Sock Snowman Craft
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I love this sock snowman craft because it’s simple, customizable, and perfect for the whole family to enjoy together. The easy-to-follow steps create an adorable, one-of-a-kind snowman, and the materials are inexpensive and easy to find. It’s a great way to add a personal touch to your winter décor!
You’ll love this project because:
Here’s what you’ll need:
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Supplies
Supplies notes:
- White Baby Socks: Choose socks in size 0-6 months for a perfect snowman shape. The soft, fuzzy texture on the inside is ideal for this craft.
- Rice: About 1 ½ to 2 cups per snowman, providing weight and structure to your snowman.
- Funnel: Helps guide the rice into the sock easily, especially when filling the sock initially. If you don’t have a funnel you can create one using some sturdy cardstock or construction paper. Shape it into a cone and use some tape to hold it together.
- Felt Scraps: Use black for the hat, orange for the nose, and any other colors for accessories like scarves.
- Fabric Scissors: Essential for cutting the felt pieces, including the hat and scarf. Normal scissors will work, but they require extra effort. Kitchen scissors will work a bit better than craft scissors.
- Hot Glue Gun + Glue Sticks: Used for attaching the hat, scarf, buttons, and other embellishments to the snowman. Mini glue sticks work great here. You don’t need anything heavy duty.
- Buttons: Decorate the snowman’s body with these for a classic look. This is a great way to use up leftover buttons from clothes that have fallen off or you’ve collected over the years!
- Small Elastics or Rubber Bands: Secure the sections of the snowman’s body and keep the shape intact. I love to save rubber bands I get from packages in the mail or vegetables at the grocery store and reuse them for crafts like this!
- Black Sewing Pins: Can be used for the snowman’s eyes or as a substitute for sewing buttons. You can also draw the eyes with black permanent marker.
- Bottle Tops/Lids: Perfect for creating the brim of the snowman’s hat. Get creative with what you have around your house!
- Blush + Q-tip (Optional): Add a rosy touch to the snowman’s cheeks for extra cuteness. You can also use pink marker if you have that!
Make sure the baby socks are the right size (0-6 months) to achieve the perfect snowman shape, and be mindful not to overfill the socks with rice, as it can affect the shape and stability. If using sewing pins for eyes, secure them well with hot glue to ensure safety, especially if kids will be handling the craft. If you have small children and are worried, you can paint the eyes on with black paint or use permanent black marker instead.
Step-by-step instructions
For the ingredient list with measurements, full instructions, printable recipe and additional notes, please scroll down to the recipe card.
Expert Tips
FAQs
Yes! You can use larger socks to create bigger snowmen. Adult ankle socks work well, but you may need to adjust the amount of rice and proportions. For larger socks, try using about 3-4 cups of rice per snowman.
If you are making this craft with young children and prefer to not use rice, I recommend using a filler like poly-fill or small foam craft balls instead. Lentils or dried beans can also be used. Be cautious with sewing pins and small hands. You can secure them with a small dab of hot glue OR you could opt to use black paint, instead!
One sock snowman can be made in about 20-30 minutes. If you have little helping hands, expect to add a few more minutes to that time.
No problem! You can roll a piece of paper into a cone shape or use a measuring cup with a spout to carefully pour the rice into the sock.
Get creative! Use tiny pom-poms for buttons, googly eyes instead of sewing pins, or add a mini scarf made of ribbon or patterned fabric. You can even paint on a face with acrylic paint if you prefer.
Yes! For younger kids, substitute hot glue with school glue and pre-cut all the felt pieces in advance. Let the kids decorate the snowmen with stickers, fabric markers, or other safe materials.
More Christmas DIYs to make
Supplies
- White baby socks, size 0-6 months
- White rice, 2 cups per sock snowman
- Funnel
- Felt scraps, orange, black, red, etc.
- Fabric scissors
- Hot glue gun + extra hot glue sticks
- Buttons
- Small elastics or rubber bands
- Black sewing pins
- Bottle tops/lids, 1-2 liter bottle size tops work great
- Blush + Q-tip, optional
Instructions
- Turn the baby sock inside out. The white fuzzy texture on the inside is perfect for the snowmen!
- Place a small funnel inside the sock, and begin filling the sock with rice. As the sock fills up and starts to “stand” on its own, the funnel may not be necessary, but it is handy at first!
- After filling the sock with about ¼ cup of rice, gently stretch the sock and tap it on your work surface. This will help the rice to settle to the bottom and will make room for more.
- Add more rice. I like to add about ¼ cup at a time. The sock will start to round out at the bottom if you continue stretching and tapping the bottom on your work surface. You will be surprised by how much rice a baby sock can hold when stretched slowly! I fit about 1 ½ to 2 cups of rice in each sock!
- Once you have about 1 cup of rice, begin to shape the snowman with your hands. Squeeze and section off the bottom part from the head. Your snowman should have a peanut shape at this point, and the bottom should be slightly larger than the top.
- Place a small hair elastic or a rubber band around the point where the bottom meets the head. You can also tie around it with a piece of yarn for extra support. The elastic will be hidden once you shape your snowman and place a scarf around its neck!
- Once the sections are divided, you may want to add more rice to the top to give it a nice, round shape. Continue filling it until the size and shape look right, and then secure with an elastic/rubber band.
- Begin making the hat. Place your bottle lid over a small piece of black felt with the bottom of the lid facing the felt. Cut all the way around the lid using fabric scissors. This is the brim of the hat, and it should be about ½ to ¾ inch larger than the lid.
- Once the circle is cut, fold it in half. Cut a small semicircle out of the middle. You want the semicircle to be SMALLER than the bottom of the bottle lid, with just enough space for the top part of the sock to fit through. Set aside.
- Turn the bottle lid over so that the top is facing down, and place it on top of another small scrap of black felt. Cut all the way around the bottle lid, tracing the bottle lid closely. The circle should be about the same size as the bottle lid.
- Turn the bottle lid on its side and place it on another scrap piece of black felt. This time, you will be cutting a thin, straight strip that will like the side of the bottle lid and complete the snowman’s hat. Cut a strip long enough to wrap around and cover the side of the bottle lid.
- Use hot glue to attach the hat’s side and top panels.
- Trim off any excess felt.
- Place the top part of the hat over the snowman’s head, tucking the cuff inside of the open part of the lid. If needed, remove and trim off a little bit of the excess sock cuff so that it doesn’t bulge under the bottle lid (snowman’s hat). The sock may be filled enough that you don’t have to trim off any excess cuff. Use your best judgment, and don’t cut too close to the elastic!
- After sizing and trimming, place a good amount of hot glue inside the bottle lid (top part of the snowman’s hat) and place it on top of the snowman’s head, over the sock’s cuff, tucking the cuff inside! This disguises the cuff of the sock and gives extra hold and support for the elastic.
- Now that your snowman is built and is wearing a hat, it is time to add the embellishments! Cut a thin strip of felt for the scarf, and add fringe to each end. Wrap the scarf around the snowman’s neck, and secure with hot glue.
- Use black sewing pins for the snowman’s eyes, and cut a small triangle for the nose. Glue the nose in place.
- If desired, give your snowman some sweet, rosy cheeks using real blush! Use a Q-tip for this small job.
- Use a small dab of hot glue to apply the snowman’s buttons down the front of the body.
- Your snowman is complete! Place in a safe place for decoration, and enjoy all winter long! Since this snowman craft is filled with rice, I recommend them for decoration only. Playing with them may weaken the elastic and cause them to break. It is better to be cautious with little hands.
