Easy Snowman Ornament from a Plastic Lid

Plastic lid snowman ornament

Plastic lids.  Everybody has them laying around somewhere-either in a drawer, the garbage or the recycle bin.  Sometimes the container itself is recyclable but the lid is not.  That is where upcycling comes in to play.  Those lids can be given a new life and can be kept out of the landfills!  This project is really easy-like most of my other projects and it is also cheap.  I love cheap:-))  Let's get started!

Supplies you need for this project:
1.  Plastic lids-I used lids from kitty litter jugs and a Pringle's can lid
2.  A few pipe cleaners (I used Christmas colors)
3.  Some pom poms (I used white)
4.  A glue gun or fast drying glue

 To make snowman ornament the lids need to be white, if they are not just spray paint them with a paint that will bond to plastic.  These were actually an orange color so I painted them:

Kitty litter jug lids for the ornaments

  Twist 2 pipe cleaners together.

 it will look like this:

Pipe cleaners twisted together

 Attach the twisted pipe cleaners to one side of the lid and hold until it is dry.

Attach one side of the pipe cleaners

 Pull the other side of the pipe cleaners over and trim it like this:

 

 After you have trimmed the pipe cleaners then you can attach it to the lid with the glue.

 Now, attach the pom poms with hot glue over the end of the pipe cleaners:

 You want to make sure to cover the bottom of the pipe cleaners:

 

 Here are two of them ready for their faces.  You can either paint them or use sharpie permanent markers to draw a face:

 

Now it is time for the clear lid:

Pringle's can lid

 Cut a piece of white paper or thin cardboard so that it will fit inside the clear lid.  After it is cut set it aside:

 

 

 Attach one side of the pipe cleaners to the lid:

 

 Measure, cut, and attach the other end of the pipe cleaner to the clear lid:

 

Don't forget to add the pom poms!

Take the piece of white paper you cut to fit inside the lid and

 draw a cute face on it:-))

 

 Slip the paper into the lid:

 

 All done:-))

Snowman ornament

 Here are the three I did:

Christmas ornaments from plastic lids

Snowman ornament from a Pringle's can lid

Snowman ornament from a plastic lid

Snowman ornament from a plastic lid

I think they turned out really cute but I wish I had more skills when it comes to drawing faces.  I think they would be really cute painted as Santa or maybe Elves-which I tried but failed at drawing.   I really need to practice!  Use your imagination and make them yours! If you have older children they can make these if they know how to use a glue gun or fast drying glue.  

I hope you enjoy this post and if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below.   Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Gardening!  Rhonda

DIY Reversible Wooden Scarecrow/Snowman

Do you ever walk in to a store to buy a particular item and end up getting distracted by something else?  I do!  It happens all too often.  In fact, recently I went to my local Menards store to pick up some supplies for a few concrete projects and walked through the wood department.  There sat a pile of cheap wood and I suddenly lost sight of my mission.  At the bargain basement price of 1.69, I now had a new project in mind.  I had been seeing some really neat ideas on Etsy and Pinterest for wooden scarecrow faces-but most didn't have instructions to make them and some were links to buy them-which irritates the heck out of me.  So I grabbed a couple of pieces and headed to the checkout with an idea in my mind-I was going to make one and it will be easy and cheap!

Just like some of my other projects I didn't have to go out and spend a bunch of money and I didn't have to use any power tools.  It is easy and most of the time making it was spent waiting for the paint to dry.   Here are a couple pictures of the end project:  

DIY Reversible Fall/Winter Decoration-Scarecrow side

DIY Reversible Fall/Winter Decoration-Snowman side

 So here is the wood I used for this project (the 2 small pieces were scrap wood that I had laying around):

Wood pieces used for snowman/scarecrow project

Here is a list of what I used:
1.  A 2x12 piece of wood
2.  2 scrap pieces of 1 1/2 x 18 in
3.  some small nails
4.  A hammer and a staple gun (optional to attach flowers)
5.  some glue-I used Elmer's Glue All
6.  Spray paint-I used black, white, khaki and brown (you can use whatever colors that you want-it is your "art")
7.  a couple of fake flowers-I used 1 poinsettia and 1 sunflower for decoration
8.  paint and small brushes to make the faces
9.  2 small screw eyes
10. some twine

So here are the steps to create your reversible scarecrow/snowman:

1.  Lay your large piece of wood on a piece of cardboard (or plastic) on the ground and line up the smaller wood across the board so that it looks somewhat like a hat brim.  Try to have the same amount of overhang on each side.  I went about a third of the way down and tilted it like this:

 2.  When you have it in a position you like then draw a line-this will guide you when you attach it.

 3.  Now take the glue and run some along the small board-if there is an "ugly" side glue that side:

 Do not go to the edge-only glue where there will be contact with the large piece of wood:

Spread glue evenly

Spread glue evenly

 4.  Place the strip of wood in position (the line you drew earlier) and hammer a nail in place at each end:

Nail down the strips for the hat

 Make sure to hammer the nail down all the way:

 5.  Attach the other strip of wood in the same way-but be sure to line them up with each other so that they are exactly even:

Make sure both sides are even with each other

 6.  Once you have attached the hat brim it is time to paint.  I used spray paint which I already had on hand-but you can use whatever paint you prefer. Tape off the sections if you need to.  I am messy so I always do:-))

Spray paint I used

Paint one section at a time and let dry.  I applied 3 coats of paint.

Snowman side painted

Scarecrow side painted

 7.  When it is painted and the paint is dry you can add the flowers.  I had bought some fake flowers from The Dollar Tree:

Cheap fake flowers for decoration of the hats

 Pull a flower off of the stem and snip the end off so it is flush:

Trim off  plastic tip from fake flower

 place the flower on the hat-I used a pointsettia for the snowman:

Add fake flower

 Staple or nail it down-try to hide the nail or staple:

Staple fake flower down

 Here I used a sunflower for the scarecrow:

 

 8.  Now is the time to draw on/paint a face-I am a terrible artist so this was the worst part for me.   I am so terrible with using a paintbrush that I ended up using Sharpie markers because I was making a mess with the paints.  Here is the scarecrow face side:

Add a face to the scarecrow side

 Here is the snowman side:

Add a face to the snowman side

 9.  Add the screw eyes to the top:

Screw eyes to hang the wooden decoration

 twist them in good:

Add eye screws

eye screws

 10.  Run the twine through the screw eyes and knot it.  I doubled up my twine to give it strength:

Twine

Run twine through eye screws

11.  Ready to hang:

Wooden reversible scarecrow/snowman hanging decoration

Wooden reversible hanging scarecrow/snowman decoration

See-I told you it was easy!  No special tools or paint needed and you don't need any special artistic skills.  You also don't need to go out and spend 20-30 dollars on a piece of fall decor especially when you can make it yourself.  You can make any adjustments you need to make this work for you.  It is only a guide and/or inspiration to create your own unique piece.  So, give this project a try and make it your own!  I hope you enjoy this post and watch for my next post for another fall/winter project that will also be easy and kinda cool:-))

Until next time-Happy Gardening!

Rhonda