Cotton Candy Snowman Tutorial and Give Away Winners.....

"Kindness is like snow ~ it beautifies everything it covers."

Thank you to all who entered the Give Away, remember to check back in next Thursday for another Give Away in Celebration of the Spirit of Giving here at the Quill. And the winners are.....Barbara H. of Stray Thoughts!

Lori of Faeire Window!Elizabeth G. of Home Musings!

Kim V. of RuinedArt!

CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners! Please email me your mailing addresses and I will get your packages in the post!

Do you know we have been playing with snow related crafts of one sort or another here at the Quill for a week now? Did you know that I have made exactly 8 snowman soup labels, 8 paper mache snowmen boxes, 1 snow cone ornament, 1 snowball (I had some of the paper gunk left), 24 embellished snowflakes, a family of 4 cotton candy snow people, 1 snowman tag, 1 snowman bag, AND there is still one more frosty treat in store? Not to mention 2 tree topping stars and a half dozen pairs of Dawn's darling mittens! (I didn't forget to post my mittens, I have a whole post on some related things in the works for next week!) Oh my stars, I forgot about the bags and tags and Advent wreath! Plus a few things for next week! WHEW! It has been quite a crafting week! Can you guess what I am giving as gifts? I am starting to feel a little snowed in! Seriously, if you missed any of the step by step tutorials for any of the above mentioned list, click on the highlighted words and that will take to them. Enjoy!

Last year I designed and made these little cotton candy covered snowmen as gifts. I recently asked if any of you would like to know how to make them and the response was "yes". So here is a step by step tutorial to show you how to make your own cotton candy colored creations!

MATERIALS:
Fabric ~ Cotton Batting or Muslin or Old Sweater
Fiber Fill
Needle
Thread
Scissor
Wire Cutters
Felt ~ I used Pink and Blue
Yarn
Ribbon
Silver Pipe Stems
Craft Paint ~ Black, Pink, White
Misc. Embellishments ~ Buttons, Beads, Jewels, Bells, Pompoms, etc.
Pink Craft Chalk or Blush from your make up bag
Eye Shadow Applicator or Q-tip
Clear Crying Craft Glue
Hot Glue and Glue Gun
Mark-Be-Gone Marking Pen, Purple or Blue (I prefer the purple, it disappears by itself. You have to dampen the blue one for the lines to disappear. The blue one is pictured because my purple one dried up.)

NOTE: If you need the snowman patterns just email me and I will send the free patterns to you as a ready to print attachment. My email link is on my upper sidebar.

INSTRUCTIONS:

*Using a Mark-Be-Gone marker, trace snowman pattern onto fabric.
*Sew on marker line either by hand or with a sewing machine, leaving an opening at the bottom of the snowman for turning and stuffing.
*Trim away excess fabric leaving 1/4" .
*Snip at joints, being careful not to snip the stitching.
*Turn snowman body right side out.*Stuff with Fiber Fill.
*Turn in raw edges and stitch opening closed.*Here I have three different fabrics, cotton batting, an old sweater, and muslin and a couple of different shaped snowmen.
*With the handle end of a small craft paint brush or a toothpick, dot on eyes and mouth using black craft paint. Clean tool.
*With same tool as above, dot on a pink nose. Allow to dry completely.*When eyes and nose are dry, dot on white highlights as shown below.
*Using craft chalk or blush from your make up bag, rub on pink cheeks using an eyeshadow applicator or a Q-tip. Use a tiny circular motion.
*Bend Silver Pipe Stems as shown below and snip off with wire cutters. Size them to your snowman.*Cut from pink felt two small mitten shapes.*With a seam ripper or scissor, make a tiny hole in each side of snowman where arms go.
*Using a clear drying craft glue, dot the hole and insert the pipe stem arm, slightly pinching when inserted to seal glue area.
*Glue mittens on the end of pipe stem arms. Glue a piece of yarn across mitten for a cuff and allow to dry.
*Crochet 2 separate single crochet chains 12" long. Not to worry if you do not crochet, (below are instructions for a felt hat and scarf), I don't either, but I can make a single crochet chain just as long as you want it to be!
*Cut six 3" pieces of yarn, you will use three per end of scarf. Lay two pieces of yarn under the end of crochet chain as pictured below.
*Tie them in a knot.
*Smooth all the ends together and place another piece of yarn just below the knot, tie off in a knot, leaving a little tassel knot at the top. Trim to 1/2".
*Take second crochet chain, using a hot glue gun, begin gluing to back of snowman head to for hat, gently pressing as you glue to secure.
*Repeat wrap until you have three complete wraps around his head. Then begin building up the wrap, gluing and gently pressing until you have about an inch left at one side.
*Glue a pompom. button, bell, or jewel to the end of the hat. Cut a thin strip of felt and glue around edge of hat for a band.
*Knot scarf around snowman neck. Embellish in any way you wish. I added sequins and pearls for buttons. You can lightly brush your snowman with glue and add clear glitter to give him a sparkle look if desired. Glue on a ribbon loop for hanging.
ALTERNATE HAT AND SCARF:

*Cut a 4" by 2" piece of felt. Center on front of snowman head and hot glue in place.
*Wrap around head gluing as you do so.
*Snip down 1" making small strips all the way around the hat.*With yarn, thin ribbon, string, thread, or embroidery floss, tie off hat as picture below. Glue on a piece of yarn for a hat band. Trim off hat fringe ends to 1/2" if desired.*Cut a 10" by 1/2" piece of felt. Snip ends to create fringe. To give the scarf a little detail, I glued snips of yarn across the scarf to make stripes.

*Wrap scarf around snowman neck and secure with hot glue. Embellish in any way you desire. I added sequins and jewels for buttons.
*For this little muslin guy, I created a pointed hat from a triangle of felt, squishing and gluing with hot glue to create a crumpled look, trimming with a silver bell and a pipe stem brim. He got a yarn bow tie and pink jewel buttons.
*For this sweater snowman I cut two half circles of felt and stitched them to make a close fitting hat, trimmed with a piece of pink felt and topped off with an old faux pearl earring. His scarf is cut from felt, fringed, and trimmed with the same trim as his hat. His mittens are trimmed with the blue felt of his hat. He has pearl bead buttons.*You can turn this design into designer bags and tags for your gift giving if you desire. Simply cut out a circle for the tag to use as a face and a snowman body for the bag. For the hats on these you zig zag the crochet yarn back and forth, gluing as you go. The scarf is tied in a knot and glued in place. They are embellished in the same way as described in the steps above. The only additions are the batting for a snowcoverd ground and a few mini plastic snowflakes glued to the bag.


KIDS CORNER:

Here are a couple of frosty inspired treats that your children are sure to enjoy making! First up is an adorable edible snowman!

Popcorn Snowmen

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 bag marshmallows
Popped popcorn
Chocolate Chips or Raisins, M&M's, Sprinkles, etc. to decorate snowmen

DIRECTIONS:
Melt 1/4 cup butter and marshmallows in a large pot, remove from heat, add just enough popped popcorn so that the popcorn is well covered in goo. Let cool enough to handle. Shape three balls, large, medium, and small and put together to form snowman, placing on wax paper covered cookie sheet. Use candies to decorate. Chill in refrigerator one hour to set and then eat!

These snowballs are sure to melt in your mouth and are a crunchy frosty treat!

Crunchy Snowballs

INGREDIENTS:
6 cups rice crispy cereal
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 10oz. pkg marshmallows
powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter and marshmallows in a large pot, remove from heat, add cereal and stir to coat well. Allow mixture to cool but not harden. Mold into snowballs then shake in a bag of powdered sugar. Enjoy!


I hope you have enjoyed this snowy week here at the Quill and that you got some ideas and inspiration for some of your gift giving needs. I invite you to join me tomorrow for Advent. On Monday I will be back with a few more crafty tips and tricks up my sleeve, as well as with some entertaining ideas, recipes, and of course, something for the children. On Thursday there will be another Give Away so be sure to check back in next week for more of the Spirit of Giving Celebration here at Quill Cottage.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy