TBC Thrilling Thusday ~ (#TBCcrafters) Week 2 ~ Snowman Muffins

Christmas is my favorite holiday for many reasons, but one is all the neat things I love to make as gifts each year for friends and family (and other important people in my life). This week I am sharing one of the gifts i am making for a few friends. I've made this before, but it is very popular with people, so I thought I would bring it back.

It's so easy it's almost too easy!! I love crafts like that. Quick and look great!! Oh and don't cost a lot either. It takes some planning though. You need to be on the look out at garage sales, second hand stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army stores, etc... to find a few old muffin pans. I like mine to look worn and really old if possible, but you can use a nice shiny new one too! It all depends on your taste. The things is it works best to not use a new one. The paint does not stick as well to new ones as old ones! Trust me on this!!

Here's what you need:
white or cream paint (I used a mixture of the two to get the color I wanted)
black paint
orange paint
greenery looking pipe cleaners (found at Hobby Lobby, Michales, JoAnn stores) ~ look in the Christmas section now!
berry branches ~ found in the same stores and sold by bundles or single stems
scrap of cotton country fabric torn to be 1" wide. (length varies depending on your bow)
hot glue gun
toothpicks
small bit of sand paper

The first thing you want to do is rough up the bottom of the muffin cups. Use a small piece of sand paper and just rub it around avoiding the sides. This just helps the pan hold the paint better. But I have even skipped this step on really old pans.

Paint the bottom only of the muffin cup with the white paint. When dry paint the carrot noses. I love angling them in different directions just so they don't all look alike. Gives those snowmen more personality! Then using the handle of the brush. dip it in the black paint and make the dots for the eyes and mouth. Try several brushes to find the size of eyes you want before putting it on the faces.It's also good to practice a few times just to get the amount of paint you want for each dot. It's not always easy to go back and get the dot just right with more paint. Using a toothpick lightly put the creases on the carrots. Be careful. This can get away from you if you are not careful. I find it easier to use lots of toothpicks just to keep the paint from building up too much!

At the top of the pan is hopefully a hole. Most old pans have them. if not take a nice fat nail and a small piece of wood and hammer a hole in the top. Don't worry if it isn't perfect, it won't show! Make a loop of the fabric about 4 inches long putting it through the hole and knotting it well in the back. If you want the hanger to be longer just use more fabric. Play with it until you are happy with the length. Take more of the fabric and make a nice bow as big or as little as you want.

Measure the greenery to the length you want. I made mine a little longer then the width of the pan. Glue each piece on angling them similar to the picture. Add the berry stems trimming them to have as many berries as you want. But don't use too many to overpower the whole thing! Then top it off with the fabric bow you made. You're done! It's that easy.

This is a simple and quick and inexpensive gift that is very much appreciated by friends, teachers, co-workers, and family. It's also a cute hostess gift too. Have fun!!

<a border="0" href="http://thebloggerconnection.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.thebloggerconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/TBC_Crafters_hop_button.jpg