
My mother has a
wonderful collection of ornaments, some dating back 40+
years. One of our family favorites came from Germany,
and features a paper mache santa head on a large red glass
ball. He has mohair beard, and rabbit fur trimmed velvet
hat. This project is a miniature version of that
ornament. This is a fast and easy holiday project. Why not
make several for gifts??
Materials
- (Not Many....)
Miniature
Santa Porcelain Head
Viscose
or curled mohair for beard
35mm
Glass Ornament
Hot
glue, tacky glue, scissors
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Scrap
of fabric for hat
Scraps
of fur, artificial or real, trimmed short
Jump
ring
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Plan ahead
for this project. Pour a suitable head for your santa, and cut
off mid neck. (This guy is Nicholas, my latest
sculpture.) Clean the neck so that is approximately the
same size as the neck of the ornament. After firing, it
should be just small enough to slip inside the neck.
Clean, fire and paint your head in
the normal manner. If you need help with greenware
preparation or china painting, there are tutorials on this site
for both of those topics. Please use the link to the
tutorial index at the bottom of this page.
Hot glue your head to the top of a
35 mm glass ball. These come on stems in packages of 6
pieces at Michaels, and the cost is less than $2.00. They
come in lots of great colors too! |
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Cut a 1/4" wide strip of artificial fur and glue
around the neck to cover where head and ornament were joined. |
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Using waved
viscose, or precurled mohair, wig and beard your
Santa. |
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Measure
around Santa's head. Cut a piece of velvet the width of
head measurement, and 2 1/2" high. Fold fabric in
half, and cut into a triangle shape, keeping the bottom edge
equal to the head measurement. Bring the other two edge
right sides together, and stitch or glue, forming a tall pointed
hat.
Place on Santa's head, and glue
firmly into place. If necessary, use hot glue, but make sure
that hat is securely attached. |
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Cut a piece
of fur 1/4" wide and long enough to go around lower
edge of hat. Be sure to trim down the fur if necessary.
Glue fur around bottom of hat,
covering raw bottom edge. Add a small piece of fur to the
tip of the cap. |
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Fold hat over
to one side and glue or sew into place.
Attach a gold jewelry jump ring to
the top center of the hat. You can now slip an ornament
hook thru the ring, and hang your santa on the tree. |
Now that you have the basic
concept, think creatively. These little glass balls come
in some beautiful colors. How about a Santa in a
jewel-tone hat, with teal blue ornament, and antique gold
metallic trims??? Or one in all winter whites with pearl
trim??? Enjoy making your own Santa ornaments, and be
sure to send me a picture! Happy Holidays! |

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