DIY || #32 || Laughing My Ears Off

First DIY of the new year and it involves two of my favorite things: staying warm and emoticons! This super simple project was inspired by Studio DIY's Emoji Ornaments she  made over the holidays. Given how much I love to use emoticons with my friends every day, I figured, why not share them with the rest of the world? Scroll below for the deets on how to make these interchangeable DIY Emoticon Earmuffs!

Here is what you will need: solid color earmuffs (yellow or white works best!), large clear plastic buttons (with pin backing - like these), colored paper, markers, scissors and glue. All these supplies I got at Michael's!

To start, open up a plastic button. Remove the sample paper inside and use that circle as a template. Trace 4 circles on the sheet of yellow paper; these will be the bases of your emoticons. Depending on which smiley you wish to re-create, you can cut and glue more shapes using different colored pieces of paper. for example, to make the 'tongue sticking out' emoticon, I cut a small circle out of white paper for the open eye and then I made the tongue by cutting out the shape on pink paper. Glue everything in place if you add pieces like these. Next, finish the emoticon with black marker to do the eyes, eyebrows and mouth. Once the emoticon is complete, simply place it back into the plastic button case with the emoticon facing outwards. Gently, pin the button to the outside of the earmuff so that it is firmly attached. Make sure you don't do this while the earmuffs are on your head (which would be both quite dangerous and quite difficult)!

Continue making as many other faces or emoticons as you wish! The joy of using plastic pin buttons is that you can switch them up anytime! Feeling happy one day - pin on some laughing emoticons. Feeling sad it's so cold you need to wear earmuffs in the first place? Pin on some grumpy ones! When it warms up outside, you can easily pin these to anything else - clothes, backpacks, purses, or notebooks. Have fun and feel free to share what you think or made!