Salt Shaker Snowman Craft

In today’s post: Turn a set of salt and pepper shakers into adorable snowmen in this easy Christmas craft.

Easy Christmas Craft

Today’s project is a fun Christmas craft you can do with your kids – and they could give the cute finished snowmen to grandparents. Each snowman only takes about fifteen minutes to make.

Supplies

Here’s what you need to make salt and pepper shaker snowmen:

• Salt and pepper shakers: You can find salt and pepper shakers at the dollar store if you want to keep things super cheap, or you can use this set I purchased from Amazon. I like it because the glass portion is very clear and the lids are a little taller than the ones from Dollar Tree, which I think is a bit cuter.
• Ping Pong balls: You can find these at the dollar store or Walmart.
• Epsom Salt: I use this for the “snow” inside the snowmen. It’s inexpensive and looks pretty, and doesn’t make as much mess as packages of fake snow. Find it at the dollar store or Walmart.
• Ribbon or fabric scrap to make a scarf
• Pink and Orange Paint
• Toothpick (for the nose)
• Q-tip (to apply pink paint)
• Black Sharpie (to draw face)

You will also need a hot glue gun to glue the snowman together. I would also recommend using some E6000 or other superglue in addition to the hot glue.

How to Make Salt Shaker Snowmen

This craft is easy and quick! Kids can help with all the steps except the hot glue. Here’s what you’ll do:

Paint the Nose

Before you start putting the snowman together, you’ll want to paint the nose and let it dry. Just grab a toothpick and dip it into some orange paint. Set the toothpick somewhere to dry while you continue making the snowman.

Construct the Snowman

Take the lid off your salt shaker and fill it with epsom salt. For one of my snowmen I filled it almost all the way full with epson salt. For the other one I filled it about a third of the way, then used tweezers to push a tiny Christmas tree down into the salt. Then glue the ping pong ball on top of the glass shaker.

Note: if you are using only hot glue, make sure to add the glue and press the ping pong ball down as quickly as possible, then hold the ball until the glue cools. For a better bond, it’s a good idea to add a couple dots of superglue on the glass first, then dot hot glue in between the superglue and immediately press the ping pong ball down. The hot glue gives an immediate hold, while the super glue gives it a better lasting hold.

Then add hot glue around the inside edge of the lid and immediately place it down on the ping pong ball. I think the lids (hats) look cute at an angle.

Decorate the Snowman

Now it’s time to give your snowman a face! Dip a q-tip into pink paint and use it to dot on two pink cheeks. Give them a minute to dry, then use a black Sharpie to dry eyes and dot on a mouth.

The orange toothpick should be dry by now. Use scissors to cut off about half an inch at the pointed edge. Then use hot glue to glue the nose to the ping pong ball. Note: In the picture below you see me trying to glue the nose so it sticks out from the face – that doesn’t actually work very well. It’s better to glue the nose lying flat against the ping pong ball (as you can see in the photos of the finished project).

Finally, cut a length of ribbon or a scrap of fabric to make a scarf. I like using wired ribbon because then you can shape the ribbon a bit to make it look like it’s blowing in the wind. Cut fringe at the end of the scarf and then your snowman is ready to display!