Cabin Fever Round-Up

10 Things to Make on a Snow Day

With the weather outside being horrendous and snowy at worst, and damp and slushy at best, it’s a good time of year to get cozy in front of the fireplace and occupy yourself with making something. To help you while away those inevitable snow days, I scoured the internets in search of cute and funny things you can make in an afternoon (or two).

Jumping Frog

From the CraftZine blog comes this tutorial for making an adorable and slightly ridiculous jumping frog out of some paper and a paper clip. MacGyver would definitely approve. What better way to spend a snowy afternoon than by making a flock of spring-loaded frogs and racing them across the room?

Embroidered Logs

These embroidered logs from Design*Sponge would make any living room feel outdoorsy and cozy. A great project to get your power tools out for.

Recycled Hurricane Lamp Cover

Check out this tutorial for a great way to use up old paper towel tubes. This would look great alongside the embroidered logs above, or as a cluster of three different-sized ones on a mantelpiece. I found it on the talented Patricia Zapata’s blog, which you should definitely take a look at—you’ll find a lot more inspiring crafty stuff.

Crocheted Master Shake & Meatwad

Learn how to make this crocheted Master Shake doll from Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Instructables. Get the free pattern here. And while you’re at it, make a friend for him with this free pattern for a crocheted Meatwad.

Nerdy Perler Bead Coasters

Get your nerd on with this tutorial I found on the Cthulhu Crochet and Cousins blog. You’ll learn how to take a screenshot of your favourite video game character and turn it into a usable coaster.

Jell-O Fruit

Fill some hollowed-out orange, lime, and lemon peels with Jell-O with these instructions from the NotMartha blog. She says she loves food shaped like other food, and I would have to agree! It looks like so much fun, especially the weird orange slices filled with blue Jell-O.

Knitted Nautili

Fill your house with some cute creepy-crawlies with this free pattern to knit three nautili (or is it nautiluses?) from Knitty. Why not make a bunch of them and hang them from a mobile for an adorable under the sea-themed baby’s room?

Embroidered LED Froggie

Embroidery gets geeky with this tutorial from Sternlab, where you can learn how to combine LEDs into your crafts. You can also buy LED sewing kits from the online store. Why do I have a sudden urge to make a light-up Disco Stu jacket?

Paper Colbert and Paper Conan

Create your very own paper Colbert or Conan O’Brien with four free templates from CubeeCraft.

A Tiny Gingerbread House

To round out this cabin fever round-up, a tutorial for an actual cabin. Well, sort of. It’s an adorable tiny gingerbread house that can perch on a mug of hot chocolate. A great way to warm up on a cold day! This one also came from the
Not Martha blog, and she gives you ideas for lots of different rooftop decorations (my favourite is the crushed candy cane).