Saturday, December 18, 2010

Santa On A Stick

I hail from the land of the great Minnesota get together, the Minnesota State Fair. A place where you can get anything and everything on a stick - from Alligator to deep fried Twinkies.  In keeping with the tradition of the fair and the spirit of this season, here comes Santa - on a stick.

Supplies:
1 stick, preferably dry and breakable, any length
Off-white felt
Felt color of choice, for hat
Hot glue gun, scissors, sharpie


Cut your felt pieces
Mustache: 3/4" x 1"
Beard:  1.5"x 1"
             2.5" x 1"
          3" x 1"
For the hat, measure around the stick and add about 1/4".  This will be the base of your hat.  You can make it as tall as you want.  Cut in a long triangle.  Mine is about 6" tall.


Cut out your beard, mustache and hat as pictured above.


When choosing a stick, pick a longer stick and break it in half.  The breaking point will become the face of Santa.  Trim down the top of the stick so only about 1" of the heart of the wood is showing.

Next, hot glue the beard onto the stick in layers, starting with the longest length.  
Add the mustache last.


To make the hat, run a bead of hot glue down one side of the triangle, starting at the tip and stopping about 1/2" from the bottom (see picture below).



Next, put Santa's hat on, only gluing the back.  This will keep the hat looking a little loose in the front, and allow you to move it a bit so his eyes don't get covered.


The last step is to give him some eyes - I used a sharpie.



How can you use your Santa?
1. Tie him on a gift. 
2.  Stick him in the snow to greet your guests.
3.  Put a bunch of Santa's in a can and use for a Christmas centerpiece. 
4.  Attach a ribbon and hang him from your tree.  
5. Add him to a wreath

Enjoy Santa on a stick!