Clay Pot Santa & Mrs. Claus
by Amanda Formaro

Santa & Mrs. Claus are ready to bring joy to all the girls and boys. What a fun way to say Merry Christmas to your holiday host, your child's teacher, or a member of your family.

You will need (for each character)
2 - 1 1/2" diameter wooden balls
2 - 2 1/4" diameter clay pots
shiny holiday ribbons
wide sheer holiday ribbon (with wire is best)
red material scrap
white plush felt
shimmery white pom pom
white curly doll hair
gold craft wire
shiny green ribbon
thin white ribbon
silk holly berries & leaves
textured snow paint
acrylic paints in flesh, red, and pink

What you do
Place newspaper down on work surface. Turn clay pot over and glue wooden ball to bottom of pot. When glue is dry, use large paint brush to paint the outside of the clay pot red and the entire wooden ball with flesh colored paint. Let dry and apply a second coat.

Mrs. Claus
Glue a small amount of white curly doll hair onto head. Use wide sheer ribbon to fashion a scarf around her head so that hair sticks out in the front. Tie in front. Use shiny green ribbon to border the bottom of the pot (see photo), glue in place. Fashion three small white bows from the thin white ribbon, glue to the green ribbon.

Create the hand muff by rolling up a small rectangular scrap of plush felt, glue together, then glue to the body. Using a small sponge, gently dab on a thin amount of pink for the cheeks. using gold craft wire, fashion Mrs. Claus' spectacles and slip onto her face, tucking into the sides of the scarf. After glasses are where you want them, carefully dot on eyes and draw on mouth with fine tip black marker.

Santa
Create cap by wrapping red material completely around the top of the "head", glue brim in place. Trim and tuck material as you move upward to the top of the cap, sealing seams with craft glue until you have reached the top and created a point. Use a strip of plush felt to create a white brim, glue in place. Glue the pom pom to the end of the cap. Bend cap tail to the side, glue if necessary to keep it pointing down.

Use black marker to dot on eyes. Using a small sponge, gently dab on a thin amount of pink for the cheeks. Working in sections, glue white curly doll hair onto Santa's chin creating his beard. Fill in gaps with extra doll hair. Glue holly berries & leaves just above the rim of the clay pot bottom. Use textured snow paint all the way around the bottom rim of the clay pot, dab some onto the holly berries & leaves.

Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. Subscribe to her free weekly kid's craft newsletter, Busy Little Hands, by sending any email message to mailto:kidscrafts-on@mail-list.com or by visiting her website at http://familycorner.com