'Tis the Season for Cotton Ball Crafts

Ahhh, winter. Christmas. It’s the perfect time for winter craft-making, getting goopy in oodles of glue and glitter, making the perfect ornaments and other heartfelt creations for gift-giving. The beauty of it all is that it’s normally super cheap to do, too. Here are a bunch of things you can do with a bag of cotton balls this holiday season.

Thatch a roof. Want a snowy effect on your new gingerbread house? Glue some cotton balls to the top. Surround it with even more cotton balls for a snowdrift effect.

Make snowmen galore. Layer cotton balls around toilet paper tubes, starting with a single layer on top. Add a double layer in the center and finish with a triple layer at the bottom, effectively making three sections. Add a small hat—with felt, an old baby sock, whatever you like—and a few features with felt and you’ve got a cute snowman.

You can also make a paper snowman for little kids to work on. Draw three graduated circles for the body parts—if your child is a bit older and working on shapes, let him or her try—and allow him or her to fill the circles in by dipping cotton balls into glue and placing them in.

Using this same concept, you can also make a Santa beard with the cotton balls. Just print out a picture of Santa online for kids to color (Or draw one yourself! You might also have a Christmas coloring book around to get a page from.) and glue in cotton balls for his beard. You can also make an advent calendar of this project by filling in the beard with small circles first. Label them 1 through 12 (or however many days you wish to count down from) and glue in a snowball each day until Christmas Day.

This idea can also be used for elf costume embellishments, angels, other “snow” looks, white stripes on paper candy canes, and other decorations.

Christmas ornaments can also be created with cotton balls. You might want to make a simple Santa hat ornament or a small wreath. Magnets, such as this snowman magnet, can also be made with cotton balls. The garland you use to decorate your tree can also be made with cotton balls.

This cute little stand-up Santa can also be made with cotton balls.

Cotton balls also make an excellent border—or entire medium—for a small Christmas tree skirt.