Arctic Snow House

Holiday decorating doesn't get any frostier than this – even the trees are white! Update a traditional theme with a monochromatic scheme full of icy sparkle.

Materials:

• STYROFOAM™ brand foam:
  • Balls: two 1-1/2"; one 2"
  • Block, 4" x 4" x 18"
  • Disc, 6" x 1"
• Acrylic paints: white; light ivory; light tan; dark tan; black; dark orange
• Joint compound or pre-mixed acrylic spackle
• Felt, 9" x 12" sheet each: black; cream
• Bottle-brush greenery, one each: 4" tree; 1" wreath
• Iridescent glitter: regular; ultra-fine
• Black heavyweight card stock
• Serrated knife
• Candle stub or paraffin
• Fine-line black permanent marker
• Ruler
• Compass
• Wooden items: round toothpicks; twigs (for arms)
• Paintbrushes: medium flat; liner
• Palette knife
• Disposable palette
• Water basin
• Paper towels
• Scissors
• Low-temp glue gun and glue sticks
• Thick, white craft glue or craft-foam glue
• Bleach
• Fabric-stiffening spray
• Optional: Powder blush

Steps:

1. Wax serrated knife with candle stub or paraffin. Measure and cut one 2" x 4" x 6" house and one 1" x 1-3/4" x 2" chimney from one end of foam block. Note: Set aside 12" end of block for a future project. Cut 3/8" x 1-3/8" x 2-1/2" door, small step and front "stoop" from remaining foam.
    
2. Mark center of one narrow end of house; mark sides 3" from top. Connect points to trim top of house as shown. Cut bottom of chimney at 45° angle.
    
3. Use craft-foam glue to adhere house to disc, 1" from back edge. Glue door, stoop and step to house as shown; let dry.
    
4. Trace disc onto cream felt. Cut out circle and set aside.
    
5. Using palette knife, apply thin, even layer of joint compound to entire house, chimney and top and sides of disc. Let dry completely.
    
6. Using fingers, tightly squeeze one 1-1/2" foam ball to reduce size slightly. Repeat with 2" ball. Glue remaining ball between first two, forming snowman.
    
7. Paint snowman, disc, stoop and step white; let dry completely.
    
8. Paint house and chimney light ivory. Refer to photo to paint light tan windows. Use liner brush to paint dark tan "panes" in windows and on door as shown.
    
9. Cut 3" x 8" roof from black card stock. Fold in half to measure 3" x 4". Glue roof to house and chimney to roof; let dry.
    
10. Use toothpick or paintbrush handle to paint black dots for eyes, buttons and mouth as shown. Paint tip of one toothpick orange. Cut tip and glue into face for "carrot" nose. Push twig arms into snowman's body. Use fingertip to blush snowman's cheeks, if desired.
     
11. Cut a 1" x 3" rectangle from black felt. Roll felt into "log" and glue to secure. Cut one 1/2" and one 3/4" circle from black felt. Glue smaller circle to top of hat and larger one to bottom for brim. Glue hat to snowman's head. Cut a 1/2" x 5" scarf from cream felt. Tie scarf around neck.
     
12. Dip bottle-brush tree and wreath into bleach to remove color. Rinse and let dry. Refer to photo to glue tree to disc. Place wreath on snowman's arm.
     
13. Apply more joint compound to project, placing some on roof and letting it drip in spots. Apply compound to snowman, too. Let dry completely.
     
14. Hold glue gun above house; let glue drip onto roof and chimney, forming icicles.
     
15. Spray entire project with fabric-stiffening spray. While still wet, sprinkle project with glitters.
     
16. Glue felt circle to bottom of disc.

®™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") or an affiliated company of Dow. For more project ideas, please see styrofoamstyle.com.