Slalom Sam - A Spring Snow Person
Design by Pat Sernyk

Materials and Tools:

• Premo! Sculpey in the following colors:
• White 5001 (1/2 package)
• Cadmium Yellow 5572 (small amount)
• Green 5323 (small amount)
• Orange 5033 (small amount)
• Cobalt Blue 5063 (small amount)
• Black 5042 (small amount)
• Cadmium Red 5382 (small amount mixed with white to form pink)
• Raw Sienna 5392 (small amount mixed with white to form taupe)
• Needle Tool
• Paint Brush
• 22 gauge craft wire (Artistic Wire)
• Bamboo skewer or round toothpicks
• Spring from old retractable ballpoint pen
• Wire cutters
• Oven thermometer
• Piece of fiberfill for baking or curing
• Ruler
• Dedicated pasta machine or brayer
• Holeless seed beads (for eyes)
• Tacky Glue or Crafter's Pick Glue

Directions:

Preparation:

• Roll all clay through pasta machine before beginning project.
• Divide the white clay into two equal parts. Use the first part to make the body, head and arms of the snow person. The arms are tubular, approximately the size of a medicine capsule.

• Form the other portion of white clay into a mushroom cap, approximately 1.5 inches in diameter, and about .5 inch high at the dome. Mark 2 parallel indentations where skis will fit in later. This will be the base of snow that the snow person skis from!

Parts of the Snow person:

• Boots: Form two identical capsule shapes approximately 1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide. Form each cylinder into an L shape, and round the toes of the boots. Flatten the bottom of the boots to increase the base size slightly. With needle tool, mark indentations where lace holes would be.

• Skis: Roll a 3-inch long snake, that is about 1/4 inch wide from your pre-mixed taupe color clay. Run through pasta machine on #1 setting. Cut two identical rectangles, each 1-3/4 inches long, and about 13/16 inch wide. Form one end of each ski into a point. Butt them up against each other, and turn up the pointed ends. Then, position the boots on top of the skis, centering them. Boots will extend over the sides of the skis.

• Spring insertion: Using wire snips, cut a piece of bamboo skewer about 3/4 inch long. Place pen spring around skewer. Use a small bit of Tacky Glue to adhere spring to skewer piece. Allow glue to dry. With the needle tool, make a hole between the ski boots, just large enough to accommodate the spring on the bamboo skewer. Insert the skewer end between the boots, and push all the way through until skewer is only barely visible. Set aside.

• Scarf: Roll yellow and green clay SEPARATELY to #1 setting on the pasta machine. Cut two identical strips, about 2 inches long, and 1/8 inch wide. Fuse these together by gently rolling with brayer.

• Slice in half and re-position to make alternating stripes of green and yellow. Repeat until the striped portion is about 2 inches long. Flatten gently to extend the length with the brayer. Fringe each end by making small cuts in each end with an Excel or Exacto knife. Set aside.

• Snow person body: Make the body out of the larger ball of conditioned white clay. Attach three tiny specks of clay on front of body for buttons. In the base of the body, ream out an opening, using the paintbrush handle. Continue reaming until the opening is about 3/8" in diameter and about 1/2" deep. Re-shape to round if necessary.

• Head: Place 2 tiny black specks for eyes in snowman's head, or use holeless seed beads. Use a tiny snake of black for mouth, and affix to mouth region. Make two disks of pink for cheeks and adhere at each end of mouth. (NOTE: You may also use makeup blush or pink chalk to color the cheeks.) Make earmuff wire from small snake of clay and place on top of head. Affix two green earmuffs on either side of head.

• Nose: Using wire cutters, cut a piece of wire approximately 1/4" or slightly longer. Make a small snake of orange clay, and insert wire into one end, so that the wire extends out about 1/8 of an inch. Insert the wire end into nose positions on face.

• Arms: Make a needle hole in the center of one end of each of the white cylinders that will be used for the arms. Shape the other end into a rounded point. Make the mittens by flattening the green balls of clay into disc shapes. Use your Excel or Exacto knife to make indentations where the thumbs would be. Insert a 3/8 inch piece of wire into each mitten, and insert the other end into the "wrist" of the snow person's arm.

• At about shoulder height on the body of the snow person, make indentations with the side of the paintbrush handle so that the arms can be attached to the body. Adhere the arms with gentle pressure to the body. Ski poles are made by cutting two 1-1/4 inch pieces of straight wire. On one end of each pole, place a smal disc of colored clay. I used orange.

Final Assembly:

• Join the body to the head.

• Wrap the scarf around the neck, crossing it and adhering it securely to the "neck" space. Scarf can cross in back or front. Insert the needle tool into the body cavity and made a small hole in the neck area at the base of the affixed head.
• Cut another piece of the bamboo skewer approximately 1 inch long. Place a tiny ball of scrap clay on one end, and insert into the cavity of the body, going all the way through into the head.
• Place skis into the mittens, and close the thumbs around the poles. It now resembles a half snowman on a stick.
• Place the skis and boots in the grooves on the dome in the center of the ski mound. Make sure good contact is made so that all three parts stay together, and the boots are upright. The spring should be sticking straight up at a 90 degree angle to the horizontal.

Baking Instructions:

• Place the two parts of your snow person on a nest of fiberfill. Preheat your oven to 265 degrees F. Check your oven's accuracy with the external thermometer, and then move your dial up or down accordingly! Bake the pieces for 25 minutes. Allow pieces to cool. Place the top part of the snow person into the spring of the boots and base. You may need to shorten the size of the spring with wire cutters if there is too much "play."