6 Weeks of Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas - Week #6: No-Sew Sock Snowmen


For the last segment of "6 Weeks of Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas" I'm re-posting a tutorial from last year - No-Sew Sock Snowmen.  They are so cute and so easy I wanted to share them again.

The sock snowman to the far right was given to me as a gift for Christmas.  I liked the idea so much I wanted to make my own.  Here's the basic instructions for making sock snowmen {idea from Then She Made}.

Each one, if you have the materials together, takes about 15 minutes to make.  This would also be a great craft project for kids - they may need adult help with the rubber bands and pouring the rice.

Regarding the materials:  
  • The white tube socks can either be mid-calf length or knee-high, depending on how tall you want your snowman.  Also, the more prominent the ribbing the more texture the finished snowman has.  {the next ones I make will be with socks that have more ribbing}
  • The decorative socks can either be ankle length, calf length or knee high.  If you are using knee-high socks you'll only need 1 sock per snowman.  If you're using shorter socks, you will likely need the pair {although I'll be trying to utilize the "discard" pieces with my next batch to see if I can do it with 1 calf sock}.
  • The decorative socks can be found at the dollar store, or, Target has a section of decorative socks for $1.50/pair.  They aren't Christmas-themed but you can find them with Christmas colors.
  • The add-ons I used are felt {hand-cut flower on the blue snowman} and cardstock {pre-cut cardstock flower on the red snowman}.  I think a folk-art style heart would be cute cut out of felt as well.
  • I used chalk to color the cheeks of my snowmen.  You could dab it on your finger {what I did} or a q-tip and gently rub it onto the cheeks in a circular motion.
For each snowman, you'll need the following:
  • 1 white tube sock (*see above for information regarding size/style*)
  • 1 pair decorative socks (or 1 knee-high decorative sock - see above for information)
  • rice for filler
  • twine, string and/or ribbon
  • 2 rubberbands
  • wooden shish-kabob stick for the nose
  • orange paint or pen {to color the stick}
  • 2 black buttons for the eyes
  • craft glue
  • misc. optional items:  felt, buttons, flowers, orange or pink chalk, etc.
Instructions:

Cut the socks as detailed below.  This is for the decorative socks and, depending on the type of sock you have, the instructions are listed:
Knee-high sock - discard the very top ribbing, use the next section for the body, discard the section that includes the heel, use the next section for the hat - keep the toe intact.

Ankle or Calf sock - discard the ribbing sections for each sock.  Use the foot portion of each sock, keeping the toe section on one and cutting it off of the other.


For the snowman body you'll utilize the ribbed section of either the knee-high sock or the calf-length sock.  Below, I used the calf-length sock.  In order to achieve 2 sizes I cut the first after the heel {this is the blue snowman)......

...and the second before the heel {this is the red snowman}.


This is what the underside of each will look like.  The blue snowman has a little of the gray heel showing, but it's on it's underside and not seen while he is sitting.


Take the portion of the white tube sock that is the snowman's body and turn it inside out.  Using the rubber band, band the cut side of the sock.  This will hold in the rice.

Turn the tube sock inside out again and now the rubber band is on the inside of the sock.


Fill the tube sock with rice.  You can either stand it up and carefully and slowly pour the rice in, pack it down, pour a little more, pack it down, .....etc. or you can put the sock in a jar, attach the opening of the sock to the jar with rubber band, and pour rice in.  Remember to pack it in so you can get a full and plump snowman.

Once the sock is completely full, use the second rubber band to close the top of the sock closed.  {this will be hidden under the hat when it's complete}

tying the rubber band at the opening of the sock


Now you have to decide if you want the twine/string/ribbon on the outside or underneath his clothing.  See the two photos below:

This snowman has the twine under the clothing

this snowman has the twine on top of the clothing
If it's going under the clothing, take 2 pieces of twine and tie them tightly around the body to make 3 sections {as the photo shows above}.  Put the decorative sock {body piece} over the rice-filled tube sock.

If it's going over the clothing, put the decorative sock on first, then take 2 pieces of twine and tie them tightly around the body to make 3 sections.


Take the second piece of decorative sock {with the toe}, the hat, and place it on top of the snowman.  Tie a piece of ribbon at the toe to make it look less sock-like.  

I added a little craft glue under the rim of the hat to hold it in place once I had it where I wanted it.

Decorate the face and clothing:
  • glue 2 buttons on the face for eyes
  • color the wooden skewer orange and put into the sock for the nose {it takes a bit of working but it will eventually go in}
  • tie ribbon in buttons and glue on to the sweater
  • add felt flowers or cardstock flowers to the hat
  • swirl a little bit of chalk on the cheeks



 That's it!  You're done.

You can now make an entire snowman family!


7 comments

  1. A great upcycled project! It reminds me of hte three little bears. Only the 3 little snowmen. :)

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  2. So, so cute. And what awesome, thorough directions you've included. We're going to the beach for Christmas; this will be such a fun craft to work on at the beach house.

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  3. Oh, oh, oh - They're brilliant!

    Thanks.

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  4. These are so adorable! What a great homeschool project!

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  5. You had me at "no sew!" Haha. These are so cute! I love how they turned out. Great craft idea :)

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  6. These are so cute!! I can't wait to try my hand at making them. Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing!!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment on this post!