Mr. Sandman

I know what you are thinking...it is August and I am making Snowmen! It might sound a little loopy, but so much fun.  It is just a little way to help me feel cooler in a warm summer! I hope it will help you also! I smile just thinking about it as they are such happy little things and Christmas will be here sooner than we all care to admit. I am looking forward to this season as I am going to be a vender in two big shows for the Holidays and that has got me to thinking about Christmas garden ideas. 

One of my favorite Christmas decorations that I have is a snowman lying in the sun, on a beach towel, with an umbrella over him trying to keep from melting. He is put away, otherwise I would show you, but it makes me chuckle every time I see it! So to keep in the spirit of my favorite snowman, I have made Sandmen for the beach and this is a tutorial on how they came into being!

Sandman instructions...

• First step was taking 3 styrofoam balls of 3 different sizes and a 6" piece of wire and beginning with the bottom ball, push the wire through all three balls.
• Next take glue of your choice, what you use depends on if the sandman will be indoors or out!  I started with E6000 then went to a fast tacky glue as it was wetter and easier to work with.  Starting with the head, smear glue on half and then pour sand on it pressing it into the glue as you go.  Proceed with the rest of the styrofoam balls in the same way, making sure to get in between them as you go so that they will hold together when you are done. 

• Now for the eyes and nose...I found the smallest seashells I had and pushed them into the styrofoam making an indention, then used glue and put the shell back in.  Glue the eyes on next.  I had to lay the sandman down to keep them from sliding off.
• I had some leftover grapevine curls for the arms so that I could use them to hold different accessories like an umbrella and such, as you will see in the next couple of pictures!

• This picture shows them with their buttons and last but not least their smiles, which I believe makes the Sandman and gives him his personality!

Accessories...Sandman hats and wreaths

Here they are waiting very patiently for their hats and accessories.

Starting with your choice of red and white, roll out the red bake clay to about 1/8" thickness.  Using a round cutter about 1 1/2" in diameter cut out three circles.  Cut two in half and take the halves and put the two sides together forming a cone.  I put them on marbles so they would hold their shape while baking. Use the last red circle and put the whole thing on a marble to make the Sandwoman's hat.  Push down on it to make it go over the marble to make a place for her head.

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Now take the white clay and making sure it is workable, place inside of an extruder and pick the smallest flat piece as shown in the picture to make the rim of the hat. After that is on, roll three small pieces of clay to make the top ball of white. I used the littlest round tip to make the bow on the Sandwoman's hat which you will see in the completed picture at the very last.   And now on to the wreaths...

Take a green bake clay and roll out to the same thickness as the hat. Using the same cutter, cut out three circles and then cut a smaller circle out from the middle of each of those.  Take a wire tool that looks like a broom and use it to make it look like pine needles. Now use the red clay to make little Holly berries to place on the wreath. Use the same small circle from the extruder that you used for the bow on the hat to make the bow for the wreath.  

Here they are ready to go in the oven to bake according the instructions on the clay.

All finished and ready to go to the beach!  

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you have an awesome week!  If you have comments or questions, please feel free to ask or share!   Until next time...Ciao!

Penny  :O)