Remember the snowman ornaments I made last year? Well, I couldn’t resist making more of these one-of-a-kind snowman ornaments. Since these are relatively small, it just seems silly to make a huge amount of papier-mâché clay. So, I’ve quartered the original recipe for a more practical amount for these little ornaments or smaller projects.
But first, this is day five of our Festive Christmas Blog Hop.
Welcome back to year 6 of our Festive Christmas Event where we team up with a bunch of talented blogging friends to bring you a plethora of creative ways to celebrate your holiday season. We will be baking some cookie recipes for you, sharing some party games, making some handmade gifts, doing some ornament crafting, and sharing our Christmas movies family fun. There will be breakfast recipes and as always, our decorated Christmas Trees which is always a fun tour of homes. New this year is Gift Guides. We are right there with you shopping from home due to Covid 19 and we understand how hard that can be so we have been busy little Elves doing tons of research to create fabulous Gift Guides to help you with your holiday shopping. You will find new ideas every Monday and Wednesday between Oct. 19th through Nov. 18th. Scroll all the way down to find all the ideas linked at the end.
Back to the Ornaments! If you plan to make large pumpkins or large projects, you can find the whole papier-mâché recipe ◄ here. But, if you want to make these small ornaments, the following smaller recipe will yield plenty of clay. I mixed this up in an empty ice cream bucket with just a large spoon. If you read the earlier post on making the papier-mâché clay, you will know that the large quantity is mixed with a drill and a special paint paddle. You won’t need that for this smaller amount. It’s easy to stir it up by hand.
Quartered Papier-mâché Clay Recipe
- 4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup white Elmer’s Glue-All
- * 1/4 cup liquid starch
- 1 cap of Mr. Clean
- 1-quart water
- ** Cellulose fiber insulation
- 1/2 cup Drywall joint compound
* Don’t have liquid starch? You can easily make your own. You’ll need water and dry laundry starch or even regular cornstarch.
Boil 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan.
Mix 1 teaspoon of laundry starch or cornstarch in 1 teaspoon of cold water. Stir cornstarch mixture into the boiling water. Continue boiling and stirring for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool before using to make the papier-mâché paste.
** You can find cellulose fiber insulation at your local big-box store, like Lowe's or Home Depot. It comes in bales. It's relatively inexpensive and will make a whole lot of this clay!
Pour the flour into a 1-gallon bucket. Add 1/4 cup of white glue, 1/4 cup of liquid starch, 1 cap of Mr. Clean, 1 quart of water, and drywall joint compound, and mix well. (Mr. Clean keeps the mixture smelling a little fresher for a few days.)
When I made a large amount of clay, we used a drill and paint mixing paddle. That is not necessary if you are making this smaller amount. I hand-stirred this with a large metal spoon in an empty plastic 1.25-gallon ice cream container. It is easy enough to do.
Add a handful of the cellulose fiber insulation and mix well. Continue adding and mixing until you have a clay the consistency of a soft Play-Doh. The first time I made the clay, I didn’t add enough of the insulation, and it was too wet. It didn’t retain the shape as well after it dried. After realizing this, by adding more of the insulation, I finally got the feel for the best consistency. You can read more about my experience here. ►Papier-mache pumpkin.
Supplies Needed
- water balloons
- newspaper
- scissors
- Elmer’s Glue-All
- Paper mache clay
- Kilz latex primer and sealer
- Deco Art Acrylic craft paints
- Deco Art Antiquing medium
- Paintbrushes
- Clear glitter
- Mod Podge
Making The Snowman Head
The Balloons
First, blow up the water balloon. You want these to be about the size of a small snowball. These are slightly less than 3-inches in diameter across the middle of the balloon. They are about 3-1/2 inches from the mouth to the top. It’s not critical but I didn’t want them to be too big. By the time you add one-eighth of an inch of paper Mache, they will be about a quarter inch thicker in total.
Gluing The Paper Strips to The Balloons
Instead of using the papier-mâché glue to adhere the strips as I do with the pumpkins, I use Elmer’s glue-all. The strips are so little, it just makes it quick and easy. Elmer’s Glue-All is very similar to Aleene’s Tacky Glue. Surprisingly, I find that it adheres pretty quickly. It is much better than the Elmer’s School Glue. I buy a large bottle of it and fill the small squeeze bottles. It is cheaper than buying multiple squeeze bottles. A tip here ►Just use your 50% off coupons at Michael’s or JOANN’s to buy this.
You can see the balloon stems are still attached at this point. The rest of the balloon is completely covered with a layer of paper strips. The pumpkins need at least 3 layers because a lot of paper Mache is added. The base needs to be very sturdy. One layer of the paper strips is all that is needed for these little shapes as long as you don’t add too much of the paper clay at one time. Add too much of the wet clay at one time and it can collapse.
Adding The Paper Mache Clay to the One-of-a-Kind Christmas Ornaments
Cover about half of the shape with paper Mache clay. Turn the balloon upside down, rest on a yogurt jar or a small glass, and allow the clay to dry overnight. Don’t cut off the balloon stem yet. Cover the remaining balloon with the clay leaving the balloon stem protruding from a small hole. Let the clay dry overnight.
Once the clay is dry, then, you can cut the balloon stem at the base. Use the clay to cover the hole and create a carrot nose for the snowmen.
Rest the ball on the jars again overnight. You might want to lay the head horizontal with the nose facing up, so it doesn’t drop with gravity. When you attach the nose, keep in mind that you will be adding a hat. The narrower end of the shape seems to be the best end for covering with the hat. The rounder end looks better for the chin.
Make Multiple One of-a-Kind Snowman Christmas Ornaments
These come together so quickly, you could make enough to decorate an entire tree in no time! We are talking about totally unique inexpensive ornaments in no time. You can see the progression in the picture. The first one is covered with paper strips and the last is completely covered with clay and a carrot nose is attached. Allow the snowman head to completely dry.
Apply Water Base Sealer Stain Blocker
Brush at least one coat of sealer onto the heads. I use Kilz. You can use a different brand if you have one.
Allow the sealer to dry.
Paint the One-of-a-Kind Snowman Christmas Ornaments with Acrylic Craft Paint
After the primer-sealer has dried, paint the entire snowball with white acrylic craft paint. Paint the carrot nose orange. Add some very fine lines with brown paint to resemble a carrot if you like. Use black paint to make eyes, eyebrows if you want, and a mouth.
Add a little dot of white paint to make the eyes sparkle a little. Use a wash of pink, rose, or red for blush. Then, when the paint is dry, use the antiquing medium in a wash all over the snowman’s head. Quickly, wipe it off with a paper towel allowing the brown color to stay in the indentations.
Add The Clear Glitter to The One-of-a-Kind Snowman Christmas Ornaments
Next, using a paintbrush, cover the head with Mod Podge, avoiding the carrot nose, mouth, eyebrows, and eyes if possible. If the Mod Podge is too thick, you can add water to it, a little at a time until you have a perfect consistency.
Sprinkle or shake clear glitter over the entire snowman head. Allow the glue to completely dry. If you get some glue and glitter on the eyes or mouth, use a small stiff brush to remove it while the glue is still wet.
Then, you’ll want to add a hat like the ones above which I made last year. You can find those 3 options ◄ here.
Check back for part 2 of this post, (and the finished snowman ornaments)– How to Make Sock Hats for Snowman Ornaments. Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter below!
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Wow! These snowmen are so pretty. It’s worth the extra effort to make these and create the memories.
Thanks, Shirley! They have personalities, too, don’t they?
Oh my goodness, the little faces on these snowmen are so adorable! They also have a vintage vibe that I like too.
Thanks, Marie! They are really fun to make, too.
Awesome idea! I love your sweet snowmen.
Thank you, Lauren!
Aww, these are so cute!!
Thank you, Tania!
I love the snowman, it is very unique. Pinned.
Thank you, Anita, and thanks for pinning!
Really cute!! Thanks so much for linking up with me at my #UnlimitedMonthlyLinkParty 18, open until November 26. Shared.
Thank you, Dee!
These are precious! I love the cheery little faces, and all the glitter!
Thank you, Alexandra! The little snowmen ornaments are fun to make, too. Thanks for visiting! Have a Merry Christmas!