Father Christmas Doll Completed

Completed Father Christmas doll.

I have completed my Father Christmas doll.  Last blog post I had finished up through adding the robe, then it was just a matter of adding trim to the robe and some accessories.  I have learned over my years in doll making that it is not just the doll but all the little pieces that add interest and sparkle to the piece.  The more you accessorize the better the doll will appear to other viewers.

In blog posts made some time ago I had said that you think you have finished a piece you should go over the piece three more times and add another accessory each time.  I guess the glass bead medium added to the base was a bit of an upgrade from its original stand covering made from modeling clay.   My initial plan for the doll was to have him holding a Christmas tree.  I added a basket and a duck.  The duck is a piece from a set of shalt and pepper shakers that I found at a thrift store.  It is supposed to represent a goose, which was (and I suppose still is) a traditional Christmas time meal.  Then I
trimmed the tree with a small garland.  Then I added a small toy train and some poinsettia flowers.  The flowers are actually buttons that easily glued on with hot glue.  I also added the candy canes.  They have a lot
of shine and the ones hanging from the gold threads will move if there is a bit of air moving near it.  The movement seems to add a little life to the piece.  Each piece adds a little color and also adds something to the story.

The only other addition was to add some wool roving to trim the neck, front, and bottom edges of the robe.  Wool roving comes in small 0.7 pound packages or large bags.  It comes in many colors, but I used a white wool roving for the Santa's hair and beard.    The length of the roving, which comes in a long strand is just a little over a yard long.  The length was just about right for adding trim to the coat.  However, the roving is very thick.  I pulled the strand in half lengthwise.  One half strand was used for the robe.  The other half strand was used for the hair and beard. 

To add the wool roving to the robe I used hot glue starting at the neck and wrapping it around the dolls head,
then down the front and along the bottom of the robe.  Basically it was squeeze some hot glue onto the edge and lay the wool roving into the glue.  Then I would give the roving a little twist so that the fibers stayed tightly packed.  I continued gluing and twisting all the way around the doll.  I did not cut the wool roving until I had the robe completely finished.  Then I cut off the remaining wool. 

I used hot glue for the hair because I was in a hurry to complete the doll.  The recommended glue for attaching the hair was tacky craft glue.  I would say that the tacky glue was a good recommendation.  If you accidentally drop some hot glue on the doll a this point it could be problematic.  Either you are stuck with a glop of glue stuck to the face of the doll or you could have to do some type of major repair if removing the glue pulls off the paint or a chunk of the clay when you try to remove it.  That is not what you want to have happen right at the end of a project (or anytime really).

I have not made a Father Christmas doll in a long time.  I made a couple, but was rather disillusioned with my early endeavors.  Before I learned how to make faces, the noses of my dolls were all out of proportion.  The noses started to high up.  Every doll had a very long nose.  There is actually a genre of Father Christmas dolls where all the dolls are carved with long noses.  I decided to try other types of crafts for a while until I had reached a higher skill level.  I think I am getting there.  I actually bought a little extra wool roving in case I needed more, so now I have enough for a few more dolls.

I have a funny story about wool roving.  Aside from using it for doll hair, wool roving is also used for needle felting projects.  For the last few years, needle felting was the popular craft.  You could not go to any craft store that sold yarn and fibers without practically tripping over a
section of needle felting tools and wool roving.  This year when I went to my craft store there was not a wool roving display to be seen.  The only doll hair that the store carried was this shiny curly fiber.  I don't know if the fiber was polyester, nylon or some other synthetic, but it was horrid.  It looked like curly dental floss in bright yellow, white, or brown.  They used to carry wool roving in the doll making section.  That product is no longer on the shelf.

(More text below.  The photos are not cooperating.)

A package of wood roving.

I decided to call another fabric and craft store to see if they had any wool roving before I drove out there.  The lady that answered put me on hold while she went to check.  After a long wait she returned and asked what it was.  She said she had asked both of her associates and a couple of customers as well and none of
them knew what it was.  Up until last year, every store was carrying it and every craft magazine had some needle felting project.  In just a short period of time, it has completely dropped from most peoples thoughts to the point that they don't even recognize it.  I ended up ordering it from Amazon.

Before the wool roving was added.

I actually have another story.  I guess it is not really funny so much as interesting.  I ordered a couple of things from Amazon recently.  I have been traveling a lot and it has been difficult to place my orders so that they arrive between trips.  I really wanted to order something but could tell I was going to run out of time.  In order to get it in time I would have to pay additional shipping charges.  Since I really needed the item I paid the charges for two day service.  The next

Glass bead medium added to base.

thing I know, there is a knock at my door.  I look out my window, but I don't recognize the car out front.  I look out the peephole and there is a lady standing there with a package.  It was someone from Amazon delivering my package.  I was surprised, I had figured it would come by mail rather than personal courier.  She handed me the package and left.  I was surprised that she would wait rather than just putting the package in front of the door.  Our UPS delivery man usually drops the package and heads back to his truck at a dead run.  You would think he expected a hungry lion to jump out at him.


Anyway, it was announced in the news today that Amazon has a new program.  If you are a Prime member and live in some specific regions, and you are willing to pay an extra $7.99 for shipping they will deliver the package to you within one hour.  There is no extra shipping charge if you are willing to wait two hours.  Talk about instant gratification.  This takes it to a whole new level.  I don't think I could go to a store and shop for most things that quickly.  If you live near an Amazon center, this is probably going to be in your future.  So far, I have not seen any drone deliveries.  That could be in our future too.



I guess that the doll took about twenty hours of actual work time.  There were two days that I had to wait for the modeling compound and the glass bead medium to dry.  I think that I could have done even better if I had more time.  Look for some more dolls coming soon.