Ruby Tuesday ~ (11-20-'12) 'New'- old santa from my daughter

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~ go here to see more "Ruby Tuesday 2" posts ~

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Last night my daughter, Tina, surprised me with a 'new' Santa for my collection!

He is one of those 'flocked' dancing Santas from the early 60s! This one actually dances  (twirls ) on top of a music box!

 I have  several of these types of early Christmas figures ; one dates back to when my kids were little and we used it in our decorating all through the years. My original one is to the right of my new guy in the center.

MERRY little Santas!!

Thanks, Tina!!

  :)

Mom

(Junie Rose)

Pink Saturday~July21, 2012~ Christmas in July??

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It's time again for
 "Pink Saturday!"

Go here to see other "PINK" posts!

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In the past I was deeply into crafting and my favorite things to make were Christmas figures-especially Santas.

Here are a couple examples of what I liked to do ~ and they just happen to be in Pink!

 :)

 This santa is all original papier mache'! By all original I mean no molds were used in the creating of these figures, so, even though I made a LOT of these, no 2 were ever the same.

 
I made them in different sizes too. This one is just over 12 inches tall. He is one of just a few that I dressed in pink!

  :)  Even in pink, this guy is no sissy! Look at that heavy bag of toys on his back!!

 (I made this one especially for my own home-to use in my rose/pink living room.)

 I signed and dated all that I made and I see this was #3 - in 1991.

 
These next ones are painted gourd santas.

The first one is a medium size hanging santa, which I use at a window with lights all around him. Most of my gourds I painted red but this one is a rose/pink!

The others here are made from small gourds-ornament size!

 :)

Oh!
  I also made some cone and papier mache' trees. I decorated this one with tiny pink roses. It's 12 inches tall!

~My Christmas in July post~ 

Junie

Midweek Blues~ July8, 2010~'Santa in Blue Robe'

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Find more Midweek Blues with Rebecca-*here!*

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This time I'm bringing you Christmas in July with one of my craft santas which I made several years ago!

This is one of many original paper mache
santas I created, and the only one I did in blue! 

I used Christmas wrap and sparkly paint to make his robe. Sparkly paint also accents his beard and fur trim on hat and robe.

This one stands about 9 1/2 inches. The date on the bottom says I made it in 1992!

Enjoy!

Junie Rose

Can this santa be saved?

Can this santa be saved?



This is the very first gourd santa I ever created. It is signed on the bottom, ‘Ginga’s Santas’, 1992.

Sometimes - well, oftentimes- painted gourd crafts get weevils from within, long after the craft figure is painted and finished into it’s decorative transformation. This, of course, can be prevented if the bottom of the gourd is taken off and the seeds are removed and the inside scrapped clean.

( notice the small , round holes...the bugs eat their way out.)

With my gourd santa figures I liked the added interest of the sound of the dried seeds inside, rattling around when shaken.

This, of course, was my very first experience working with gourds in any kind of craft projects. It was all guess work for me - trial and error!
I had never even seen one of these santas except in magazines. But I was pleased with the finished figure I had made. I liked the old world look of this santa.

I went on to make others-learning as I went along. In time I was adding papier mache trim- for beards and fur cuff on hats and and coats!

After a couple years of displaying this original santa at Christmas, I discovered the tiny holes...and some fine dust where he had sat on the shelf! Oh my! My santa had bugs-was being eaten from the inside!! Nothing to do but quarantine him in a plastic bag with a good dose of insecticide... tie the bag tight for a good, long spell of time! I did this!

I was still in the ‘figuring out phase’ of my santa making, but I liked the idea of the seeds inside and wanted to keep it that way. I knew I could take the bottom off if I chose to go that way...but I wanted to try this first! After some time (maybe weeks) I felt it safe to remove my santa, knowing the bug problem would have been resolved!
(The tiny bugs leave the gourd and die from the spray treatment in the closed up bag! :( Sorry!)

Meanwhile I had been busy with other, more elaborate styles of santas...much fancier than this first one had been. I did lots of crafts for shows and gifts during that time.

I always intended to do the proper repairs and the necessary repainting and refinishing for this poor old guy...but , somehow, he ended up on a shelf in my laundry room! There he has sat for many years, gathering dust and lint. NOW-he’s badly in need of renovation. After looking at him I’m afraid he will, indeed, need his bottom sliced off and the seeds and dust removed...but we’ll see! I’d rather keep him with his original signature and date ! I DO know for sure he will need some bug holes repaired and some new paint and varnish and some new holly trims!




However, I hope I can keep his original face...not that it's that great...but it is HIS! No one wants a complete change-do they?? ;)

Can this santa be saved?
The time has come!
We’ll see!






Note:

I continued to leave the seeds inside the majority of the gourd santas I made because I liked them better that way. A few more developed bug problems but most did not! My header shows some of my later santas.

Junie
of ' Ginga's Santas'