Snowmen are adorable, fun, whimsical and even magical! It seems everyone loves snowmen in the Winter!
I started creating wreaths in 2014. I made a few using deco mesh, but the florals were more my style, so I set the deco mesh aside ... until now.
One day, I got together with friends and was asked if I could teach them how to make a snowman wreath ... you know, the one using deco mesh! I hesitated, but thought it would be fun to teach a class as well as a great experience for me! So, I planned a party and we all got together to make this snowman wreath!
I made one beforehand just to be sure I could do it, and this is the finished product! Isn't he adorable? I decided to take pictures of my process so I can show you all how it was done.
Materials:
- 2 rolls of 10" white deco mesh (possibly more if you want to make it more full)
- 1 12" wire form
- 1 8" wire form
- Zip ties
- White pipe cleaners (also called chenille stems) cut in 1/2
- Orange felt, needle, thread and batting material (for stuffing the carrot nose)
- Black poster board
- Plastic black hat cut in 1/2
- White and light blue paint
- Ribbon of your choice
- Embellishments of your choice
Before I made my snowman, I got together with one of my friends who helped me cut the deco mesh into both 20" and 10" sections for everyone coming to the party! Depending on whether you have a rotary cutter and cutting mat, or just scissors and yard stick, it should take between 15 - 30 minutes to cut 2 rolls. (Quicker if you're a pro at cutting with a rotary cutter!)
We also cut the orange felt into triangles where the bottom was 6" wide and 9" tall. We then sewed the sides of the triangle together, turned it inside-out and stuffed the carrot with batting.
Okay, so first things first! We need to attach the 8" form inside the 12" form. This is done by zip-tying them together.
I attached the pipe cleaners that have been cut in half to the 2nd wire from the outside on the form. I did not use the outer ring because any mesh I've done in the past that was attached to the outer ring would spin around to the back of the wreath form and just defeated the purpose! (Another reason I diverted from using mesh in the past!) Anyhow, I placed a pipe cleaner on the cross bar and three more in each section.
I then took a 20" section of mesh, pinched it together in the center (kind of like an accordion) into a ruffle and attached it to each pipe cleaner.
This is a pic of the wreath after attaching the 20" sections to the entire outside of the wreath form.
Something I forgot to do before attaching the mesh, (this was my experiment, after all) I put pipe cleaners in a criss-cross manner in the center of the wreath securing the ends of the pipe cleaners to the inside of the 8" wire form. These pipe cleaners were used for attaching some more mesh as well as attaching the carrot nose in the middle. (I don't have any pictures of it, sorry!)
After having all of the 20" mesh attached to the outside, I then began using the 10" mesh. Just to make it easier, I ruffled the mesh, attached a 1/2 pipe cleaner to the mesh and then attached it to the wire form on the 3rd ring from the outside. In an attempt to make it as full as possible, I put 3 ruffles to each section on that 3rd ring. After that, I just shoved the 10" ruffles where they would fit and make it full in order to keep the wire forms from showing through the mesh.
Once all the mesh was attached, it was time for the nose, eyes, mouth and hat! This is what makes each snowman unique!
First, I secured the nose to the pipe cleaners that were attached to the center of the 8" wire form. This way, you can move the nose to either side, up or down ... any way you wish! I put mine slightly to one side.
I then drew a smiley face on my computer and printed it out, cut it out and traced it onto black cardboard. I also traced the eyes onto the black cardboard and cut them out.
This is the best I could do to show you the mouth that I used.
I painted a little star in the middle of the eye and used the light blue to do a little shadow to the side of the eye. A tiny rhinestone was put in the middle to give it some magic!
I also painted snow dripping on the hat just for fun! A piece of ribbon was hot glued above the rim of the hat and a piece of holly was hot glued as well.
I then secured the mouth and eyes with hot glue as best I could. It is almost impossible to have anything glued to mesh be super straight, so having it be a little imperfect didn't bother me. I did however, glue some pipe cleaners to the inside of the hat and attached it to the top so I knew where I would like it before gluing it to the mesh.
And there you have it! My adorable, magical snowman!
As for my party teaching my friends how to make this snowman, it was so much fun! We enjoyed each other's company and all left with a piece of art that we made our own!
I hope this convinces you to make one yourself. You can do whatever you wish for the eyes, nose and mouth such as ornaments or large buttons for the eyes, or even small black ornaments in the shape of a smile for the mouth! What matters most is that you have fun!
If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. I'll do my best to get back to you in a timely fashion.
Thank you for reading my post! I really enjoyed making this sweet little guy! I hope you do, too!