12 Days of Christmas 2014 - Day Four

It's day 4 of our 12 days, and it's time for a snowman! I've been seeing jeans pockets with snowmen painted on them all over Pinterest, and I love them! They are so cute, but I wondered what to do with them. Make a little purse? A hanging pocket? Sew the pocket onto something else? Then I thought back to what I've done with pockets in the past. I LOVE denim and have ever since I got my first pair of Levi's when I was a senior in high school! When I was a very young, newly married, now mom, I earned a little extra cash by making Levi purses and other things and selling them in a little gift shop. When my boys got a little older and I was a Cub Scout leader, we used Levi pockets to make gifts for Father's Day. We mounted them on wood plaques and painted above them "Dad's Pocket". So why couldn't I do the same thing with a snowman pocket?  And I did!

Choose a board with a nice shape and paint it light blue. Decoupage some snowflake scrapbook paper on it and dry brush a little white paint on the edges to give a bit of a primitive look.

When you cut the pocket off the jeans, leave the back piece attached. That's what you will glue to the board so the pocket will open and be able to hold goodies. You need to make a kind of little pleat in the back piece when you glue it down. If you don't, the pocket will be so tight to the board that you will get nothing into it! This is the voice of experience talking. I forgot to do this and had to rip the pocket off the board and re-glue it!

Paint the snowman shape on the pocket but don't do what I did! I painted it with gesso first, thinking that it would cover the blue better, and it did. BUT..... Big mistake! Gesso dries hard, and when you move the fabric, it cracks! So a few coats of white paint will be better than gesso and then paint. Paint his orange nose. and use the wood end of a paintbrush to make the dots for eyes and mouth... Spray the paint with clear acrylic spray and and shake a little super fine glitter on him while it's still wet. Glue some snowflakes around his head and one on his nose. I used my QuikCutz to cut the letters for the words "Let It Snow"  but you could paint them or cut them by hand, whatever you like.. I put the candy canes in the pocket so I would be sure not to glue them too low, and then glued the words to the board.

I think he turned out pretty cute, and he's useful, too, and I think I need to  make a few more for gifts!I hope you like him and will make one for yourself. Maybe a few for friends.

See you tomorrow for some more fun!