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I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I associate pumpkin with Fall. But I have been finding some amazing winter pumpkin recipes, and I am dying to give them a try. Here’s a few highlights:

The Farm Girl has this wonderful recipe for Gingerbread Pumpkin Waffles that includes a buttermilk syrup and whipped cream! Yum!!

Little Birdie Secrets made this Fluffy Pumpkin Dip, and she even gives the how-to on the cinnamon-sugar tortilla chips.

Finally, Craftaholics Anonymous shares this recipe for Pumpkin Fudge! It makes my mouth water just looking at it – but the best part? She says it only takes 15 minutes to make!

So maybe it’s time to re-think pumpkin, and let it out of its little Autumn box.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be a creative guest on Ucreate!!!!!  Yes, I know, big deal, right? Right!

I decided to stick with my M.O. and do a paper tutorial. I’m always trying to push the boundaries of paper and test its limits. I love fabric snowmen, but as you may know, I don’t sew! So the challenge became how to make a faux-fabric snowman out of paper. Ta da! I’m sharing these now because they will be cute to display all winter long.

Faux-Fabric Paper Snowman Tutorial

Supply list:

• Heavyweight white paper* in large sheets
• Water and spray bottle
• Rubber bands
• Hot glue gun
• Packing paper or white newsprint

Optional accessories—such as:

• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist
• Burlap, ribbon, or fabric
• Buttons or brooches
• Wood pieces
• Embossing powder and heat gun

*I used 180 gsm handmade paper, in 22”x30” sheets, made out of cotton, silk, and agro waste (such as sugarcane waste, bark fibers, or jute waste), from Under the Sun—but any heavyweight, fibrous paper will do.

Instructions:

Cut a circle from the white paper approx. 20 in. diameter (for larger snowmen; 15 in. for smaller ones.)

Roll sheets of packing paper towards the center until you have a balled circle.  Secure with hot glue.

   

Add layers until you have formed a ball, approx.  5 – 6 in. diameter (3 – 4 in. for smaller snowmen).

     

Now comes the fun part! Take your white paper circle and run it under your tap. Yes, you read me correctly. Get that paper wet! Wet the top and bottom thoroughly.

This is when you need to work quickly, because as soon as your paper gets wet the clock is ticking to get it into position before it tears, pills, or just becomes unworkable. Set your packing-paper ball in the center of the wet paper and start gathering the paper up to the top. If the paper is too stiff, spray it with a spray bottle.  If you work it too much, it will look like crumpled paper, and we are going for more of a gathered fabric look, so be quick!

   

Once you have it gathered at the top, and it looks the way you want it to, secure the top tightly with a rubber band.

   

Now, cut another paper circle out of your heavy white paper approx. 12 in. diameter (for larger snowmen; 9 in. for smaller ones).  Cut a small circle (approx. 1 inch) out of the center of the paper.  Cut the hole to fit snuggly over the top of the gathered paper ball.  Cut it smaller at first, gradually increasing the size as needed, so as not to become too big.

Once the hole fits snuggly over the secure rubber band, push the paper down as far as it will go. Use a pair of sharp scissors to snip the rubber band without cutting the paper. Remove the rubber band carefully. This should cause the wet paper to expand and hold the new circle in place.

   

Roll and twist another piece of newsprint or packing paper, and wind it around the paper sticking out of the hole.  Secure it with hot glue. Try to shape an even form ball of about 2.5 – 3 in. diameter.

   

Using your spray bottle, wet the white paper circle that is now secured underneath the ball.  Wet both sides, and start gathering it at the top the way you did the bottom ball. Again, remember to work quickly. When completely gathered on the top, secure it with a rubber band.

   

This is the basic snowman—now use your imagination to make it your own! I sprayed mine at this point with marshmallow glimmer mist so it would have a shimmered frosty look.

 

I made a top hat for the dad, a wide-brim church hat for the mom, and a cute beret-like snow-hat for the daughter.

  

For the daughter’s beret, I made it much the same way I did the head. I cut a circle out of paper approx. 4.5 in., and cut a hole in the middle to fit over the gathered paper. after removing the rubber band, I wet the paper and gathered and twisted it in the center while laying it flat like a beret. I added a wool ball to the top that Heather made using Whitney’s tutorial.  For the top hat and wide brim hat, I cut a circle the size I wanted for the brim, and then cut the hole in the center. After making sure the fit was right, I sprayed the brim with silver sugar glimmer mist, and then coated it with embossing powder and set it with my heat tool. I then put it in place atop the head, and cut the rubber band. I then built the rest of the hat right on the head.

 

Embellish your snowmen with accessories of your choice. I used burlap, fibers, and buttons (as well as a cute little scarf crocheted out of yarn by Heather).

   

 

For the dad’s sign, I used Woodsies from Michael’s—and I sanded and inked the edges. I printed the words on my computer, and tore the edges before gluing it onto the sign.

I dabbed Snow-Tex on the top of the sign, and on the hats, to look like melting snow. I rolled paper for their noses, and used little black embellishments for their coal eyes. Have fun, and decorate them to match your style and décor!

Display these all winter long. I’m not taking my little family down until Valentine’s Day!

We want to give a tremendous “THANK YOU” to everyone who participated in our 12 Days of Christmas Show-Off Linky Party. There were so many great projects linked-up. We wanted to feature so many more than we possibly can, so I encourage everyone to go check out the links again, and be inspired!

But we do have a few we would like to show you again. Each of us WhipperChicks chose an absolute favorite, and then we all agreed on several more that we had to showcase as well.

We will start with our personal favorites:

Heather loved this Felt Tree Stocking from Scrapalicious Bytes. The felt Christmas Tree is gorgeous, and the detail perfect. We also really loved her Glitter Ornaments, and Pomegranate Molasses Gift Idea. Actually, we loved her whole blog, so go and check her out!

I couldn’t resist this Paper Fan Garland from Life is Sweet. She made the paper fans into ornaments, and then strung them across her mantle! And the fans are made out of sheet music. Ingenious. Go check out the rest of her holiday décor, you will love it!

Jamie loved this Snowman Kit from The Fickle Pickle. Just add snow! Give these to all your neighbors, and can you imagine all the cute snowmen in the neighborhood dressed up with their hats and scarves? Best neighborhood ever! We also loved her Festive Flowers.

When Katie saw these Ice Candle Holders from Creative Juices Décor her heart leapt like it does whenever she sees a beautiful and unique creation. She said, “What a great idea! Maybe it’s because I live in a desert and can only dream of a white Christmas that made me love these so. I love the idea of walking up to my house and having a row of these along my yard all lit up on Christmas Eve. How beautiful would that be?!? All I can say is I love it, great idea!”

Whitney chose this Anthropologie inspired Ornament from A Blonde’s DIY Life. She said, “I’m not really a “crazy crafter”, so I don’t have fancy tools or anything, so I really liked that this was just a bulb, paint, spray adhesive and glitter… I could so do that!  And just look at it, it’s fabulous!  I’m definitely a huge fan.” We also liked her Mirrored Wreath a lot too!

Kristin’s favorite was this Window Sill Mantle from Being Grown Up.  She said, “I just like that I can relate to her. No mantle for us either and I really admire her tenacity to make things work and figure it out! The overall project was really impressive.”

Christene loved these Gingerbread Truffles from Me and My Pink Mixer.  She said, “A great original idea from the tried and true oreo varieties. Can they taste at all as decadent? I don’t know but I’m willing to give them a try!”

 

Here are a few more we just had to show you! And then come back tomorrow for a very special highlight from our party!

 

Ornament Hanger from Can’t Stop making Things, and Christmas Topiary from The Autocrat.

 

Cinnamon Stick Ornament from Stepping Thru Crazy, and Ruffled Ribbon Trees from Eat, Dress, Live.

 

Felt Ribbon Wreath from Sweet Tooth, and Christmas Trivia Game from Prettie Parties.

 

Christmas Ornaments from Wendy’s Hat, and Handmade Paper Wreath from Sassy’s Ramblin’s.

 

Jar of Cocoa from Craftberry Bush, and Crayon Wreath from The Ballard Bunch.

If you were featured today, grab a featured button!

Again, a huge thanks to everyone who linked up!

Yesterday we showed you the décor for the company Christmas party we styled for a business client. Today we will show you the amazing dessert table we did for the same party.

Jamie was the queen of this one. She styled the whole thing, and designed the back-drop.

Heather designed the darling printables.

Katie made the delectable cupcakes, and Jamie used colored chocolate to festively decorate the mini cinnamon rolls and cream puffs.  

There were apothecaries with peppermint bark and candies, and pastries filled with raspberry and cream cheese.

Don’t forget to join our linky party, the 12 Days of Christmas Show-Off.

It closes tomorrow afternoon, so don’t wait!