We’ve all apparently been building snowmen wrong our whole lives

So, there’s usually a right way to do everything, and a not-so-right way that people end up adopting, that eventually becomes the norm. And apparently we’ve been building our snowmen wrong all this time! Luckily, Real Simple is showing us how to build an epic snowman the RIGHT way. And it actually is, well, real simple.

According to the 2014 Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championship winner Tom Day, you want to be slow and precise instead of frantically packing snow into shapes as though your life depends on it.  For the base, he says, “tightly pack it in a trash can, then flip it over, to create a stable, dense base that you can sculpt into a rounded shape using a kitchen spatula,” he says. Okay…the first part seems easy enough!

via giphyWhat next? Well, then you roll the torso and head just like you normally would. BUT, “scoop a small indent of the base ball so that the torso ball can nest on top, and lightly spritz with water between the balls to help them adhere,” Day advises.

Then repeat that for the head. He emphasizes the importance of each proportion complimenting each other, as in the base should be 3 feet high, torso 2 feet high, and head 1 foot high. It’s just math…no biggie.

And viola, you have a snowman that stands up by itself! Hopefully, maybe.

via giphy But if not, or if it melted too quickly because you didn’t pick a shady enough spot, it’s okay. You probably had fun while you were doing it (AKA you got into a snowball fight!) and that’s really all that matters.

Anyway, the next time we’re playing in the snow, we’ll definitely give it a go. Hey, maybe even enter a competition? Okay, we might be getting ahead of ourselves. We just love SNOW, and building things that fall down stay standing in perfect alignment.