A Whimsical Wooden Santa
by Amanda Formaro

This rosy-cheeked Santa Claus can be put together in less than an hour. These are wonderful accents for your dinner table or fireplace mantel.

You will need
triangular block of wood
sandpaper
acrylic paint in black and pink
muslin material, enough to cover entire piece of wood
holiday material scrap for hat
gold accent holiday ribbon
gold button
white curly doll hair
small holly & berry leaves
blush & blush brush (make up)
white craft glue
textured snow paint
small paintbrushes

What you do
Begin by sanding all rough edges around the wood to eliminate the possibility of painful splinters while working. Cover the entire piece of wood with muslin material, gluing as you go and keeping seems in the back (and to a minimum).

Use the holiday material and wrap it around Santa's "head" to fashion his cap. Use craft glue to tack down as you work your way around, keeping seams in the back. Use ribbon to create the cap rim, again, keeping seams in the back, gluing as you go.

Use blush brush to gently add blush to Santa's cheeks. Dot on eyes with small paintbrush and black paint, dot on nose with pink paint. Glue the holly leaves & berries in the bottom corner before adding the beard hair. Glue the doll hair in place to crate the beard, working small sections at a time to ensure full coverage. Fill in empty sections where necessary.

To finish, glue gold button to the top of the cap and add a few flecks of textured snow paint to the holly berries and 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