Snowman Kit - the Gift for One That Has All, Wants Nothing

I guess everyone knows this situation: You are invited to a birthday party and you have absolutely NO idea what to bring as a small - not too expensiv- gift, to that person that has it all, wants nothing.

You think your options through:

- nothing ( doesn't feel right, even though it's sometimes demanded)

-a bottle of wine

-a box of chocolate... honestly: all of that doesn't scream "THOUGHTFUL!" or "UNIQUE!"

But I give you this easy to make and creative gift idea, that will all guests that came with that bottle of wine, a little sweaty :P - It's made in around 30 mins, that makes it even very last minute suitable!

If you are the happy owner of a freezer you can give away this bespoken gift even in summer - to make it even more unexpected!

the catch is, you can only make it if you have access to snow! Yes, there is fake snow - but I'm a fighter for the real deal!

I gave away this *cool* gift several times, and it was always a big hit :)

Step 1: What You Need

You'll need:

different colours of felt fabric - but even thin cardboard will do
a small container with lid of any kind - with around 3 litres (35 oz) volume
scissors
toothpicks
glue / super glue
a hole punch
a carrot
small branches for the snowmans arms - optional toothpicks

If you are the artist in the family:

paint or markers in different colours

If you are the non artistic type:

a printer

Step 2: The Scarf

Of course we want to make the snow man a little fancy - so he needs some accessoires!

an easy thing to make is a scarf:

cut a strip of felt fabic 20cm (7,8") long and 2 cm (0,8") wide

cut fringes to every end of the scarf - done!

If you want, make more details:

small gloves
or a top hat

Step 3: Eyes, Mouth and Buttons

make small dots from felt fabric with a hole punch ( if you have no felt fabric you can use cardboard as well )

cut toothpicks into small pieces around 1cm (0,4")

make an equal number of both parts - I chose 9 dots

add a small dot of superglue onto a piece of toothpick and press it onto a felt dot

- now you have small push pins for eyes, mouth and buttons.

Step 4: Cut the Label

of course you want to make the snow man kit great to look at!

- that screams for a nice label on it!

take a sheet of paper and cut it in size for the lock of the container.

NOTE: If you choose to print a label, you want to cut it later!

Step 5: Paint or Print Label

I like to add a personal touch to all gifts I make, so I paint the label myself - a snowman isn't that hard.

You might call some kids for help with the painting - but if you feel absolutely non artistic: print a label :D

Here's how I made it:

freehand or copy (from the world wide web) a snowman
colour it with diluted waterpaints or markers
add some catchy slogans that sell! - such as eco-friendly, incredible, WOW, BIG FUN...

Step 6: Glue Label in Place

add some superglue dots , or white glue to the lid of the container

place the label on it and

press it down until dried.

Step 7: The Carrot Nose

if you have no carrots at home, you can substitue this with a small paper cone...

But i strongly recommend a real carrot :)

with a sharp knife shape a small cone of about 4 cm (1,6" )

push a toothpick into the lower end

- Nose is done

Step 8: Branch Arms

Yes, even this can be substitued by simple toothpicks - IF you really must...

otherwise take a short walk into the wild outdoors and find two small twigs with a small fork on the end.

cut the twigs around 7cm (2,7") long

arms done!

Step 9: Wait for Snow and Complete the Unusual Gift

Now wait for snow...

when finally the big snowflakes gently fall from sky and form a fluffy carpet in your garden -then it's time to put everything together.

there are two ways for it - i tried both but if you have to freeze / transport the kit for a while, choose the second way:

1. simply pack snow into the container, in with all the small parts, and close the lid - that works best, if you give it away in one or two hours - If you have to transport it longer, or have to freeze it for summer choose the second way. The birthday child has to make it's own snowballs.

2. make several snowballs in different sizes - at least three, but more are even more fun :) - put into the container with all the small parts and close the lid tightly -now you can store it in the freezer until summer or whenever you need it.

Step 10: Transportation and How to Give It Away With Style...

I highly recommend to wrap the snowman kit - then give it to the happy birthday child with the advise to open it fast - IT COULD BE A KITTEN! ;) - usually that'll hurry up the unwrapping process...

Advise for transportation to the party:

pack it in a portable freezer box - in summer add some of these ice packs, to keep it cool. It will easily last an hour .

TIP: you can wrap the whole freezerbox, to make the gift look bigger and draw even more attention to it :P

I already froze in two snowman kits this year, that will be given away in summer :)

I'd really like to see some of you good instructable folks to make your own

and poste a photo of it below in the "made it" section :)

~I hope you enjoyed your stay~

sincerely, Mimikry

Step 11: Watch It Melt

that poor snowman was the first one I gave away - it was slowly fading away during the party - but I think he enjoyed to be among us, as long as it lasted :D