DIY Winter Snow Family Sign – with Fabric Snowmen!

Hello Crafty Friends! It’s here, the last day of “12 Days of Holiday Crafts”! Today I’m sharing how to make a customizable winter sign using fabric appliqué snowmen. This fun winter sign features a snow family made from felt, fabric, buttons and pom-poms. You can personalize this sign by choosing snowmen to represent each member of a family.

I love adding fabric to wooden signs! While the snowmen could be painted on the wood sign, I find the fabric shapes add a beautiful dimension and texture to the wooden sign. It’s a bit unexpected but really fun! I’ve combined fabric and wood before on these fun signs including my Oh, Christmas Tree Sign, Shenanigans Sign and recently with my Halloween sign you can see on this Halloween Appliqué Post. 

This sign makes a fun non-traditional wreath or welcome sign on your door. Or use it as decor to hang up throughout the entire winter season. I chose to make my snowman family in bright and playful colors, but you could use silvers and blues for an elegant winter sign or reds, golds and greens for a Christmas sign. Customize the message on top with the family name or with a fun message like “Let it Snow!” or even a simple “Welcome!”. 

This sign would also make a sweet grandparent gift. Create grandparent snowmen and grandchildren snowmen. Embroider or write the names of the children on the scarves with a fabric marker to further personalize the sign. You could also cut out little names using a cutting machine and Heat Transfer Vinyl.

How to Make a Winter Snowman Family Sign

Supplies Needed

*These are the supplies needed for the winter sign. Scroll to the bottom of the post for supplies needed to make the snow family appliqué shapes!

• Fabric Appliqué snowmen – This pattern includes many sizes, pets and a snowbaby, plus a step-by-step picture tutorial. 
• Wooden Sign – I used this 14″ Wooden Round Sign
• Blue and white acrylic paint
• Adhesive
  • For permanent adhesion use hot glue or tacky glue
  • For temporary adhesion use small Velcro Fasteners and large Adhesive Dots
• White vinyl, Transfer Tape and a cutting machine
• Snowflake sequins

How to Make a Snow Family Winter Sign

Step One: Make the fabric appliqué snowmen! Use my snowmen pattern and tutorial to create an entire snowman family. The pattern includes six sizes of snowman, plus a snowbaby and two snow pets, a snowpuppy and snowkitty. Pick the sizes that would best represent your family, or if this is a gift, the family you are making the sign for.

Each snowman is made by appliquéing fabric to felt and then using a simple running stitch around the edges to hold everything together. The running stitch is a simple embroidery stitch that gives the snowman a sweet, handmade look. The snowman pattern includes detailed step by step instructions for how to make each snowman including how to decorate them. 

Step Two: Choose a board. After the snow family is complete, choose a board that will fit them. My snow family fit on a 14″ round board I found at Joann Fabrics. I thought it would look really sweet hanging on a door as an untraditional welcome wreath for winter. If you have a large family, you may need to use a long rectangular board to fit everyone.

Step Three: Use acrylic paint to paint a wintery scene on your sign. Paint a blue sky and white snow on the bottom. 

Step Four: Arrange your snow family on the board and decide on the best placement. I recommend snapping a picture when you are happy with the arrangement.

Step Five: Adhere the snow family. Use hot glue or tacky glue to permanently adhere them to the sign. If you would like something less permanent, maybe you expect to add family members in the years to come and would like some flexibility, I recommend using adhesive dots and Velcro fasteners.

I have been testing this for a few weeks and so far my snowmen have not moved and the fasteners are working really well. I used the large adhesive dots for the larger snowmen shapes, and smaller 3/8″ Velcro fasteners for the smaller ones. The large adhesive dots will leave a mark if you try to remove them from your painted board, so keep that in mind if you plan to add on to your snowfamily.

Step Six: Add a message using a paint or vinyl. I chose to add a message above my snow family using my Cricut and white vinyl. You could write “Welcome”, the name of the family like “The Smith Family”, or even a cute saying like “Let it Snow!”. Cut the message to fit above the snow family and use Transfer Tape to apply the vinyl. I used the font “BFC Autumn Harvest” in Cricut Design Space.

If you are using paint to add the message, you could do this before adhering your snowmen to the board. If you don’t have a stencil, try using the pencil transfer method! It works well on wooden signs and only requires a printer and a graphite pencil. 

Step Seven: Add snowflakes! Adding cute snowflakes around the snow family really brings the snowy scene to life and finishes off the sign. I used snowflake confetti which was just the right size and had a nice shimmer to it. You could also paint snowflakes, add them with vinyl using your Cricut, or draw them on using a silver Sharpie or metallic paint pen. 

The winter sign is complete! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! The pattern for the snow family winter appliqué is available in my shop. Thank you for supporting my small business! You will also find other appliqué patterns for Christmas and the winter season including my Vintage Red Truck and Cozy Christmas Ornaments.

Supplies Needed for Snow Family Winter Appliqué Shapes

• Pattern and Tutorial
• Fabric
  • White cotton fabric for the body of the snowman
  • Color 1 fabric – for scarf and hat
  • Color 2 fabric – for hat band
• White Stiffened felt – for the base of each snowman. You can find it sold by the single sheet at craft stores like Joann fabrics.
• Embroidery floss – in white and a color that coordinates with the hat and scarf
• Fusible Web Interfacing – Thermoweb HeatnBond Lite Sewable or Pellon Wonder Under. Use Thermoweb HeatnBond Ultra Hold to cover the back of the ornaments or if you do not want to embroider them.
• Buttons
  • Two tiny black buttons for eyes
  • Colorful buttons for the front of the snowman
• Glue – for attaching the pompoms
• Red and White Baker’s Twine and Snowflake Clothespins for making ornaments or banner
• Fabric Scissors
• Embroidery Scissors
• Embroidery Needles
• Iron