Thursday, November 17, 2011

A little paint + brown paper bag = an adorable stuffed Santa star ornament




Money is tight...everywhere, plus just about everyone is into recycling these days, so what do you if you and the kids would like to create some cute home made ornaments for the tree?  Get your groceries in a brown paper bag and you will have the main supply for creating a ton of these cute little stuffed Santas.  Add some supplies you may already have on hand and these little ornaments are pretty much cost-free.

You will need:

Brown paper bag

Acrylic paint in red, white, flesh, black and gold

Acrylic varnish

Tacky craft glue

Small and medium sized paintbrush

Gold thread (for hanging)

Paper towels and newspaper to protect work surface

Small amount of fiberfill for stuffing.

Optional:  tiny pompom and gold glitter pen


 1.  Cut open the paper bag.  Crumple the paper.  Working on the unlabeled side, re-flatten the paper and cover with a coat of red paint.  Let dry.




 2.  Thin some black paint with water and apply over the red paint wiping as you go.  Some of the black will remain in the wrinkles aging and giving the paper a leather-like look.  When dry apply a thin coat of varnish.  Let dry.




3.  Use the star pattern to cut out two stars for each Santa.  On one star paint the Santa as shown in the photos and let dry. 


Star pattern, click and print full size

Cut two stars

Paint the boots and trim

Paint a U-shape for face in flesh and white trim above

Paint white trim on sleeves

Paint white around face for beard

Paint a black stripe across for belt

Add white trim down center and above belt

Paint square shape in center for buckle

Add two blue eyes

Add black for pupil, red nose and lips 



4.  Apply a line of glue all around the unpainted side of the other star leaving the top point (where Santa’s head will be unglued.  This is where you will add the stuffing.  Line up the stars and press together.  Glue a 6-inch thread to the back inside for hanging before you stuff. 



5.  When the Santa is dry, add bits of stuffing in the body of the Santa.  A pencil or the end of a paintbrush helps to push the stuffing into all the points of the star evenly.  Add some glue around the top and attach.  When dry you may add a small pompom to the top of Santa’s hat or you can just add a dab of white paint.

Step by step painting instructions make this project easy peasy!




14 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Lovely idea for the kids to make! Valerie

Etienne Stoller said...

This is so sweet and simple. Might have to get creative this Christmas! x

www.etiennesjournal.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

this is beautiful, its lovely, I think I love it because its very vintage looking,, thanks for sharing this,

Carol Blackburn said...

This is so beautiful, Crystal. You have the neatest ideas on your blog. :)

Lee Pierce said...

Great project! I'm sharing this with my kids so they can do it with theirs!
:D

Liz Revit said...

Cute project, Crystal!

Magic Love Crow said...

This is so much fun! I love it! Thanks Crystal!

Heather said...

oh this is sooo very cute and clever...you made it look so easy, too! I think I can do this!!!
I will try it with my kids maybe this weekend!!!

maddyrose said...

What a cute ornament idea. Love the vintage look and who would guess this Santa is made from a paper bag? I'm saving this idea for next year. Thanks for sharing.

Judy Adamson said...

Sadly, we rarely get our groceries in paper bags over here (except at really 'posh' shops and not for groceries even then!) but if we did, you'd make me want to be back in the classroom making these with the kids!

Cowgirl Red said...

Really cute and creative, Crystal.

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angelself said...

I love Christmas, and I love this Santa ornament. Thanks so much for sharing the step-by-step. I will be making them!! =) Kathryn

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