Two Frugal Chicks

This is a really fun, inexpensive holiday craft that your kids can help you with and…you probably have most of the supplies already.  These adorable snowmen and reindeer have packs of gum inside. My daughter made these once for a holiday bazaar and sold over a hundred of them at $1 each!  These are perfect little gifts for students if you are a teacher, or teach a Sunday school class because you can make a bunch fairly quickly.  I’ve given them to my bus driver, to the kid who bagged my groceries, the FedEx delivery guy, and to friends who drop by.  Finding the right size pack of gum is getting a little tricky; seems most of the gum companies have moved to the flatter packages.  I found the right size at the dollar store in packages of four for $1.

Supplies:
Packs of gum
White paper (I took mine right out of my printer)
Brown paper lunch sack
Pipe cleaners
Small pom-poms
Fine tipped black pen
Orange marker
Blush
Q-tip
Tape
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Thin ribbon
Ruler

The concept is pretty much the same for both the snowmen and the reindeer….start by cutting out a piece of the paper about 3-3/4″ x 3″.  Using tape, wrap the pack of gum just like a little tiny present….

For the snowmen:  flip the gum over and using the fine tipped marker, draw on eyes, an open triangle for the “carrot” nose, a crooked smile and three heart shaped buttons.  Color in the nose with the orange marker.  Use the Q-tip to apply a little blush to his cheeks.

To make the snowman’s earmuffs, cut a 2″ piece of pipe cleaner, bend it and hot glue it to the snowman’s head.  Now glue on a pom-pom to each side of the snowman’s head to complete his earmuffs. Tie a ribbon around his “neck” for a scarf and you’re done. Have fun with all the color combinations you can make with the pipe cleaners, pom-poms and ribbon.

For the reindeer:  Omit the heart shaped buttons and “carrot” nose, and instead of earmuffs bend the pipe cleaner to form antlers and hot glue on.  Hot glue on a pom-pom to make his nose (use red for Rudolph’s nose, or a black pom-pom for all the other reindeer).