by C. L. Craven

Created on: November 14, 2009   Last Updated: November 16, 2009

Building a snowman can be as easy as making sand castles in the sand. Fond, summer memories will return when you get out beach pales and shovels and begin loading them up with snow. Fill your buckets full of snow and then pack it down firmly. Choose the location for your snowman, a level area is best, for when the snow begins to melt, he could topple before his time. After you have chosen the perfect spot, begin dumping your snow for the base.

Once you have a large enough ball for the bottom of the snowman, pack it in harder and begin to smooth the edges to create a ball with a flat top, which will provide a solid foundation for the mid section. This is when it gets tricky. The base is complete and it's perfect. If snow is piled on to the base and packed down too hard, the base could crack and crumble. One solution is to get a heavy plastic garbage bag and fill it full of snow.

Pack it down and mold it into the desired size by rolling it around on the ground while it is still inside the garbage bag. The plastic will allow it to move and spin around on the ground. Add more snow as needed. Carefully lift the bag on top of the base and pull the bag down around the ball. Slide the bag out from under the ball and begin to pack around the seam with more snow. Edge around the ball to create another smooth finish.

Now for the head, which is much easier and more fun. Simply roll a small snowball around in the snow until it becomes large enough for the head. Using both hands to smooth away any rough edges, create a bit of a flat bottom to sit on top of the mid section.

Add the eyes, nose and mouth using traditional items such as coal or carrots, or get creative. Acorns will work for the eyes and the nose, or perhaps some big shiny buttons, leftover from grandma's old coat. Stale, hard candy works great too and will melt as the snowman melts.

For the arms, use old wire coat hangers. Pull hanger from hook and bottom to straighten. Bend to the shape of arms and if an old knitted scarf is available, wrap the scarf around the snowman's head and then weave each hanger through the ends and plug into the snowman. Old mittens can be added to the hangers on the hook end. Be sure to pick up the hangers once the snowman melts!

For a shiny black hat, take a small black garbage bag and cover anything that resembles a hat. A mid-size pan or plastic ice-cream tub will work. The ice-cream tub is great because it has a handle to go down over the snowman's head! Wrap a white ribbon or rope around the tub to hold the bag in place. Add some pine or red bow to give him a festive look.

For buttons down the front, coal, of course will work great, but most people do not have access to coal. Take a stick about six inches long and a cotton ball. Wrap a piece of the black garbage bag used to help build the snowman around the cotton ball and tie twist it to the stick. Make the black, shiny buttons as big as you like and plug them in!

The idea is to get creative and use anything on hand to create a unique snowman without too much hassle. After all, snow is still free and to be enjoyed!

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