Gourd Snowmen

These little snowmen never melt no matter what the weather. Made from dried birdhouse gourds, they will last for years.

You will need:
Dried birdhouse gourds
Acrylic paint: white, black, orange and a bright color for the scarf.

Acrylic varnish
Hot glue gun
Black card stock

Mini-birdhouse gourds make the cutest snowmen, as each is only about 4 inches tall, but they can also be made from full size birdhouse gourds for a full size display. To begin, apply a coat of white paint to the entire surface of the gourd. Let set until dry. Apply a second coat of white paint. Let dry.

Using the black paint, add the eyes, mouth, and “buttons” down the front of the snowman’s body. Add an orange triangle to represent the traditional carrot nose. Paint a scarf around the “neck” section of the snowman.

When all the paint is completely dry, coat the snowman in a layer of varnish or sealer. Some craft stores carry a sparkle varnish with the regular acrylic paints. It works great on these snowmen as the sparkly bits give the gourds the appearance of having been made from real snow.

Take the black cardstock and cut a circle about 2 inches in diameter. (If you are using full size birdhouse house gourds, adjust the circle to about 5 inches in diameter). Then cut a 1-inch circle out of the middle of the larger circle. Set aside. Cut a strip of black cardstock an inch and a half wide, and about 5 inches long.

Hot glue the strip of cardboard to outside of the 1-inch circle. Trim the excess length, then hot glue the free side of the strip (which is now curled into a circle) to the inner edge of the 2-inch circle. This is the snowman’s hat. Hot glue the hat to the snowman’s head to complete the wintry look.