Rudolph just watched the reindeer games

All of the reindeer got a makeover today to match Rudolph a bit better. I like the darker color. I also painted the sleigh runners and trim. Once Red gets those reindeer hitched to the sleigh Santa is ready to go.

The deer came from a variety of sources - one is a child's toy, one a tree ornament, and four are decorative items meant to sit on a table or shelf. Most of them had a glitter or metallic finish and several had some sort of embossed detail. All got a coat of paint, a layer of tan flocking, and a coat of darker brown paint with soft white accents. The embossed parts are much less obvious and the reindeer look more like they are supposed to go together. :-)

Santa's new gazebo

In the round robin swap I do with friends I found a silver colored metal gazebo. I painted it green, added snow, icicles, Christmas decorations and a tree and now it's ready for Santa's yard. The Santa house is going to the children's section of the library tomorrow and the gazebo is a nice addition. It was also a nice quick project for the day.

Outside Santa's House

I've shown some photos of scenes inside Santa's house. Here are some of the outside. Rudy's delivering the mail, there's a small sled to the left in the bushes, and there are skis propped up at the right end of the house. The small shrubs and the tree on the right have working lights.

Dasher got a jingle bell collar today.

The dog ate the first snowman I had in Santa's yard. I found this one when we decorated the Christmas tree. The house now sits up high enough that the dog doesn't bother it so this little guy should be safe. :0)

Meet Santa's Mail Carrier

Santa's mail keeps Rudy the mailman busy this time of year. Between the letters from children and the Christmas cards from all the elves, Rudy's bag gets pretty heavy.

His bag and hat say "NP Mail" (North Pole). His bag is made of fake leather with real leather trim and he's got a handful of mail for Santa's mailbox.

A Christmas cactus for the kitchen

I worked on this last night while watching TV with hubby. A tray on my lap kept everything close and contained. I used Becky Windsor's tutorial in American Miniaturist issue #44. However, as usual, I didn't have everything on hand so was forced to improvise a little. Becky used a handheld oak leaf punch and the little leaves were just the right size. I don't have an oak leaf in that size but I do have one that's the size of a one inch scale oak leaf. So I punched my leaves with that and then took a small set of curved scissors to cut each pair of leaves down to size. I tried to cut the leaves freehand but that didn't work well for me. Having a basic shape to start with made a huge difference. My cactus leaves probably should be a bit smaller but that just wasn't gonna happen last night, lol. My flowers are made from tiny stars punched out of red tissue paper, again not how Becky did it but it worked. A few more stems would have looked nice but I got tired of cutting little leaves and it still looks pretty good. I don't think I'll be making any more of these in the near future but I do like this one. It looks good on top of Mrs. C's cabinets, too.

Christmas is just around the corner....

...so I've been upgrading some things in the Claus's house. I originally had a handpainted round table and two chairs in the kitchen at the open end.That just didn't give Mrs. Claus enough room to work and move in her kitchen so I made the island with a butcher block top and two stools to replace the table and chairs. It's much more efficient now.

Santa has been through several surgeries, lol. I first made him nearly 20 years ago and he had a bead head, with blue mittens and black boots made from polymer clay. Last year I gave him a new polymer clay head and new green mittens. Those mittens were bugging me since he's actually working inside so I made him some hands. You can see him here discussing the Christmas Eve delivery plans with his head elf, Pete.

And, finally, here's a better photo of Dasher after his reincarnation from gold glitter to furry reindeer.That's Red behind him. Red is the elf in charge of the reindeer.

Christmas is my favorite holiday so I have several Christmas themed projects. Besides Santa's house, I have the house I live in now as it was when my children were very little. It's always decorated for Christmas. I also have a small roombox. Next month I will show more photos of Santa's house and the other Christmas projects, too.

I miss my camera!

I had to use my cell phone to take this picture but this is the "reindeer" I refinished. He started out covered completely in gold glitter and he cost $1 at the dollar store. I painted and flocked him and he turned out fairly well. Red, the elf, is taking care of him. They are outside Santa's house. There will be more photos of that next month.