This simple washcloth snowman craft is a fun Winter craft for kids. It’s also a cute handmade gift idea that kids can make for somebody special (or, alternatively that you could make for kids!).
If you are making these as gifts, tie a small treat to the finger knit scarf to make it fun and festive.
This cute DIY gift idea was first published in 2020 and has been updated and reshared for today’s audience.
You might also like our finger knit bookmarks.
How sweet are these little snowmen? Or should I say snowpeople? They’ve been inspired by our super-popular washcloth bunnies, and are made in almost the same way only the two pointy ends which become bunny ears are tied back into the bundle with the elastic band.
Originally I wanted to make a rainbow of snowpeople with brightly-coloured hats and scarves. But, wouldn’t you know it? The ONLY plain baby socks I could find in three different department stores were either pink or blue. So pink and blue they are. It was never my intention to genderise them.
Washcloth snowmen are super simple to make. They do involve some store-bought items you probably don’t have at home (white washers and baby socks), but you could buy these in bulk and batch-produce a bunch of them to create inexpensive gifts for school friends, teachers, neighbours etc.
Don’t be put off by the finger-knit scarf! Finger-knitting is fun and easy for all ages, even young kids can manage it.
Let’s get started shall we?
How to make a washcloth snowman
You will need
- white face washer (affiliate link) – one per snowman
- baby socks (affiliate link) – one per snowman
- elastic bands
- small black beads, buttons, googly eyes or similar
- orange pipe cleaners
- small acrylic pom poms for the hat (one per snowman)
- chunky yarn – I used a cheap acrylic 3ply/100g (but any thick yarn will do)
- optional small treats
- hot glue gun
How to
Trim any labels and tags off your washer before starting. Lay it out flat.
Roll the washer diagonally into a long tube shape.
Bend it in half, then fold it back on itself and tie with an elastic to make a rounded loop bottom part and a smaller head part (watch the video for a clearer explanation if that doesn’t make sense).
Cut the toe end off a baby sock. You don’t have the throw the other half away. You could even turn it into a second hat by fringing the end and tying it so it looks like a pom pom. I gave the cut-off pieces to my 11 year old who likes to make outfits for her fashion dolls from them (they make great skirts and tops).
Cut off a small piece of pipe cleaner and bend in half to make a nose. You can poke this into the middle of the snowman’s face without gluing.
Finger knit a length of scarf using the two-finger method. I didn’t measure the length of the scarves, I just made it so it looked ‘about long enough’.
Hot glue two dots on the face where you want the eyes to go and stick them on. Also hot glue the pom pom onto the top of the hat.
Tie a small candy cane, lollipop or other small treat to the scarf.
Super easy! Now you just need to make him a few friends.
They do stand on up their own, but not very sturdily (as you can probably tell from the video).
Aren’t they cute?
Washcloth snowman
Make a cute washcloth snowman as a fun winter craft or handmade gift idea
Materials
- white face washer (one per snowman)
- baby socks (one sock per snowman)
- elastic bands
- small black beads, buttons, googly eyes or similar
- orange pipe cleaners
- small acrylic pom poms for the hat (one per snowman)
- chunky yarn – I used a cheap acrylic 3ply/100g (but any thick yarn will do)
- optional small treats
Tools
- hot glue gun
- scissors
Instructions
- Trim any labels and tags off your washer before starting. Lay it out flat.
- Roll the washer diagonally into a long tube shape
- Bend the tube in half, then fold it back on itself and tie with an elastic about a quarter of the way down to make a rounded loop bottom part (the body) and a smaller head part. (Watch the video for a clearer explanation if that doesn’t make sense).
- Cut the toe end off a baby sock and place it on the head for the hat
- Cut off a small piece of pipe cleaner and bend in half to make a nose. Poke this into the middle of the snowman’s face without gluing.
- Finger knit a length of scarf using the two-finger method. I didn’t measure the length of the scarves, I just made it so it looked ‘about long enough’.
- Hot glue two dots on the face where you want the eyes to go and stick them on. Also hot glue the pom pom onto the top of the hat.
- Tie a small candy cane, lollipop or other small treat to the scarf.
More handmade gift ideas for Christmas
- Make some DIY ornament gift bags – a cute Christmas craft and gift all in one
- Turn scrap fabric into doggy chew toys – a fun pet gift idea
- Pet lovers would probably love a hand-sewn cushion in the image of their pet
- Preschoolers will love making bookmarks from cereal box scraps
- Here are over 50 more DIY gift ideas
So cute!