How to Build a Snowman in South Florida

6th grade Art students helped build a large papier-mache snowman for our Winter Show in December. He ended up being about 4 feet tall. This was an after school project, though students were building their own smaller papier-mache creations in class.

Armature made from PVC pipe, black plastic bags stuffed with newspaper, and duct tape to hold it all together.  Two plumbing flanges are attached to the particle board base (not yet attached in this photo). The snowman and the pole (below) are both built around PVC for stability. Each PVC pipe slides over a metal pipe that's screwed into the flange.

We just used water and white glue (about half and half) for the paste. Since I don't have an Art room this year, we had to build him in the hallway. It gave us plenty of room to work, but the clean-up each day was not fun.

Papier-mached snowman with stick arms and the North Pole (haha). The pole is a cardboard mailing tube. I brought a snowflake tree topper that I've had for years, and we papier-mached it to the top of the pole. I cut the PVC down after we were finished so the snowman and the North Pole sat flush on the base. We left a bit of pipe while we were working for height.

Painted with white semi-gloss latex paint. We added a layer of Triple Thick mixed with glitter, as well, to make him sparkly. :)

Here he is finished, with Model Magic eyes and mouth, some festive winter accessories, and a few papier-mache critters made by 6th grade students. A student made the North Pole sign, as well.