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Ho Ho Ho! As Christmas quickly approaches, do you find yourself in need of some new decorations? Instead of running out and spending yet more money, look around your kitchen for the perfect holiday craft.

You will need:

Empty plastic CoffeeMate creamer container
(to see the exact container type we used, click here,
then use your browser's back button to return)
several scraps of red or burgundy material
scrap pieces of white fun fur
2-3 handfuls of Fiberfil
12" length of gold cord
miniature toys and/or presents
2 small bunches of plastic holiday greenery with flowers
flesh colored acrylic paint
pink acrylic paint
sponge
small paint brush
hot glue gun
black marker
black ballpoint pen

If you make this project we'd love to see it! Just send your photos and comments to the editor and it may get published on this page!

What you do

Prep
Peel label from empty creamer bottle, wash and dry. Paint face area with flash colored acrylic paint. Set aside to dry.

Hat
Cut a piece of the red fabric into a triangle, about 6" x 6" x 6". Place the fabric, wrong side up, flat down on the work surface. In the center of the triangle, put a small amount of Fiberfil, stretch out the Fiberfil the length of the triangle. Starting at one side, roll up into a cone shape so that the Fiberfil gives the hat enough body that it won't flop over. Hot glue in place. Cut a small scrap of white fun fur and attach to the top of the hat. Hot glue the hat to the top of the creamer lid, stretching extra fabric to cover lid. If you do not have enough, simple glue the hat in place and cut a few scraps to cover and fill the gaps on the lid. Using a long scrap of fun fur, glue the brim of the hat in place.

Coat
Cut a large rectangular scrap of the red fabric, approximately 8" high by 15" long. Glue the fabric around the body, with the crease in the back, out of sight. Glue in place. Cut two more strips of white fun fur, approximately 12-14" each. Starting at the top of the red material, in the front of the Santa, glue strips in place as trim for the jacket. Glue all the way around the body. Trim any excess fun fur and red material and glue stragglers in place.

Face
Use Fiberfil, glue on Santa's beard. Begin just under hat brim where ear would be, work your way completely around the face and back up to the other "ear". Draw on eyes with a black marker. Draw a small oval for the nose with a black ballpoint pen. Dab sponge into pink paint and blot off extra onto a paper towel or newspaper. Continue blotting until almost all paint is gone. Gently dab remaining pink onto Santa's cheeks. Add a touch of pink to his nose.

Santa's Bag
Cut an 8" x 4" scrap of red material and lay, wrong side up, on the work surface. Place a small handful of Fiberfil in the center of the rectangle. Fold one 8" edge over the Fiberfil, fold the other 8" edge over the top of that, and glue in place. Gather the long ends up so that the Fiberfil is now the center of the bag. Tie with gold cord. Glue on plastic toys and/or presents to top of bag. Tuck and fold rugh edges of material to make bag look attractive. Glue the bag to the front of Santa's body.

Finishing Touches
Hot glue a couple of sprigs of holiday flowers and greenery toward the bottom of the creamer bottle. Bend and twist as necessary to make it look as if Santa is standing near the foliage.

What's related
A Child's Letter to Santa | A Waste Not Snowman | A Priceless Gift

Recommended craft book: 175 Easy-To-Do Christmas Crafts

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About the Author
Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She and her husband live in southeastern Wisconsin. She is also the owner of FamilyCorner.com Magazine. Subscribe to her free holiday newsletter, Family Holidays, by sending any email message to holidays-on@mail-list.com or by filling out the form on the left side of this article.