Use @Elmers to create DIY frugal Snowman Lanterns from recycled bottles #ElmersHoliday #GlueNGlitter #cbias

The holiday season is here!  This year has been pretty eventful in our household so I am trying to help the kids to spread the true spirit of Christmas & constantly reminding them that Christmas is not about how much money we spend.  Instead we are helping them to focus on the fact that  Christmas is about doing things for others no matter how big or small it seems.  I have seen these adorable Snowman lanterns and decided that these would be perfect to give to teachers & hostesses for Christmas!

Walmart is a great place for one-stop shopping.  I was able to search for gifts, craft supplies, and more without dragging the boys from store to store.  I won’t lie that I love shopping at Hobby Lobby & Michael’s, but only when I have a 40% coupon does it make it worth going.  However, then I feel like I can only purchase one item at a time, which makes me make several trips to those craft stores.  As far as Walmart, with so many departments it just makes it easier for me to find exactly what I need at a reasonable price.  My only complaint is that the Elmer’s craft supplies, scrapbooking, and similar items could be located in the actual department that has a sign that says “Crafts & Sewing” rather than in between the party supplies & stationary.   It is misleading to have to go to 2 sections that should be combined.

Supplies:  

What is so great is that many of the supplies you may already have laying around the house, but here is the list of what I used to create them.  I used Elmer’s Painters Markers & Elmer’s CraftBond glue spots for Halloween and fell in love with them, but some of the other products were new to me.  Feel free to search your junk drawer & craft boxes/baskets/etc to eliminate the need to buy everything on the list.  However, I can’t say enough about having craft items on hand that you find reliable & consistent.  Sometimes it is worth splurging a little!

• X-ACTO Precision Scissors ($1.40 per snowman (ps))
• Elmer’s CraftBond Dual-Tip Flexible Pen (60 cents ps)
• black buttons (variety of sizes) (15 cents ps)
• white tissue paper (2 cents ps)
• empty plastic bottles (free)
• fishing sinkers (17 cents ps)
• orange & black Painters Markers (80 cents ps)
• fabric for scarves (5 cents ps)
• Elmer’s school glue (28 cents ps)
• LED candles (33 cents per ps)
• Elmer’s CraftBond Glue Spots (80 cents per ps)

Directions:

Collect empty bottles around the house

We used Pomegranate juice, single serving juice, family size juice, gatorade, & a water bottle, but use what you have available

Remove the caps to get ready to paint them

Replace the “top hat” caps after painting

We used Painters Markers in black. However, based on the coverage needed you may have to use spray paint or even black tissue paper.

Use orange Painters Markers to color the fishing sinkers into carrots

Use Elmer’s CraftBond Flexible tip glue pen to apply tissue paper.

My husband preferred to put it directly on paper while I liked to put it on bottle & add paper.

Just figure out what works best for you. Optionally, you could use Elmer’s school glue or glue all

Use Elmer’s Glue Spots to apply buttons for eyes, mouth, & coat

Ta da!

 To see more images of our Walmart shopping experience & creating the project, check out my Snowman Lantern album on Google+

 one lucky reader can win the ENTIRE Elmer’s Memory Keeping Wall from Walmart (that’s a $250 value!)

*For more information about companies & products included check out these links:

www.elmers.com
www.facebook.com/elmers
http://twitter.com/elmers
www.facebook.com/xacto

Please note: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #ElmersHoliday #gluenglitter #collectivebias #CBias  However, as always I provided my honest opinion for this post.