Thread: How to make a snowman (without snow)???

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I am looking to make a large Jack Skellington snowman but I am having trouble figuring out how to make the large snowballs. At first I thought styrofoam but I cannot find any balls that are large enough. The head will be a human sized halloween mask and the balls of "snow" below need to increase in size.

Any ideas??

How about beach/play balls?

I've seen it where someone has used Greatstuff (the low expansion one) sprayed on a balloon, ball or in small patches.
Rolled over and more added.

Then painted with exterior white latex paint. Not sure how to do links to other websites yet. But if you do a google search for "Dave Lowe Design" you will find he has made some very cool footprints in snow using this method.

Are you looking to build a temporary, seasonal or long-term prop? You can get large (several feet in diameter) round balloons that are popular for weddings. Google "large round balloons". You could use the balloons as-is, or paper mache and seal them depending on your needs.

I was thinking along the lines of what Scream said. I would cover the paper mache with that spray on popcorn finish you can use on drywall ceilings. That'll give you the same snow texture they use on smaller artificial snowballs.

This is what I want the end result to look like. BUT full size.

You could also glue a bunch of styrofoam together and carve it into ball and then cover it with the popcorn ceiling texture.

I was thinking inflatable exercise balls. They come in various diameters. Best place to get them would be a Ross Dress for Less or similar discount place. I found that Ross was sometimes less expensive than TJMaxx or Marshalls. January is when everyone sells the exercise stuff so now would be a good time to look for them.

If you don't inflate them all the way squish them down to get that look in your picture and stack one on top of the other and maintain the height with some sort of prop stand with top arm set at a certain height--think horizontal wooden base at the bottom with wooden vertical arm attached to a smaller horizontal wooden plate to maintain the spacing. The squished balls would be sandwiched in between the wooden bases and the topmost piece would also serve as the base for the head piece.

Paint the balls white, and spray with sometype of texture or glue and roll in fake snowflakes.

Interesting thread. I'd also like to put a faux snowman together. But for my application, I'd want the head to be some sort of a half globe that could act as a rear projection screen for a frosty the snowman-type video face. Would be great to carry the Halloween special effects spirit over to Christmas. Any suggestions? Maybe some sort of thin cheap clear plastic bowl lined with white shower curtain liner material or wax paper?

That's an interesting idea Mike. Assume you'd be using this to place in an inside window with the snowman looking out to the street? I know that party stores or places like SmartandFinal (restaurant bulk) or Costco/Sam's Club will have really large plastic salad bowls for big events and many times these are a clear plastic.