, as I didn't like how it turned out. But they're not meant to be perfect.
Just a couple of cute, yummy guys for my two gals.
Perhaps it's my inner child, but I think "kids" of all ages would find these adorable. But I especially think this would be a great gift for the littles in your circle. Very inexpensive, includes some chocolate and mittens, and is wrapped in a cheerful presentation.
