Here in central Texas, oak trees are everywhere. The small acorns fall so heavily in our yard from a neighbor’s tree that we have to walk slowly on that side of the house, or else we’ll slip on all the round little fruits. While my kids and I would gladly trade a lawn covered in acorns for a lawn covered in snow, we figured out a way to bring winter thoughts even to the warmth of Texas.
These were super fun to make. It took little more than nature’s gifts that we salvaged from our yard. They are a nice blend of challenge (a hot glue gun) without being so intensive that my kiddos lost interest.
We started by going outside and gathering supplies. We collected a bunch of acorns, tops, and tiny sticks from our yard into a kitchen set bin (you could be quaint and use a basket, but I don’t have a spare one).
The bottoms of the acorns had a sharp point, which hindered gluing them together, so I shaved the points down with a nail file. Sandpaper would probably be more appropriate and may work faster, but I didn’t have sandpaper, so a nail file did the trick.
After that, I had my three year old rinse off the acorns. I wanted to make sure any dust, dirt, and debris were eliminated to enable the glue to stick properly. He liked to swirl them around in the water, and it was a fun (albeit brief) sink-or-float experiment.
We dried them off a bit and let them sit for a couple of hours until we were ready to assemble to snowmen.
Putting them together was easy. I let each child put a dab of glue from a hot glue gun on top of an acorn and then (quickly) stick another acorn on top until we had a stack of three. My eight year old was able to do this independently, but I helped the six and three year olds.
I forgot to attach our twine, for hanging the ornament, under the “hat”, but it looks much better if you do. Simply take some twine or string, long enough to create a loop that can hang it on a tree, and secure each end to the top of the acorn snowman with a hot glue gun. Once that is dried, add more glue to the “head” of the snowman and press an acorn top down on it.
Next, attach two arms to the snowman. The thinner the stick, the better. Depending on the length, one stick should be long enough for two arms and a very short nose. We just carefully cut the sticks into three parts with scissors. I applied a dot of glue to the middle acorn of the snowman, one on each side where the arms should be, and held the stick fragment in until it dried (a few seconds).
Next, we did the same thing again, except a dot on the top acorn where the nose should be. The “carrot” nose stick should be very short, and I held it in place until it dried.
We had some holiday pompoms from the dollar store which worked perfectly for a little decoration on top of the hat. I grabbed some felt out of my craft box (from all the projects I say I’m going to do and…never do) and cut thin strips for the scarf. I just wrapped the small piece of felt around the snowman’s “neck” and glued them together where they met.
Lastly, we added orange to the nose. I tried a couple ways of doing this, but painting it before securing it to the snowman didn’t work very well. So I just dipped a paintbrush into some orange acrylic glue and let them dab the end of their snowman’s nose with it after it was attached. It left a bright orange mark that was just perfect.
I find myself really sticking to a lot of the same types of art activites with my kids, ones involving scissors and markers and paper, so it was kind of fun to mix it up and bring in what they felt was a more “grown-up” tool, the hot glue gun, but in a craft that didn’t require a ton of precision or technique. They were very proud of their little snowman creations and happily hung them on the tree when we were done. They also thought it was pretty amazing that we constructed them mostly out of stuff we found in our yard….I thought that was pretty amazing, too.
In a world of grandiose gifts, elaborate elf-on-the-shelf plans, and expensive trips or activities, it’s worth the reminder that even simple, small moments of togetherness and creativity can help usher in the Christmas season. I want to teach my children that celebration isn’t hindered by budget or ability to achieve perfection…celebration can be had in the humble and quiet places, too (or humble and loud, because, I have kids…who am I kidding?).
Try these little snowmen for yourself! Don’t have oak trees around? What CAN you make with what’s in your yard? A rock snowman? A pinecone Christmas tree? A garland of pretty autumn leaves? A nature bowl centerpiece with seasonal backyard items? The opportunities are endless. Beauty is all around us. Let’s go find it.
