I adore snowmen, and every year I try to make at least one new snowman ornament. Several years ago I made these corrugated cardboard snowman ornaments. They have turned out to be one of my most popular snowman ornaments and are among my favorites on the tree every year!
I was inspired by a dollar store ornament that caught my eye on a blog post.
I had pinned this to my “Inspiration for Knock Offs” board. The post is from Today’s Fabulous Finds and it’s a tutorial for her adorable “Frame for Every Season“, so be sure to check that out! That’s when I saw the cute ornaments she bought at the dollar store. I’m not sure what they are made of, but I’m guessing like a tin material? At any rate, as soon as I saw them I knew I could make them using corrugated cardboard.
Corrugated Cardboard Snowman Ornaments
I could have used hot glue to make these, but I had a box of Aleene’s Dry Adhesives to play with so figured I would try those out. If you’ve been to Michael’s lately you’ve probably seen these. I knew that the Tacky Dot Rolls would be perfect for this! I was a little unsure as to how well they would hold the cardboard together considering it’s wavy texture, but they worked beautifully and I’ve been hanging them on my tree since 2011! So much easier than glue, and no mess. Totally love that!
NOTE: I made these in 2011. This update was added in 2017 and I still hang these ornaments on my tree every year! Never had a problem with the adhesives coming off.
I used the large dots and the small dots. This worked perfectly because there were some tiny areas (tip of the snowman’s nose for example) that the large dots were just too big for, but the small dots were ideal. I’ll show you exactly how I put this together, ready?
Making cardboard snowman ornaments
I tried to match the paint colors to the photo as best I could. I used Americana Acrylics in the following colors:
- Sand (snowman faces)
- Honey Brown (noses)
- Deep Burgundy (Santa hat, black hat band, holly berries)
- Hauser Dark Green (holly leaves)
- Baby Pink (cheeks)
- Lamp Black (Top hat, eyes, mouths)
- Sand + White (Santa cap’s pom pom and brim)
- White (splatter)
- Pattern
First I drew the shapes for the ornaments, using the photo as a guide. I’ve created a pattern for you if you’d like to try these too. I had just received a book in the mail and it came in this corrugated cardboard mailer. Nice! After cutting out all the ornament shapes, I practiced painting on a scrap piece of the cardboard. I wanted the paint to look like aged wood, just like the ornaments I was drawing inspiration from. So I used some strokes with the brush loaded, and then I dried the brush on a dry cloth before lightly brushing the creases.
Once I was comfortable with the paint, I went ahead and painted all the pieces. While they were drying, I cut the holly leaves from an old silk plant I had laying around. You could use felt or fabric too. I placed the holly leaves on a scrap piece of cardboard and painted them green.
I almost forgot to add the hat band, so after the black hat dried I painted that on as well. After everything was painted it was time to splatter. If you’ve never splattered before, there’s nothing to it. Just thin some white paint with water, dip a toothbrush in it, dab off excess on a soft cloth, then drag your finger across the bristles. You should always do a practice run on something before hitting your actual project. I wasn’t sure what to use for the smiles, then I remember the floral wire I had on the shelf. I shaped them into two smiles and painted them black.
Now to put it all together! The dots come in a roll, so you just cut off a section with a dot so you can work with it by itself. Don’t touch the sticky dot, instead press the dot using the plastic backing, onto the surface where you want the dot to stay. Apply some pressure, then peel the plastic backing off and the dot will stay in place. Then you can press the item onto whatever you want it to adhere to. In the picture above, you can see that I used two different sizes on the nose.
After you’d put everything together using the dots, add the final details. You can add the holly berries using the handle end of a paintbrush.
To add the smiles, squeeze some instant grab glue onto your scrap cardboard, then dip both ends of the smile into the glue. Then place it on the snowman’s face. Use a small scruffy paintbrush to dab on the pink cheeks. Use the handle end of the paintbrush dipped in black paint to dot on the eyes. The eyes didn’t come out round like I thought because of the ridge in the cardboard, but they’re still cute :)
For the hangers, I used that same floral wire, but because of the shapes of the ornaments, I made two different types of hangers. The first one I just created a loop, twisting the ends and rolled that twisted end in instant grab glue. Then I inserted that into the cardboard at the top of the snowman’s black hat.
I didn’t want to put the hanger in the small pom pom of the red hat as I didn’t think there was enough stability. So for this hanger, I made a twist higher up so that I would have two ends to work with. After dipping those two ends in instant grab glue I inserted the ends into the cardboard on both sides of the top of the hat.
That’s it. All done! I am really pleased with the way that these dots from Aleene’s worked. I really wasn’t sure what kind of both they would have but I am really impressed. They are holding up really well and I didn’t have to wait for the glue to dry or clean up any hot glue strings. Awesome stuff. :)
If you liked this ornament idea, you might also like my Light Bulb Snowman Ornament this cute Jumbo Vintage Snowman Ornament or these super easy Wood Slice Ornaments using decoupage and festive paper napkins!
Or even this ADORABLE Gingerbread Boy Corrugated Cardboard Ornament!
Corrugated Cardboard Snowman Ornaments
Supplies
Supplies
- Pattern
- Silk ivy leaves
- Corrugated cardboard mine is from an corrugated cardboard mailing envelope
- Floral wire
- Tools: Paintbrush scissors, toothbrush, toothpick, instant grab glue, glue dots, scruffy paintbrush
Americana Acrylic Paint:
- Sand snowman faces
- Honey Brown noses
- Deep Burgundy Santa hat, black hat band, holly berries
- Hauser Dark Green holly leaves
- Baby Pink cheeks
- Lamp Black Top hat, eyes, mouths
- Sand + White Santa cap’s pom pom and brim
- White splatter
Instructions
- Cut the ornament shapes from cardboard using the pattern. Practice painting on a scrap piece of the cardboard. For the paint to look like aged wood, I used some strokes with the brush loaded, and then I dried the brush on a dry cloth before lightly brushing the creases.
- Paint all the pieces. While they are drying, cut the holly leaves from an silk ivy. Place the holly leaves on a scrap piece of cardboard and paint them green.
- After everything is painted it’s time to splatter. If you’ve never splattered before, there’s nothing to it. Just thin some white paint with water, dip a toothbrush in it, dab off excess on a soft cloth, then drag your finger across the bristles. You should always do a practice run on something before hitting your actual project.
- Shaped some floral wire into two smiles and paint them black.
- Time to put them together. Don’t touch the sticky dot, instead press the dot using the plastic backing, onto the surface where you want the dot to stay. Apply some pressure, then peel the plastic backing off and the dot will stay in place. Then you can press the item onto whatever you want it to adhere to.
- After you’d put everything together using the dots, add the final details. You can add the holly berries using the handle end of a paintbrush.
- To add the smiles, squeeze some instant grab glue onto your scrap cardboard, then dip both ends of the smile into the glue. Then place it on the snowman’s face. Use a small scruffy paintbrush to dab on the pink cheeks. Use the handle end of the paintbrush dipped in black paint to dot on the eyes.
- For the hangers I used that same floral wire, but because of the shapes of the ornaments, I made two different types of hangers. The first one I just created a loop, twisting the ends and rolled that twisted end in instant grab glue. Then I inserted that into the cardboard at the top of the snowman’s black hat.
- I didn’t want to put the hanger in the small pom pom of the red hat as I didn’t think there was enough stability. So for this hanger I made a twist higher up so that I would have two ends to work with. After dipping those two ends in instant grab glue I inserted the ends into the cardboard on both sides of the top of the hat.
This post was originally published on this blog on Dec 8, 2011.
This is a CraftsbyAmanda.com sponsored post. I was compensated for my time and provided with free product with which to create. However, even though I was compensated, all opinions are truthful and 100% mine.
Amanda Formaro
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SharonFromMichigan says
January 30, 2018 at 8:25 amFound your site from AllFreeChristmasCrafts newsletter. Just love these ornies and love the fact that you’re recycling too! These would be a wonderful item for my church’s holiday market! (and my tree too! LOL)
Amanda Formaro says
January 31, 2018 at 7:38 amthanks Sharon! They have really held up too! I put them on my tree every year :)
Brigitte Lee says
October 15, 2015 at 1:06 pmAs always, you have come up with the most adorable project! These snowmen ornaments are so cute. Thank you for your creativity and for sharing with us!
~ Brigitte
Amanda Formaro says
October 16, 2015 at 9:18 amThank you so much Brigitte, that’s so nice of you to say! :)
Betty says
October 5, 2015 at 11:06 amAmanda, love these snowmen ornaments. I need to know what a scruffy brush is to make painting easier. Also the back of mine looks bad. Any suggestions? Thanks. You do great crafts
Amanda Formaro says
October 5, 2015 at 1:18 pmHi Betty! A scruffy brush is simply an older brush you have – then trim the bristles down to about 1/4″. The back of mine weren’t pretty either, but to remedy that, trace around your ornament onto paper to make a quickie pattern. Then use that pattern to cut a piece of felt that you can glue to the back :)
Betty says
October 8, 2015 at 3:09 pmThanks for your response. I picked up some sheets of craft foam at Walmart and will try covering the back with that. Love your crafts. Keep them coming with the instructions. Thanks
Betty Godoy says
September 1, 2015 at 6:57 pmAmanda lastima no hablar el ingles…su trabajo es muy lindo y ese proyecto de reciclaje con el carton corrugado me encanto…lo voy a realizar. Abrazos y Bendiciones!!!!
Amanda Formaro says
September 11, 2015 at 2:03 pmThank you Betty, so glad you enjoyed it!
Phyl says
December 2, 2014 at 10:18 amI made 6 of these for my grandchildren. I always paint an ornament for them at Christmas and when I saw these I thought they were so cute. I had trouble finding the cardboard until I realized I had some from a long time ago. They turned out real cute. I used ribbon for the hanger instead of the wire. Thanks for all the directions. Big help..
Amanda Formaro says
December 2, 2014 at 10:22 amThat’s wonderful! So glad you were able to make them :)
anne says
November 5, 2014 at 4:35 pmHow do you make the cardboard look so clean? I can’t get it to peel off that nicely.
Amanda Formaro says
November 11, 2014 at 6:49 amI didn’t peel the cardboard, that piece came that way. It was the inside of a cardboard book mailer that someone sent me a book in. I have heard from scrapbookers who like to use corrugated cardboard that they lightly mist water on the cardboard to help release the glue when peeling.
Susie Searcy says
December 12, 2013 at 3:25 pmI am making 40 sets. I enlarged the pattern and used holly berries and holly leaves i boght on branches at the dollar store. I make snowmen every year to give as gifts. This has been a very fun project. Thanks for posting.
Amanda Formaro says
December 13, 2013 at 6:03 amWow that’s awesome Susie! I am so glad you are enjoying the project :)
Beth Rossignol says
December 2, 2013 at 5:23 pmHello,
What is the instant grab glue that you used to attach the smiles? I Googled “instant grab glue” and it showed construction glue.
Thank you for posting these; they are wonderful.
Amanda Formaro says
December 3, 2013 at 8:45 amSorry about that Beth! It’s Beacon’s 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue – here’s a link! http://amzn.to/1cjcxF3
Marlene Affeld Facebook says
September 2, 2013 at 7:10 amNice project.Its looks simple but good.
Amanda Formaro says
September 3, 2013 at 5:51 amThanks Marlene!
Lila Willett says
July 8, 2013 at 5:16 pmI would like to print just the instructions for the snowman ornaments with out having to print 16 pages. I am 78 and not all that computor literate.It would really be helpful to be able to copy instructions in a simplified manner. Thank you
Amanda Formaro says
July 18, 2013 at 7:46 amHi Lila. I don’t have printable instructions for this particular project. If you are reading this comment, reply to it and I will copy and paste them and send them to you.
Carol says
October 30, 2014 at 5:54 pmI too would to just like to have the directions and shapes for pattern of snowmen tree ornaments. So cute and looks fairly easy too! We have a very tight budget so do not want to have to download all the other pages. Thanks for the amazing idea!
Amanda Formaro says
November 3, 2014 at 7:05 amHi Carol. I have updated the post to include a printable version :)
JoAnn @ SweetPepperRose says
December 23, 2012 at 9:46 amJust adorable and making some for next year! Thanks for your tutorial.
susan says
November 28, 2012 at 9:52 amThese are adorable, Amanda. I am just starting a tradition with my nieces and daughter where we make ornaments with one snowman being the star of our production. This year we turned eye glasses into snowmen.
Next year we will use your pattern! I am off to look more on your site to see if you have posted other snowman ideas.
Thanks for sharing.
Amanda says
December 1, 2012 at 6:16 pmThank you Susan, that’s so nice of you to say. And what a wonderful tradition to share with your girls!
Rebecca says
December 26, 2011 at 3:33 amLove it, thanks! I made a snowman and a Christmas tree, but what did you do on the back side?? Mine look terrible. :-(
Amanda Formaro says
December 26, 2011 at 1:03 pmI really didn’t do anything on the back Rebecca. In fact you can see the back in the last step-by-step photo in this post. You could paint the backs, but since these were just for me, I didn’t. If I had made these to give as a gift I would have painted the backs, probably just white. You could splatter the back with black too :)
Rebecca says
December 26, 2011 at 2:59 pmThanks!
Megan @ The Crafty Conundrum says
December 23, 2011 at 2:17 pmThose are so cute! I love using cardboard for projects. Great tutorial
Rachel Sue says
December 18, 2011 at 5:57 amTHese are adorable! I would love to feature them on Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle. Feel free to stop by and grab a featured button. Thanks!
Kate says
December 17, 2011 at 1:13 pmThese are adorable … thanks for the tutorial. Merry Christmas
Lauren says
December 17, 2011 at 4:58 amI love how these came out! I’ll have to make them for next year. Super cute!!!
I’d love for you to link up and share: http://tutusandteaparties.blogspot.com/2011/12/pinteresting-party-with-christmas.html
[email protected] says
December 16, 2011 at 3:51 pmThese are SO CUTE! You did a great job.
somedaycrafts says
December 16, 2011 at 7:43 amThese are totally cute! Love them. I featured them today at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com.
Amanda Formaro says
December 16, 2011 at 12:31 pmOh thanks so much for the feature!!
maggy,red ted art says
December 14, 2011 at 1:35 pmOh my, the corrugated card really looks great! What a fabulous effect!
Thank you for linking to Kids Get Crafty.
Maggy
Charlotte says
December 14, 2011 at 5:22 amAmanda…these are the cutest! I love snowmen and will try these soon. Thanks for the detailed directions! Merry Christmas to you!
Dawnee says
December 13, 2011 at 4:15 amI adore these!!! I am with you, I enjoy making something new every year, and I think I shall have to give these a try!
janet dycus says
December 12, 2011 at 9:42 pmi love your project i would love to have your patterns i am not good at drawing things could i use like cardboard boxes and just peel off the box part i did this last year for a orement and it work good hope to hear from you please
Amanda Formaro says
December 12, 2011 at 9:46 pmHi janet!
There’s a link to the pattern in the post so you can print it off from there. :) I’m sure what you are describing would work!
CM2 says
December 12, 2011 at 4:31 pmAmanda, You b=never cease to amaze with your creations! TY for this super share!
Amanda Formaro says
December 12, 2011 at 9:46 pmThank you so much!
Lori says
December 10, 2011 at 4:32 amI love these! I just Pinned these to my Xmas Pinterest Board. Thanks for such cuteness!
http://pinterest.com/pin/112027109450501931/
Amanda Formaro says
December 10, 2011 at 1:24 pmThanks so much Lori!
Alexa says
December 9, 2011 at 7:34 pmThis project turned out so cute and you did a great job with your tutorial. The project is a hit on our FB page :) Please like us and check it out if you haven’t already! facebook.com/lovetocreate
Amanda Formaro says
December 12, 2011 at 9:47 pmHow fun thanks so much!
dacraftylady says
December 9, 2011 at 6:40 pmfun fun fun project…love it!! thanks for sharing
Erin @ Making Memories says
December 9, 2011 at 6:21 pmThese are adorable!
Condo Blues says
December 9, 2011 at 4:31 pmWhen I first looked at your ornaments, I thought they were corrugated metal. I might have to rip through a few old boxes and give them a whirl.
Theresa Eldridge says
December 9, 2011 at 3:28 pmCRAZY CUTE!!!!!!!!!! LOVE EM!!!!! Thank you for such a cute idea!!!! Merry Christmas!!
Barbara' Cookie" says
December 9, 2011 at 3:33 amLooking back at these they look like tin a little ,any way look tin or cardboard they are darling Another great one Amanda,,Thank’s
gail says
December 9, 2011 at 2:59 amAmanda!!! I LOVE these snowmen! they are tooo darn cute! great job girl!
gail
Amanda Formaro says
December 12, 2011 at 9:48 pmThank you Gail!!
Janet says
December 9, 2011 at 2:18 amWow Amanda! Your ornaments are spot on to the one’s that I bought, I’m so impressed! Thanks for the link to my frame. :)
Amanda Formaro says
December 12, 2011 at 9:48 pmThanks Janet!
Marilyn says
December 9, 2011 at 2:14 amReally CUTE!♥♫
Katrina says
December 8, 2011 at 9:39 pmSo simple, yet I’ll bet they wouldn’t look as good if I made them. ;)
Karla Jones says
December 8, 2011 at 6:15 pmwhat a fun project. pinning this to remember it.
Kim says
December 8, 2011 at 3:19 pmThese are so adorable!!! I just love snowmen, and these look so easy! Thanks for sharing!!
Michele @ The Scrap Shoppe says
December 8, 2011 at 1:58 pmAdorable!! Great tutorial, Amanda. These would make cute gift tags, too. Pinning! :)
Laura says
December 8, 2011 at 1:20 pmVery cool! Thanks for including so much detail. I’ll be on the hunt for suitable cardboard now!
Thanks!