Do You Want to Build a Snowman? Make Your Own LEGO Christmas Ornament

Hey, LEGO superfans! Looking for a fun, crafty DIY project you can do with your family this holiday season? How about making some LEGO Christmas ornaments? For the Holidays this year, learn how to build the delightfully easy Mr. Snowman, excerpted from The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book (Chris McVeigh, Penguin Random House) with Zulily’s very own Toy Expert, Joe Glass.

“Making DIY ornaments is a great way to ramp up the holidays and show off your LEGO fandom,” says Glass. “This DIY craft is something easy you can do with LEGO pieces laying around, and it’s a great activity to do together as a family.” Plus, they make great gifts.

And even if you’ve built dozens of LEGO sets — like the flower sets, typewriter or even the Millennium Falcon — but are lost without instructions, we’ve got you covered. Download the detailed instructions for this 25-piece set (and a bonus Santa ornament) below.

Watch now: How to Make a LEGO Snowman ornament

What you need to Build Mr. Snowman

One of the things we really love about this book is that the building instructions are presented in the same super-visual way as instructions that come with LEGO sets.

This ornament project requires 25 individual LEGO pieces, total. Check out the diagram below to get started. Each piece is labeled with its LEGO part number and how many you’ll need. (Tip: You can look up the LEGO part numbers to see which sets they belong to.)  

Where to Find the Pieces for Your LEGO Ornament

You can start with that giant LEGO bin you likely have laying around, with all those loose pieces from disassembled sets or otherwise accumulated along your LEGO journey. Or, you can also get a LEGO classic box, a set of loose pieces designed for free builds. “It has almost all the pieces you need,” says Glass. “With these big, bright, shiny yellow boxes you also get more brick for your buck — and you get to fire up your imagination.”

Finally, you can also borrow pieces from another set for specialty pieces like hangers, arms for the snowman, brooms and the like. Plus you can get creative and change things out (snowman holding a LEGO turkey leg, anyone?)

Some helpful LEGO terminology for the uninitiated: 

Tile piece = a piece that is flat and smooth on top. 

Stud piece = A piece with circle studs that other LEGO pieces can attach to.

Build the Mr. Snow LEGO Christmas Ornament in 12 Easy Steps

Note: Instructions here vary slightly from what is stated in the instructions in the book and the free download in this post. Don’t worry, either way will get you to your snowman.

Step 1: Get Started

Start with the smaller circular piece, with the back of the piece facing you.

Step 2: Add a layer of studs

Add the two single square gray studs to the back of the piece, at the 11:00 and 1:00 o’clock positions.

Step 3: Layer the Circles

Add the big circle to the back of the small circle as shown in diagram, and layer a second small circle piece on the back of the first small piece, right above the gray square studs.

Step 4: Add more circle studs

Turn the pieces so the studs are facing you. Add the two small single circle studs.

Step 5: Attach the hanger

Attach the string hanger to the top two studs. Add the hinge piece at the bottom of the big circle, as indicated in image.

Note: To hang your ornament on a tree, you need a special piece called a “string hanger,” which is included in the LEGO Classic 11014 Bricks and Wheels set (in the set, it’s used a pull string for a duck toy).

Here are a few other options for hangers:

• If you need a larger hanger, you can use a LEGO chain. Glass borrowing the “web chain” piece from the LEGO Spiderman sets for the hanger chain since it can hold more weight.
• There is also a special black piece that has a hole in it, which you can thread a string through to hang. You can find it in a LEGO store on on the internet.

Step 6: Add the next layer of circle pieces

Add the third small circle piece and the big circle piece on top of hanger and the hinge pieces.

Step 7: Add arm hinges

Add the 1 x 1 hinges to which you’ll attach the arms.

Step 8: Add the ‘Stache and Eyes

Create the moustache with a 1×1 flat tile plus two flat single tile wedges, and add two 1×1 single tile eye pieces.

Step 9: Add the Coal

Add two single black studs for coal buttons.

Step 10: Add the Bow Tie

Add the hinge piece to create a dapper bow tie.

Step 11: Add a Carrot Nose

Add an orange cone piece to orm a carrot nose.

Step 12: Add Arms and a Broom

Add the arms on each of the hinged pieces.

Note: The instructions call for dark skeleton arms…. but you can pull arms from any set. Glass grabbed arms from a battle droid in a LEGO Star Wars set.

“The great thing about LEGO pieces is you can use what you have!” exclaims Glass.

Add the broom (feel free to pilfer from a Harry Potter set!)

Final Step: Hang it on the Tree!

A lot of people ask how to hold the ornament together for the long haul. “There is no reason to use glue because of the clutch power of LEGO bricks,” says Glass. “They’re going to stay together. Plus, you never want to glue them because you may want to change your ornament. You may want to add something to remember the year. If your snowperson is holding a broom, maybe you want to change that to a coffee mug next year? The possibilities are endless!”

“I love building ornaments for all the ideas that it inspires,” says Glass. Zulily’s longtime Toy expert and LEGO aficionado not only knows all things brick, but he’s created dozens of DIY builds himself.

Check out his Gingerbread House bow tie in this video — one of 80 he regularly wears to work at Zulily’s Seattle headquarters.

Where To Find More LEGO Build Ideas & Inspiration

The Lego Christmas Ornaments Book is chock full of LEGO ornament ideas, including Mr. Snowman and Santa ornaments, plus a wreath, gingerbread houses and more.

In fact, Zulily has tons of books full of all sorts of ideas for LEGO builds, not just around the holidays, but for any time of year.

BONUS! Free instructions for a LEGO Santa Ornament Build