Yesterday as I was exercising (at 5:15 a.m.), the weatherman reported that Utah had the driest December ever.  Read that to mean very little snow.  No white Christmas.  No sledding.  No building snowmen. No shoveling snow. No below zero temperatures.

Yesterday, it was 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, which would I rather have — snowy weather and the sub-zero cold that it brings or the balmy 54 degrees?  Tough decision, eh?

The lack of snow won’t stop me from making snowmen though, thanks to Amanda from Crafts by Amanda.  See the picture at the beginning of this post?   She graciously let me use it here on my site.  Aren’t those snowmen and children absolutely stinkin’ cute!  But first, let me tell you a little bit about Amanda.

Amanda is Someone Important. S he hob-nobs with the rich and the famous.  In December, she was on the Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite for the Living Today show.  She also did a demonstration sponsored by the folks at Kellog’s(R) Rice Krispies (R).  (You’ve just GOT to see her cutest ever Gingerbread Man Rice Krispie Treats. They are so delightful that you almost don’t want to eat them!  So, go right now at take a look at them.  I’ll wait for you to come back.)

Glad to see you back.  Let’s move on.

It’s amazing to see something so cute as these snowmen and children and know that they are simply made out of the empty cardboard tube from toilet paper.  Can’t get much cheaper than that.  Or easier.  Visit her site to see her pictures and directions on how she made these little folks.  Young grandchildren can make these as well as older ones.  That’s the beauty of this craft project.  It’s simple for wee grandchildren to make yet older ones can spruce  them up, be more inventive and creative,  and add more details.

She has also made a cardboard scarecrow that would be great fun to make with grandchildren for Halloween.  You could also make witches, zombies, Frankenstein, and all sorts of other creatures.  In fact, for all of you creative grandmas out there, you can probably think of a gillion people, animals, and critters to make out of the toilet paper tubes and papertowel tubes.  (You’ll have to send me photos of what you make!)

Also, check out her iron-on glitter snowman shirt.  More cuteness.  I remember adding designs to a sweatshirt or two for my daughter when she was little.  Seeing how easy it is to use these iron-on transfers makes me realize it’s time to start making some things for the grandkiddos.  Like sweatshirts, t-shirts, bookbags, or a pillowcases.

Thank you, Amanda, for sharing your photo.  Thank you for your directions on how to make such a fun craft.  And most of all, thank you for being so creative and sharing that creativity with the whole world.

My grandchildren will love making your ideas!

The other day I got a request to show how to do a heart snowflake. At first, I thought that I would do a video demonstrating how to make one. But then, I realized that I really didn’t need to do another video. I already had one that showed how to fold a snowflake. Folding is the most critical part.

What my Dear Reader really needed was just a pattern.

Being the kind, helpful outta-this-world snowflake cutter, I decided that I would create a pattern.  (I may not be very skilled at doing crafts but I sure can cut great snowflakes!)

I realized that if one Dear Reader would be interested in cutting a heart snowflake then possibly there would be others who would be interested, too.

So here’s the heart snowflake pattern.

Actually, I made two heart snowflakes and both patterns are in the above PDF.  Here are pictures of the two snowflakes.

Snowflake 1

Snowflake 2

Granddaughters would LOVE making this snowflake — especially out of red paper.

Directions

Fold the snowflake. Print out the heart snowflake pattern.  Cut out the pattern.  Now, you can either trace the pattern onto your folded snowflake or just hold the pattern in place while you cut.  In my humble opinion, it would be easier to trace the pattern and then cut out the snowflake.

On the pattern, I identify the fold side. When you fold the snowflake, there are two fold sides. But one is a solid fold. The other side opens up. When I refer to the fold side on the pattern, it is the solid fold side.

I hope this make sense and that you can follow the pattern.  If this is confusing, let me know!!  I’ll modify the directions so it will be easier to understand.  Send your comments, concerns, or questions to nina @ grandmaideas.com.

It would also be fun if you shared a comment here if you made a heart snowflake.  Comments are welcomed.  Always.

Snow.  I think that is what is needed for a white Christmas.  Snow.  That’s what we don’t have.

However, if the weather man is correct (and how often does that happen???), we should have a big snowstorm tomorrow.  And several more storms next week.  So hopefully, we will have a white Christmas.

If you live in an area that doesn’t get snow at Christmas time — OR –  if you want to create an indoor blizzard with your grandchildren, you might want to take a look at my directions for cutting a snowflake. I’ve made a movie showing how.  I hope you can follow it because making six-sided snowflakes look so much lacier and delicate.

Let it snow! Let it snow!  Let it snow!
Digi-Gram

Grandma Ideas