Snowman Chair Covers

Total Time Needed: Afternoon Or Evening

Make these simple chair covers for Christmas, then customize them for any celebration at home or school.

Materials

Felt
Fabric glue or needle and thread
Pins
Repositionable glue (we used nontoxic Aleene's Spritz-On Reposition-It Tacky Glue, available at craft stores)

Instructions

1. The Slipcover:
This easy slipcover, made from a few yards of felt, serves as a backdrop for a year's worth of decorations.

First, decide how far down the back of your chair you want the slipcover to hang. Measure from that point up and over the top of the chair, then down to the seat (or stop at the arms if your chair has them). This is the total length of felt you'll need for each cover. Now measure the width of the chair back at its widest point; add to that measurement the thickness of the chair back and 1 inch for the seams (1/2 inch per side).

2. For each chair, cut a piece of white felt to fit your measurements. Ours ran 1 1/2 yards long and 2/3 yard wide.

3. Fold the felt over the chair and pin the sides in place. Remove the cover and sew up the sides or glue them together with fabric glue. If you sew them, turn the cover inside out.

4. The Decorations
This jolly fellow's scarf is cut from polar fleece and around the chair rather than glued onto the slipcover. Click here to download the snowman template. (To view the .pdf files, you'll need Adobe Reader which is available for free from the Adobe site.)

5. Trace the templates on to felt (or other lightweight materials such as ribbon) and then cut them out. (We hot-glued pom-poms to all the black felt circles to make the snowman's eyes, mouth and buttons to look more like coal.) Dimensions will depend on the size of your chair covers.

6. Spray the back of each piece with a thin layer of repositionable glue, then press them onto the slipcovers or layer them on top of one another. (If little hands peel off any of them, just apply another layer of glue and press them back on.) Tip: If you get a clump of glue, spread it out with a paintbrush so it doesn't leave a mark on the white felt.

7. Store the pieces in plastic bags, preferably with the sticky sides facing away from one another. Next time you use them, spritz on another layer of glue.