How to Craft a Quick and Easy Tabletop Snowman

Author:
Adele Jeunette
Updated date:
Nov 10, 2021

Adele has been a youth services librarian in public libraries for 20 years.

This article contains step-by-step directions for making a charming snowman decoration out of a tube sock, a styrofoam ball, a roll of toilet paper, and embellishments.

Craft a Charming Snowman Decoration

This tabletop snowman decoration is a craft project that goes together in a jiffy, leaving you lots of time to spend on the fun part: decorating! Snowmen are so versatile; you can dress them up however you like.

All you need are a few inexpensive household items: a tube sock, a roll of toilet paper, and a styrofoam ball. The roll of toilet paper is the secret ingredient. It forms a sturdy base for your snowman so that is will sit securely on a surface.

For the decoration, dig into your drawer of leftover craft items. You can use bits of felt, lace, ribbon or yarn. Add any odd buttons, decorative pins, silk flowers, or anything else you may have will come in handy.

This decoration will be about 9 inches tall and can sit on a tabletop or sill.

Because it is so quick and easy, this craft is perfect for doing with children in an afternoon. My daughter made some for her grandparents several years ago, and these cute little snowmen are still the first thing they pull out when they are decorating for Christmas.

Craft Materials Needed

1 4-in. Styrofoam ball
1 men’s tube sock
1 roll of toilet paper
1 set of googly eyes around ¾ in. in diameter (19 mm)
1 orange chenille stem
7 small black pom-poms ½ in. diameter (12 mm)
Tacky glue or hot glue gun
Assortment of decorations, such as yarn, ribbon, cloth, etc.

Here are the basic things you need to make this snowman: a tube sock, tacky glue (or hot glue gun with sticks), chenille stem, googly eyes, small pom poms, styrofoam ball and a roll of toilet paper.

Step 1: Turn a Tube Sock Inside Out

You want the fluffy side out so that it will make the surface for your snowman.

Trun the tube sock inside out. That way, the fluffy side will form the surface of your snowman.

Step 2: Stretch the Tube Sock Over a Toilet Paper Roll

The toe seam will be on the bottom of the toilet paper roll, and thus on the bottom your snowman.

Note: Be sure to pull the sock all the way up so that the seam will lie flat.

Work the toilet paper roll gently down until it is all the way to the end of the toe in the sock. Make sure the sock is pulled flat along the bottom of the roll so that the bottom surface will be flat and sit nicely on a surface.

Step 3: Place a Styrofoam Ball on Top of the Toilet Paper Roll (And Stretch a Sock Over That, Too)

Be sure to leave a little slack in the sock where the neck will be. That way, you will be able to tie some fabric, ribbon, or lace around the neck to fashion a scarf or tie for your creation.

Note that we've left a little slack in the sock between the tp roll and the styrofoam ball to better define the neck area.

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Step 4: Gather the Sock Over Top of the Styrofoam Ball and Tie With Light-Colored Thread or Yarn

Here is where we finish off the head and body for the snowman. Be sure to tie the thread or yearn tightly with a sturdy knot so that your snowman will stay intact throughout the years.

Tie off the top of the head tightly and tie a sturdy knot.

Step 5: Cut Off the Excess Sock

Don’t worry about the little tuft on the top of the Styrofoam ball. We’ll be covering it with a hat.

Cut off the excess sock that is above your tied string.

When you are finished with step 5, you will have a snowman base that looks like this

Step 6: Glue on Googly Eyes

Be aware that the eyes are lower on a head than we tend to think. Put them down at least 1/3 of the way on the sphere that makes the head.

Glue on the googly eyes using tack glue or a hot glue gun.

Step 7: Fashion a Carrot Nose Out of Chenille and Secure to the Snowman

Cut the chenille, fashion it into a carrot shape and press the end of the carrot through the sock and into the Styrofoam ball until it feels secure.

This is where I like to use the chenille that has some wide spaces in it, because I can just cut the chenille the length I want, and the carrot shape is already there. However, if you just have a plain orange chenille stem, you can fashion it into a thin triangle and attach it.

An alternate idea would be to wind the chenille stem around a toothpick to get a tight spiral that would give the nose more dimension.

To attach the nose, push the chenille stem through the sock and into the styrofoam ball until it feels secure.

Step 8: Glue Small Pom-Poms in the Shape of a Smile for a Mouth

If you don’t have pom poms, you could use sequins, bead, or pebbles. You could also use yarn, ribbon, or a strip of fabric, and fashion it into a smile for you snowman.

A series of small poms poms are glued into a smile for the mouth, but you can use other things like sequins or beads to get the same effect.

Step 9: Add Clothing and Embellishments

Here is where your creativity—and your stash of craft items—comes in. You can use felt, lace, ribbon, fabric, beads, sequins, silk flowers—almost anything—to decorate your snowman.

For gift-giving, it’s fun to personalize the snowman for the person receiving it. For a fisherman, you might fashion a fishing hat and vest. For someone who likes baking, you can craft an apron to put on the snowman.

See the finished examples below for some ideas on how to use your stash of crafting items to embellish your snowman.

For this jaunty snowman, I used a little hat that came on a Christmas headband. The scarf is just a piece of ribbon tied around the neck.

Decorating Ideas: Snowman With Fleece Hat, Scarf and Buttons

To make the embellishments, I used a small piece of fleece I had left over from another craft project. For the hat, I measured out enough to encircle the head. Then I cut out a rectangle of that width, making the rectangle a little taller than it was wide. I put the long end of the rectangle together and sewed it into a tube. I tied the tube about 1/3 of the way from the top, and then cut the top to make fringe.

For the buttons, I cut long thin rectangles and then hand-sewed them on one side with big stitches, pulling the stitches to gather the material until it was tight enough to form a circle.

For the scarf, I cut a long, thin rectangle and then cut the ends to make the fringe. Then I tied the scarf around the neck.

For this snowman, the hat, scarf and buttons were all made from leftover fleece.

For this snowman, I used a knitted child’s hat that I bought at a second-hand store. The scarf is a piece of ruffled red lace.

Ideas for Hats

Since the hat is the main embellishment you add when crafting this snowman, I thought I’d include a few more ideas for making hats.

Make a hat using these sock hat directions from Dollar Store Crafts.
Make a hat using this felt hat tutorial at Miss Beatrix. You will need to find a bigger lid than she uses to make one big enough for your snowman.
Make a hat using this straw hat tutorial video. You will need to make the base bigger than the one shown to have it fit your snowman’s head.