By McClatchy Newspapers

After a recent snowfall — the good packing kind of snow that almost screams to be molded into a snowman — I noticed the three parts to a half-built fellow lying in the park.

They were good-size snowballs, the kind that gather all the snow in their path, leaving trails of green grass in their wake.

Some overly ambitious child made them too large to pick up and went inside to get warm, I imagined.

You’ve probably made the same mistake, too, as your parents probably did when they were children. But if you remember not to make it again, you’ve learned a lesson.

But back to the poor fellow whose abandoned body parts were scattered around the park. The teamwork of friends or help from a trusted adult could have given life to that snowman.

But he would have had a short life span anyway, and would have melted in the rain that followed.

This snowman doesn’t care about rain or snow. I made him with cardboard boxes I bought at a craft store. I fashioned him after one I saw made from a paving brick in the December issue of Family Fun magazine. I changed the directions to make it easier to find the supplies you will need to make your own.

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Supplies you will need:

1 6-inch hexagon-shaped box with lid.

1 3-inch square box with lid.

1 purchased carrot nose.

2 1 1/2-inch pompoms.

1 chenille stem.

Scrap of flannel or fleece for scarf.

Gesso or white acrylic paint.

Crystal glitter.

Black acrylic paint.

Paint brush.

Cork.

Glue.

Newspaper.

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Spread newspaper down on your work surface.

Paint all the outside surfaces of both boxes with white paint or gesso. If using paint, you may need several coats.

Before the paint dries, lightly sprinkle the crystal glitter over the paint. Set aside to dry.

Cut the fabric into an 18-inch long by 1 1/2-inch wide strip. Cut strips at each end to make fringe.

When the paint is dry, poke a hole in the center of the bottom of the square box and insert the carrot nose. You may want to put a small amount of glue to hold securely.

Dip the pointed end of a paint brush in black paint to make dots for the eyes above the nose. Make five dots under the nose for a mouth.

Cut the stem in half and glue to the sides of the square. Glue pompoms on top of the ends of the stems for earmuffs.

Make buttons on the snowman’s body by dipping the end of a cork into black paint and daubing it in the center of the hexagon.

When everything is dry, wrap the scarf around the head of the snowman and tie in front.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am and is filed under Recent News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.