Easy Marshmallow Snowman Crafts
On a cold winter's evening, gather the kids to make marshmallow snowmen. While you sip hot chocolate, create festive, edible creations using marshmallows, cake icing and pastry decorations. The marshmallow sculptures can be used at parties as decorative elements at place settings, as centerpieces or as cake-top décor.
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Materials Needed
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Materials
Stock up on marshmallows of varying sizes. Cake and cookie decor, such as colorful sprinkles, silver beads, cinnamon gems and chocolate drops can be used for the snowman's face, buttons and other accents.
The secret of snowman creation involves the use of cake icing to cement the parts together. Icing can be made from scratch or with a commercial product, but for ease of use, use cake icing that comes in an aerosol can, which can be easily applied in small dollops with minimal fuss.
As an option, you may wish to use wooden toothpicks for added support and joining portions, but they should not be used if toddlers or infants will have access to the materials or finished snowmen.
A small spatula or a butter knife are useful for spreading the icing evenly between the joints. Additional accessories or props can be fashioned from craft paper or colored cardboard.
The Building Process
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Applying icing
Much like a traditional snowman, the marshmallow man has three main parts that make up the head, body and base, using the larger marshmallows to represent the rolled balls of snow. Place a dollop of icing on the top of the first marshmallow, spread it evenly with a spatula or knife and place the next marshmallow on it, applying slight pressure to ensure a firm bond. Follow the same procedure to add the third part that represents the head.
Adding Features
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Features added
Place small drops of icing on the surface of the marshmallows where you wish to attach features such as the eyes, nose and mouth. In the example here, the snowman's nose is a red cinnamon gem, the mouth a chocolate sprinkle, and the eyes are blue drops of icing. The snowman's buttons are silver-coated sugar beads.
Using Toothpicks
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Finished snowman
Make arms for the snowman by placing miniature marshmallows on round wooden toothpicks. Place three marshmallows on one half of a toothpick, and insert the other half of the pick in the middle marshmallow.
Accessories
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Snow lady
A few simple articles can dress up your snowman. The snowman here sports a top hat made of craft paper. You could also make a "snow lady" whose hair is done up in a bun, using a mini-marshmallow. Encourage your youngsters to use their imaginations and creativity.
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