Christmas Paper Mache Decorations: Santa and Snowman

Loraine enjoys making crafts and sharing the projects she’s developed. Her crafts include pictured, step-by-step tutorials, and templates.

How to Make a Paper Mache Snowman or Santa

I’ve been having a great time making turkeys, snowmen, birds, and chicks using paper mache clay. I saw a craft using a burned-out light bulb to make a snowman, so I decided that the light bulb would be a great armature for using paper-mache clay.

In this article, I’ll tell you how I made the snowman and Santa using a light bulb and paper-mache clay. This project is a lot easier than it may first appear, and trust me when I say that once you make one craft using this method, you’ll be hooked and look for more ideas about what to make.

Materials:

• Lightbulb
• Milk-jug lid
• Masking tape
• Elmers Glue
• AllProForm joint compound
• Roll of toilet tissue
• Water
• Flour

Tools:

• Bowl
• Mixer or hand drill and paddle
• Table knife
• Airtight container

Step 1: Make Paper Mache Clay

Below, you will find two great videos that describes the method of preparing the clay and how to use it.

Step 2: Gather Supplies

It isn't difficult to gather together the supplies you'll need. You'll just need a burned-out lightbulb, a milk-jug lid, and masking tape to make the snowman or Santa armature.

Step 3: Make the Snowman or Santa Stand

Talk about easy to do. You'll just need to tape the milk jug lid to the glass end of the lightbulb.

Step 4: Cover the Bulb and Cap With Tape

Completely cover the light bulb and lid with masking tape. Now you are ready to form your snowman or Santa using the paper mache clay. Be sure to watch the videos.

Step 5: Sculpt and Paint

Sculpt your snowman or Santa in any fashion that you wish. You can use the same armature and have a huge variety of looks. When the clay is dry after letting it sit overnight, paint in your choice of colors.

Have fun!

This is a folk art project where you can't make a mistake. Happy Holidays!

© 2013 Loraine Brummer