12 Days of Christmas 2016 - Day Four

I LOVE SNOWMEN!!!  They come in all sizes and shapes and materials and I love them all! So for today, we have a little snowman ornament made from felt and fleece and a little embroidery floss. Oh, and some tiny little blue buttons! They are fairly easy and don't take a lot of time to make, which makes them perfect for me to make for my grandchildren. And that's just what I did last year! We have 20 grandchildren now, and 5 other children to whom we are honorary grandparents, and with us living on my hubby's disability, we don't have much money, and especially not at Christmas! So I decided last year that I was going to start an ornament collection for each grandchild, so that when they leave home, they will have some decorations to put on their trees. I also told them there would be a little something extra, too.

I saw some little ornaments on Pinterest that I really liked and chose the snowman, of course, because I love snowmen. I made myself a pattern, which took a couple of tries to get what I wanted, and then set about cutting them out. 52 little snowman bodies, 2 for each, and 26 little snowman pockets. Did you notice there was an extra one there? I had to have one for my tree, too! 

I finally mastered the blanket stitch a couple of years ago, and I chose two different colors of icey blue embroidery floss to stitch them. One color for the boys and one for the girls. It actually came from necessity--I ran out of my color one night and I didn't want to wait to get more, so I just used another color. Then I decided to do the boy-girl thing.

Okay. You need 2 body pieces and one pocket piece for each snowman. Start your blanket stitch at one side of the pocket and stitch across the top of the pocket. When you get to the other side, pin the two bodies together and pin the pocket to the front. Stitch up and around the snowman's head and on down around the body, capturing the pocket piece in the stitching when you come to it. Stop when you get to the other corner of the pocket so you can stuff him, and then finish stitching him together. Tie off your floss and put your needle through to the other side of the snowman and then cut your thread. This hides the thread so it doesn't stick out where your knot is.

I put chapstick in mine, but money is always appreciated, too. Notice the different
colors? Lighter for the girls and darker for the boys.

My little snowmen are about 4" tall and 3" wide. They can be made in any size, but that was the size that looked best to me for an ornament. Take the width of the head and double that for the hat. Cut a piece of fleece that measurement by about 4" for this size hat. So my hats were 4" tall by 3" wide because the heads are about 1 1/2" wide. Sew the 4" edges together. Bunch the hat all up and with some good strong thread tie it good and tight about an inch and a half from one edge. Wrap it 3 or 4 times and tie it really tight with 2 or 3 knots and trim the ends of the thread. Cut the fringe on the short half and fold the long half up to form the cuff. Slip the hat on his head and tack it in a couple of places, either with needle and thread or glue. Cut a scarf 1" wide and as long as you like and cut fringes at both ends. Tie it around his neck and he CAN be done right there. I wanted to make sure that each child knew which ornament was theirs, so I used fabric paint to write their names on the pockets. Hook an ornament hanger in the thread that ties the scrunchy part of the hat and he's ready for some embellishment. Glue two tiny buttons on his body and either use fabric paint for his face or embroider it, like I did. I used french knots for his eyes and nose and a running stitch for his mouth. If you do this before you put his hat on, you can hide all your knots at the back of his head.

A gaggle of geese, a shiver of sharks, a parliament of owls. What about
snowmen? A drift of snowmen?Or a mound? A pack?

Okay, so there is probably no name for a group of snowmen, so make up your own! I kind of like drift because snow drifts, but you can also drift in the water when it melts. (hehe)  Have fun with your snowmen. Make them as large or small as you like, and share them! A snowman can always put a smile on someone's face. And remember.....a Christmas present is a reminder to someone that they are loved!  Love to all,