Welcome to another Wacky Workshops project – making Santa.

SANTA – THE LEGEND LIVES ON

Santa, that magical man with the round little belly that shakes when he laughs like a bowl full of jelly, has captured the imagination of children, and adults, for centuries.

His legend traces back to the monk, St Nicholas, who is believed to have been born around 28 AD in Turkey.

According to legend, this monk gave away all his inherited wealth and travelled the land helping the sick and poor.

The name Santa Claus evolved from the Dutch Sint Nikolas (St Nicholas) and he became popular in the United States towards the end of the 18^th century.

There are similar gift-giving legends throughout the world. In England, the children all look forward to a visit from Father Christmas while Kris Kringle visits Swiss and German children.

In Russia, it is Babouschka who is the gift giver and French children wait eagerly for the arrival of Pere Noel.

While the legends vary slightly, the idea is pretty much the same; good children get wonderful gifts magically delivered to their homes.

LET’S GET STARTED

1. SANTA TREASURE TIN

These could be made with a foam ball head glued onto the tin, but I like the fact you can lift off the hat and have a secret hiding space for treasures.

SUPPLIES

• Tin can
• Cotton wool
• Red cardboard
• Black cardboard
• White paper
• Googly eyes
• Soda can open clasp
• Craft glue
• Scissors

METHOD

• Measure and cut the red cardboard so it fits around the tin.
• Cover the tin with glue and attach the cardboard.
• Make a cone shape by rolling the cardboard – making sure the non-pointy end is slightly bigger than the tin opening.
• Do not be tempted to trim the bottom of the cone – you want the bits sticking out at the bottom as they will keep the head in place. 

• Add a piece of white paper to the wide edge of the cone (hat) and attach googly eyes. The head/hat should sit neatly on top of the tin but be easily removed so treasures can be hidden inside.
• Add cotton wool hat trim, eyebrows and beard, using glue.
• Add some more cotton wool to the front of the tin for a longer beard. 

• Cut a thin strip of black cardboard (belt) and glue around the tin, towards the bottom.
• Glue the soda can opener onto the cardboard belt.

2. RUSTIC PINECONE SANTA

SUPPLIES

• An old frame
• Pinecones/wood flowers/nature pods
• Cotton wool
• White or beige nylon stocking/sock
• Craft Glue

METHOD

• Collect any interesting natural pinecones./pods/ branches etc
• Lay them out into a body shape
• Make a head to fit from the nylon and stuff with cotton wool
• Glue the whole thing to an old frame and glue on cotton wool beard and hair.

NB: This is really easy. With a little extra care, you can make a free-standing Santa by glueing his feet to a flat piece of wood.

3. STAR SANTA

    

   

This one is so simple but sweet and a good craft for quick and fun decorating.

SUPPLIES

• Red and black cardboard
• Cotton wool
• Soda can opener
• White paper
• Googly eyes
• Scissors
• Glue
• Star-shaped cookie cutter

METHOD

• Use the cookie cutter to trace a star shape on the red cardboard and cut out.
• Cut a half circle shape from the white paper to fit just below one point of the star and glue onto the star. 

  

   

• Glue eyes and cotton wool beard onto white paper.
• Cut a thin strip of black card for the belt and glue halfway down the start.
  Glue the soda can tab onto the belt.
• Glue cotton wool to all the tips of the star and around the Santa face.

You could glue this onto the front of a homemade card or punch a hole in the top to hang from the tree.

4. POP UP SANTA

This one makes a fun toy for the little ones.

SUPPLIES

• 2 x cardboard rolls, I slightly thinner than the other
• Red paper
• Other coloured paper
• Cotton wool
• Foam ball to fit on top of smallest roll
• Googly eyes
• Scissors
• Glue

METHOD

• Cover the smallest roll in red paper and glue in place.
• Cover the other roll in a different coloured paper (this is the chimney) and glue in place.
• Glue the foam ball to the top of the smallest roll
• Glue on eyes and beard.
• Make a cone-shaped hat to fit on the foam ball and glue in place.
• Add cotton wool trim and pompom to the hat.
• Place the smaller roll inside the big roll.

Put your fingers inside the smallest roll to make the Santa pop up and down the chimney. You can tape on a large paddle pop stick to make this easier for tiny tots.

5. SANTA GIFT BAG

This little bag is perfect to contain money or gift vouchers.

SUPPLIES

• Red paper or cardboard
• Black cardboard
• White paper
• Fancy scissors
• Straight scissors
• Soda can open tab

METHOD

• Fold the red paper in half and glue edges opposite fold together
• Glue together one set of short edges, leaving the other set open.
• Make a fold about 1/3 down from the open short edges (top of bag).
• Using the fancy scissors, cut strips of white paper to fit across the bottom and down the middle of the bag and glue on as per picture.
• Cut a strip of black card for the belt and glue just below the opening.
• Glue on the belt buckle soda can tab.

6. EASY SANTA DOILY PICTURE

    

   

These are easy and great if you need quick decorations for a classroom or event. They don’t leave much to the imagination for young artists, though you could get them to draw on the face, instead of using googly eyes.

SUPPLIES

• Small white paper doily
• Red paper
• White paper
• Cotton wool
• Googly eyes
• Black Cardboard
• Soda can open tab
• Glue
• Scissors

METHOD

• Glue to doily onto the white paper, about a quarter of the way down from the top.
• Cut out a hat shape from the red paper and glue on top of the doily.
• Next, cut out a large rectangular shape from the red paper, large enough to fill the space between the doily and the bottom of the page and glue below the doily.
• Cut a strip from the black card for the belt and glue onto the red ‘coat’.
• Glue on the soda can tab belt buckle.
• Glue on the googly eyes and cotton wool for hat pom pom and trim, coat trim and Santa’s beard.

I hope you enjoyed these Santa crafts.

Why not try some fun angels?

If you’re looking for more great Christmas crafts check out my Pinterest board.

Happy crafting, and have a gleeful week, Tamuria.