DIY Snowman Garden Stake using a Dollar Tree Pumpkin

Hello friends! Today, I will be sharing with you how to make a DIY snowman garden stake using a Dollar Tree pumpkin. This has to be one of my favorite Dollar Tree makeover craft projects of all time! I saw this cute Dollar Tree pumpkin décor and immediately knew this could be transformed into an adorable snowman garden stake for my Christmas/winter décor. Not only did this garden stake DIY snowman turn out beautiful, it was such a simple Christmas craft to make. Be sure to snatch up some of these Dollar Tree pumpkins so you can give this snowman garden stake a try for your holiday décor this year!

Supplies Needed:

Pumpkin decor piece from Dollar Tree
5 gallon pain stick
material for hat & scarf
twine
plastic bags (to make hat look full)
White chalk paint
sand paper
Stain (I used Minwax in the color dark walnut)
orang burlap or paint for nose
blush for cheeks
black paint
sharpie ultra fine point marker
embellishments of your choice ( You can get a pack of rusty stars here on my affiliate link)

Step 1. Take the Dollar Tree pumpkin and cut the stem off of the pumpkin. Be sure to also remove any price tags/stickers from the pumpkin.

Step 2. Using Minwax stain in the color “dark walnut,” stain the front, back, and edges of the entire pumpkin. Allow to completely dry.

Step 3. Once the entire pumpkin is stained and dry, paint the front, back, and edges of the pumpkin with white chalk paint. Allow to dry completely. Then, apply a second coat of white chalk paint to the entire pumpkin. Allow to dry completely.

Step 4. Use a sanding block and sand over the front of the pumpkin. This helps to create a more rustic look to your project/snowman. Brush away any particles from sanding.

Step 5. Take some antique wax, offload some of the antique wax from your dry paint brush, and then dry brush the remaining antique wax onto the front of the snowman in random areas. This will help to create a more rustic look to the final project. Allow to dry.

Step 6. Using some fabric in a color and pattern of your liking, I believe I got mine for this project at Hobby Lobby, we are going to create a hat for our snowman. Take a piece of the fabric and wrap it around the top of the pumpkin/snowman to measure where to cut to create the snowman’s hat. Be sure to leave some excess fabric hanging above the top of the pumpkin/snowman’s head. Then, place the fabric piece evenly over the top of the pumpkin/snowman’s head and make a fold at the bottom/rim of the fabric piece, folding the fabric evenly about an inch or two up onto itself. Hot glue the fold evenly onto the fabric around the snowman’s head so this creates the bottom/rim of the snowman’s hat. Then, hot glue the front pierce of fabric onto the top front of the pumpkin/snowman’s head. Flip over to the back and repeat the same process to secure the hat onto the snowman.

Step 7. Take two plastic bags and stuff them inside of the opening of the hat you just created in Step 6. Then, take a piece of twine and tie it around the top of the hat to secure the bags inside and to create a “beanie” type hat look. There should be about two inches of excess fabric bunched together up above the tied-on twine for the hat. Trim any excess to your liking.

Step 8. Take a piece of orange burlap material and cut out a carrot shape for the snowman’s nose.

Step 9. Using the back of a small paint brush, dip it into black paint, and then carefully dot onto the snowman for the eyes. Allow to dry. I find having the eyes on first makes it easier for me to see where the nose and cheeks should go.

Step 10. Use your finger and add a bit of blush onto the snowman’s face to create the cheeks.

Step 11. Hot glue the carrot-shaped piece of orange burlap onto the face for the nose.

Step 12. Take the back of a tiny paint brush, dip into some white paint, and carefully place a dot inside of each of the two black dots for the eyes. Allow to dry.

Step 13. Using an ultra-fine point sharpie marker, draw a squiggly line onto the snowman for the mouth.

Step 14. For embellishments on the snowman’s hat, hot glue a piece of pine to the one side of the rim of the hat, and then hot glue a small rusty star over top of the pine. Allow to dry.

Step 15. Tie a twine bow around the very top of the hat, over top of the twine you previously used to tie/bunch the hat together at the top. Trim away any excess twine from the ends of the bow.

Step 16. Take a 5-gallon paint stick and stain it entirely using Minwax stain in the color “dark walnut.” Allow to dry. This will serve as the garden stake.

Step 17. Hot glue the snowman’s head securely and evenly onto the front of the garden stake. Allow to dry.

Step 18. Using the same fabric as the hat, cut a small piece to tie around the top of the stake as the snowman’s scarf. Secure it into place using hot glue, if needed. Allow to dry and trim away any excess. Enjoy!