Making and How to Make Miniature Model Snowmen

Christmas Village Displays

You really can't have a Christmas village without snow, and you really can't have snow without at least a few snowmen and snowballs.

As is so typical with the world of model making, there is certainly no one single way to make model snowmen, and definitely no right or wrong way. And as with so many elements of your village, you can always purchase your snowy models from a Christmas village supplier, suiting those where budget is not an option.

Many collectors prefer to make their own, since adding lots of snowmen of varying sizes is extremely effective, especially when they are placed in small groups. Modelling clay, plasticine and Fimo (a polymer clay that you can bake in an oven at a low temperature) are all suitable choices for those with an artistic flair.

However, if your handicrafts cupboard is a little on the bare side, then why not use white toilet-roll paper or tissue paper? There is no denying that this is a messy and fiddly process, but the results are great and benefit from having a slightly rough snow-like surface, rather than being too smooth and artificial-looking.

Tissue, White Paint and PVA Glue

Mix up a pot of white paint and PVA glue. Rip up small pieces of tissue paper and dip into the paint / glue mixture, rolling into small balls. For the best visual effect and a little added height, make snowmen with three different balls (rather than just two) - one for the base (stuck onto a small white disc of card for added stability), one for the body and one for the head. These 'snowballs' should get progressively smaller, rather like a tiered wedding cake.

Gently push these balls together to create your snowman (add extra glue if necessary) and repeat accordingly, until you have an army ready to take over your Christmas village. Give these balls a quick coat of white paint, not worrying too much if it comes out a bit uneven, as that is all part of the character.

Making the Snowman's Carrot, Arms and Top Hat

Find some very small and delicate twigs and place these into some of the bodies, angling them to create arms reaching upwards. To make the carrot nose, simply paint the end of a cocktail stick / toothpick a suitable carrot-colour orange and insert into the middle of the head whilst it is still soft, reshaping where necessary.

Leave your models to thoroughly dry, until the surfaces feel fairly hard. The base, body, head, arms and carrot nose of each snowman should now be quite solid and firmly joined together. Using a fine black felt-tip pen, carefully draw in two circles for the eyes. To make the models look as individual as possible, draw buttons on the bodies of some, while on others, cut up short, thin lengths of material and glue this around the base of the head for a scarf.

And what about a top hat? Well, no snowman is really complete without his top hat and these are the simplest element to make. Use a pair of secateurs to chop up an old pencil into lengths of just under one centimetre each. Glue these to small circles of cardboard and the 'top hats' can then be painted black. Once dried, match your hats to the heads and glue into place.

Again, to make each model more individual and unique, as if made by the hands of different children out in the winter snow, leave some without a hat altogether. Also, maybe make different smaller hats with shorter lengths of pencil, painted brown or another suitable colour, and position other hats more on the side of the head, at a 'jaunty' angle.



Images of homemade snowmen in a village winterscape diaorama:







Photo showing snowman sold my Lemax, named 'Feathered Friends'



Picture of the Lemax 'Snow Sweetheart' model: