Taking a break from decorating the house. I am so glad that DH built some shelves in the garage to hold all of the Christmas decorations. I labeled each tote by the room that the decorations belong, so I just pull a tote and go place it in that particular room. This is so much better than crawling in the "cave", it's under the stairs & sports a hobbit size door or dragging/dropping stuff out of the attic. We already have D#2's tree decorated in her room. I think that when Thanksgiving is over, I am going to be so glad that I decorated early, right now it seems a little strange.
I finally finished the Santa Trinket Box. He is so cute. I knew that he would be cute but I didn't think that he would turn out this well. Seeing something that you only visualized come to life is always exciting and when it turn out cuter than you expected well.....that's always the icing on the cake :)
If you have made any of the other trinket boxes then he is just as simple. The only different thing is that you have two colors on the arms and legs. Sew the mittens onto the arm piece and sew the "boot" onto the leg piece.
Cut out all pieces. *Just cut out one mustache. *When cutting beard piece make sure to cut and discard the area where the face will show. Be careful when cutting bangs. I made a right and left foot with a curve to give the boots more of an boot shape. Of course just like the other figures the seam of the legs/feet will face front-zoom the picture of completed Santa if you are not sure what I am talking about.
Sew & stuff legs, arms, body and head. Place beard onto head, this is to get the placement of the cheeks, nose and eyes. Sew cheeks on and glue eyes and nose on. Glue beard on using very tiny drops of glue, this is just to hold the beard in place while you stitch it to the face. You could really just glue the cheeks and beard on, but I like the look of the stitches, it is up to you :)
Now, sew the hair for the back of the head on, matching it to the front hair along seam. Trim any stray corners only after you have finished sewing.
After you have attached the arms and legs to the body you can attach the head, using glue or thread.
His belt is about 3/8" x 5 1/2" strip of black felt. His buckle is just a piece of gold ribbon cut into a square and glued on. The fur around his ankles, wrists, neck and hat is just a pipe cleaner cut in to lengths. Measure, mark and cut.
The list is just a piece of plain paper with the names of children written with Santa's special pen. I curled the ends and distressed the edges with distressing ink.
Santa's special pen is a toothpick painted red with black accents. I painted the box red and the lid white. Ric rac and glitter decorate the lid. I love polka dots!! But am a terrible dot drawer/painter. I am not sure why I have the hardest time painting symmetrical shapes. Even when I use the end of a paint brush or the eraser of a pencil.....no circles just shapeless blobs. Lightbulb: I punched some polka dots out of plain paper and mod podged them on! Worked like a charm and I didn't have to paint multiple layers of white dots to cover up the red. Glue Santa on making sure to tape the area he will be glued to, but only if you want to glitter the lid. You can read the past posts on the trinket boxes for more in depth instructions.
Here's a picture of all the felty creations so far. I do have one more to share in a few days and I am trying to decide if I have time to make one more before Christmas!
Here's the pattern for the Boy Elf Shaker. It is basically just the same as the Girl Elf but a little bigger (head is 4 1/8" circle). He does have ears, just glue those on. And use pinking shears to cut the lower part of the trim. I used a large rusty jingle bell for his hat. If you use a rusty jingle bell make sure that you coat it with a layer of mod podge to keep all of that rust from getting everywhere.
** Use Girl Elf's collar for the Boy. As with the Girl, his buttons (gingerbread man and peppermint) are made out of paperclay.
Have a great day and happy crafting,
Holly
