I saw a similar Santa Claus ornament made from a paintbrush in a Lowe's magazine. I ran to the dollar store, got a few inexpensive brushes in different sizes and we were off! I goosed mine up from the sample photo in the magazine and the result is pretty cute. It can be made in an afternoon with paint you have around the house if you do much crafting at all. Add some cotton balls for his hat trim and a mustache and wahoo! This is a fun family project for the children, too.
You'll need:
1 paintbrush, any size
paint for handle- 2 colors
paint for face- white mixed with a splash of pink & pink for cheeks
paint for eyes - black with white for reflection
cotton balls
glue, ribbon to hang & scissors
glitter paint (optional)
1. With scissors, trim the corners off the bristles, rounding the edge to look like a beard.
2. Paint the handle, front and back, one color. When dry, paint a second, contrasting color on the handle making stripes or dots or whatever design you want.
3. When dry, mix a splash of pink paint with white and paint the face on the metal band of the brush, front and back.
4. When dry, dot two black circles for eyes with the tip of the handle of a large craft paintbrush or the eraser of a pencil. When eyes are dry, add tiny dots of white for the reflection which will bring the eyes to life.
5. Dot pink on the face for cheeks in the same manner. When dry, add clear glitter paint, if desired.
6. Stretch several cotton balls to look like fur and glue all round the the paintbrush, front and back, for the fur trim.
7. Take a small piece of cotton, stretch for the moustache, twist in the middle and adding a drop of glue, only in the center, press in place. When dry, gently twist the tips of the moustache to make them pointy, if desired.
8. Cut a 6 or 7 inch piece of narrow coordinating ribbon, slip it through the hole in the handle that is hopefully already drilled when you purchased the brush, knot the ribbon, and hang your decoration. :-)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
