Snowman Ornament from Lightbulb

December 1, 2011 at 6:53 am (tutorial)
Tags: Christmas, handmade, homemade, lightbulb, ornament, recycled, repurposed, snowman, upcycled

I have made these snowman ornaments for a few years now. They are a great way to reuse old lightbulbs. Now we only use the compact flourescent twisty bulbs so I had to ask a neighbor for this one.  They also can be made with smaller bulbs from inside ovens and refrigerators, etc.

Here’s how to make it:

Take a lightbulb and stick it into a glob of play dough. Paint it with acrylic white paint. I didn’t have any regular white paint left so I used this pearly paint. It takes a couple of coats. This time I left the paint a little bit gloppy to give it more of a snowball texture.

To make a stocking cap cut the ankle portion off of an old sock.

Sew in the sides tapering toward the tip of the hat. Trim off the excess material.

Make a pompom. You can use yarn, embroidery thread, or thinly cut strands on knit material. I used knit so I sewed them together and then onto the tip of the cap.

  

String glass beads for your hanger and attach the strand in a loop near the pompom on the hat.

 

Using a glue gun attach the hat to the snowman’s head covering up the screw-in part of the bulb.

Choose an item for the nose and affix with a glue gun. I used a button this time. In the past I’ve made a carrot nose with polymer clay.

Using a Sharpie, draw in the eyes and mouth.

Here is another ornament from years past. He has a hat sewn from felt and  embroidered and beaded with snowflakes. I gave it a ribbon band  and trimmed it with cotton around the brim.

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