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❄ [DIY GUIDE] Snowflake, Snowboy & Festive Season ⛄🎅 + Summer Shell Season!!! 🐚

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Hello everyone. I present to you another DIY guide for the upcoming holiday season.

Quick Summary:
  • North Hemisphere players have 44 DIYs to collect (Snowflake, Snowboy & Festive DIYs).
  • South Hemisphere players only have 22 DIYs (Festive & Summer Shells).
  • Snowflake and Snowboy DIYs are obtainable starting on December 11th.
  • Festive DIYs are obtainable starting on December 15th.
  • Summer Shell DIYs are obtainable starting December 1st.


SNOWFLAKE SEASON [North Hemisphere]
When:
December 11 to February 24
Obtained from: Balloons

Similar to the cherry blossom and maple seasons, snowflakes will flutter around the island. These can be caught using the net. These snowflakes are larger than usual and stay afloat for a long time.

There are 10 Snowflake DIYs that can be obtained during this season:
  • Snowflake wreath (4 snowflakes)
  • Snowflake pochette (6 snowflakes)
  • Snowflake wall (12 snowflakes)
  • Iceberg flooring (10 snowflakes)
  • Iceberg wall (10 snowflakes)
  • Ski-slope flooring (8 snowflakes)
  • Ski-slope wall (8 snowflakes)
  • Falling-snow wall (3 snowflakes, 10 stones) *(Added in ver. 1.6.0)*
  • Frozen fence (5 snowflakes) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
  • Frozen floor tiles (8 snowflakes) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
A total of 74 snowflakes are needed to craft at least one of everything.


⛄ SNOWBOY SEASON [North Hemisphere]
When:
December 11 to February 24
Obtained from: Perfect Snowboys

During this time, snowballs can be found in open areas of your island. These snowballs can be rolled to make snowmen (Snowboy). Take note! Snowballs will not appear if your airport is open.

What is a Snowboy?
  • These are basically snowmen. You can create a Snowboy by rolling two snowballs together.
  • To adjust the size of the snowball:
    • Roll the snowball repeatedly in snow to increase its size.
    • Roll the snowball repeatedly in ground areas without snow to decrease its size.
  • If you break a snowball by accident, respawn it by simply enter and exit a building.
  • Beware of dung beetles. They might push or break the snowballs.
  • You can have multiple Snowboys on the island, BUT you can only create a Snowboy ONCE A DAY.
    BUT WAIT! Don't just make Snowboys randomly. You should aim to build the PERFECT SNOWBOY!

What is a "Perfect" Snowboy?
  • Snowboys made with snowballs with proper proportions are considered "perfect". The steps below describe how to make a large perfect Snowboy:
    • Body: Roll one of the snowballs until it's the same height as the character's eyes/above ear.
      • You can tilt the camera so you can see the sizes properly.
      • You can roll it anywhere you want it to stay. But make sure it's a spacious area.
    • Head: Roll the other one until it's the same height as the character's mouth/below ear.
      • It's best to roll this one nearby the first one before adjusting the size.
  • Once you get the right size, roll the head (smaller) into the body (larger).
  • OR, you can try !!! [ THIS TRICK ] !!! to guarantee a Perfect Snowboy every time.
  • The Snowboy should IMMEDIATELY congratulate you if you made a perfect one. If not, quit the game without saving and try again. Make sure the game is not auto-saving.
    • The snowboy will complain if you didn't get the right size.
    • NOTE: The very first Snowboy will always give you a DIY and a Large Snowflake perfect or not.
  • Only Perfect Snowboys will give you Snowboy DIYs and Large Snowflakes.
    • All the residents in your island CAN obtain a DIY from the Perfect Snowboy.
  • Snowboys stay for 4 days before melting. Talk to them everyday to get Large Snowflakes.
  • Perfect Snowboys can vary in sizes, as long as they are made with right proportions. Below is a picture by @maria110 showing a tiny perfect Snowboy:

    snowboys.jpg
There are 16 Snowboy DIYs to get. Meaning you need to build at least 15 Perfect Snowboys:
  • Frozen arch (1 large snowflake, 10 snowflakes)
  • Frozen bed (1 large snowflake, 10 snowflakes)
  • Frozen chair (1 large snowflake, 3 snowflakes)
  • Frozen counter (1 large snowflake, 5 snowflakes)
  • Frozen partition (1 large snowflake, 6 snowflakes)
  • Frozen pillar (1 large snowflake, 3 snowflakes)
  • Frozen sculpture (1 large snowflake, 4 snowflakes)
  • Frozen table (1 large snowflake, 8 snowflakes)
  • Frozen-treat set (1 large snowflake, 1 snowflake)
  • Frozen tree (1 large snowflake, 8 snowflakes)
  • Ice flooring (1 large snowflake, 8 snowflakes)
  • Ice wall (1 large snowflake, 8 snowflakes)
  • Ice wand (1 large snowflake, 3 star fragments)
  • Snowperson head (1 large snowflake, 5 snowflakes)
  • Three-tiered snowperson (1 large snowflake, 6 snowflakes, 2 tree branches)
  • Frozen mini snowperson (1 large snowflake, 2 snowflakes) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
You need a total of 16 Large Snowflakes and 87 Snowflakes to craft at least one of everything.


🎅 FESTIVE SEASON [North & South Hemisphere]
When:
December 15 to January 6
Obtained from: Balloons

During this time, the cedar trees around the island will be decorated. Similar to obtaining pine cones and acorns, shaking the cedar trees repeatedly will drop Red, Blue, and Gold Ornaments. These ornaments can be used to craft DIYs.

One of your villagers will give you a Festive Wreath. This is not a DIY though.

The following 18 Festive DIYs can be obtained during this season:
  • Ornament wreath (6 blue, 2 gold ornaments) [given by Isabelle]
  • Big festive tree (6 red, 6 blue, 4 gold ornaments, 5 wood, 5 clay)
  • Festive tree (3 red, 3 blue, 2 gold ornaments, 5 wood)
  • Festive top set (2 gold ornaments, 1 hardwood)
  • Tabletop festive tree (5 gold ornaments, 3 tree branches, 2 clay)
  • Holiday candle (5 red ornaments, 5 clump of weeds)
  • Illuminated present (3 red, 4 gold ornaments, 3 iron nuggets)
  • Illuminated reindeer (6 gold ornaments, 5 iron nuggets)
  • Illuminated snowflakes (9 blue ornaments, 3 iron nuggets)
  • Illuminated tree (8 red, 8 blue, 6 gold ornaments, 6 iron nuggets)
  • Ornament mobile (1 red, 1 blue, 1 gold ornaments, 4 tree branches)
  • Jingle wall (5 red, 5 blue, 5 gold ornaments, 5 clay)
  • Festive rug (5 red, 5 blue, 5 gold ornaments) *(Added in ver. 1.6.0)*
  • Giant ornament (10 red ornament) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
  • Ornament crown (3 red, 3 blue, 3 gold ornaments) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
  • Ornament garland (2 red, 2 blue, 2 gold ornaments, 5 iron nuggets) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
  • Ornament table lamp (2 red ornaments, 2 iron nuggets) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
  • Ornament tree (3 red, 2 blue, 1 gold ornaments, 3 iron nuggets) *NEW (Added in ver. 2.0)*
You need a total of 56 Red, 50 Blue, & 48 Gold Ornaments to craft at least one of everything.


🐚 SUMMER SHELL SEASON [South Hemisphere]
When:
December 1 to February 28
Obtained from: Balloons

During this season, Summer Shells can be found on the beach. These shells look like Conch and Sea Snails, but are darker blue in color. These shells can be used to craft DIYs.

Be sure to always pick up all the shells on the beach to spawn new shells.

There are 9 Summer Shell DIYs available during summer:
  • Shell wreath (1 summer shell, 1 sea snail, 1 sand dollar, 1 coral, 1 giant clam, 1 cowrie) [given by Isabelle]
  • Shellfish pochette (6 summer shells, 2 giant clams)
  • Shell wand (3 summer shells, 3 star fragments)
  • Tropical vista (5 summer shells)
  • Starry-sands flooring (3 summer shells, 1 sandy-beach flooring)
  • Water flooring (6 summer shells)
  • Underwater wall (3 summer shells, 5 corals)
  • Underwater flooring (3 summer shells, 3 corals)
  • Summer-shell rug (6 summer shells) *(Added in ver. 1.6.0)*
You need a total of 36 Summer Shells to craft at least one of everything.


🎈 OBTAINING DIYS
All of these DIYs can only be obtained from any colored balloons. Red balloons have greater chances of containing DIYs. Here are some tips to help grinding those DIYs:
  • Balloons spawn every xx:x4 and xx:x9 minutes (2:04, 2:09, 2:14, 2:19, 5:44, 12:39, etc.)
  • But, the balloons may only be visible on the beach on the xx:x5 and xx:x0 minutes (11:05, 7:30, 12:25, 4:20, etc.)
  • When the time hits, run along the beach up and down. You can use the camera to check the sky. If you didn't see anything, it might be coming from the opposite direction.
    • Wind direction can be determined by looking at the direction of the clouds or chimney smoke. If it is moving to the right, then the balloons will come in from the left.
    • Sometimes, the smoke simply goes up, not left or right. Then you have no choice but to check both sides.
  • Once you determine the direction of the balloon, stay on that side. The direction will change every 12 hours. There is no exact time when that happens. So, if you haven't seen any balloon in a while, check the direction of the wind again.
  • If you have the volume up, you can hear a wooshing sound which indicates that a balloon is nearby.
  • Run along the beach up and down, dig up clams, or fish to pass the time, or...
    • Try the Nook's Cranny trick
      • This trick basically involves the player talking to the Nooklings or looking at items at the store (but not buying) then running back to the beach before the time hits.
      • Some say you can also do this with villagers if they are inside their houses.
      • This does not guarantee a 100% spawn. But it helps and it does give you higher chances.
    • Or, use the Jail Bar/Rock Climbing Wall trick
      • This trick basically involves creating a straight vertical wall border on your west/eastern beaches from the north end towards the south.
      • Balloons don't fly over these items. And because of the wall, you can just stay on the south end of the wall and wait for the balloon to move towards you. For a detailed explanation, please see the spoiler at the end of this section.
      • This method is material-heavy and can be really costly.
  • Be careful though. If you enter a building with a balloon on the air, it'll disappear. Also, if you're in a building at their spawn time, the balloon won't be there.
  • Obtaining unlearned seasonal DIY chances are 15% regardless of the number of balloon you've popped. Although after 10 balloons, chances of obtaining bells, iron nuggets and clay are increased.
The Jail Bar/Rock Climbing Wall Trick
I learned about this on this thread:

For a detailed explanation on how this works, please refer to the Reddit Thread:


Here's a video of me doing the trick. This video shows proof that balloons don't fly over the jail bars and indeed follows it south until it reaches an open space. I apologize if it didn't show how I laid my out my jail bars. The vid capture time is too short.


Also, just to clarify, this wall only guarantees that you won't miss the balloons. This does not affect balloon spawn rate.

If all else fails, we have shops here on the forum that sell seasonal DIYs:



I wish everyone good luck!
Happy Holidays and may the RNG be with you!
 
Last edited:
thank you so much for putting this together!! I'm so incredibly excited for winter and snow to come (and if you see me complaining and missing summer in a month, no you didn't)
 
Thank you for putting together this guide again for the winter season! ❄ I'm relieved that we get a bit of a break from farming balloons for seasonal recipes with the Snowboy recipes so we at least aren't stuck grinding using one method. Watch me eat my words in a month and detest building Snowboys.
 
Thank you for taking the time to compile all of that information; I appreciate this tremendously. I was just starting to look up the dates for them so I know when to get back in the game since I have been taking a mini break. I didn’t like how the articles I found were organized so this is a huge help. :) I am so excited for the diys — especially the frozen and illuminated stuff. The frozen set is my favorite 🥰.
 
Oh I’m so excited! Can’t wait to start crafting wintery & holiday crafts for my town. 🥰 Thank you so much for this post and for including how many snowflakes I’ll have to catch to make one of everything!
 
I am so glad I managed to get them all. All I really have to stress about in game is decorating which os my favorite pastime :)
 
Minor correction. Unlearned seasonal DIY chances are 15% regardless of which # balloon you've popped.

Also, question. When will the recipes be available in the loons...12/1 or 12/11?
 
Thanks again for such an amazingly useful guide 💜 I can’t wait to get a glimpse of winter but sadly not had a single snowflake yet 😢

I just hope the winter diys aren’t as painful to collect as the maple leaf diys 😝

Going to sleep now and will wish for snow tomorrow ❄️ ⛄
 
So excited for the summer shell and festive DIYs. I wish the RNG was more generous with the present balloon DIYs. I am tired of fragrance sticks and tricycles...
 
looking forward to all the summer shell DIYs!! low key wishing that I could run around and make some snow boys but that's the struggle of living/playing in the southern hemisphere haha
 
you’re amazing; tysm for another incredibly helpful guide!! 🧡

i’m probably starting to sound like a broken record lmao but i’m genuinely so excited for winter to start!! i can’t wait to finish my winter diy collection, build snowmen and get to see the cedar trees decorated!! and jingle,, i wanna see jingle so bad,,
 
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