I can't believe I could not find my before pictures of this Santa!
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so since I don't have the pictures...here are my 1000 words! Just kidding! But be warned, if you are a purist, then my redux might offend you, but being a Santa crafter, you might be inspired!I purchased this Santa "As Is" off eBay because he was "broken" and could no longer stand on his on. He also has some stains on his socks and his beard is shedding.
As it turns out, fixing his stance only required that I reattach his two dowels that ran through his legs to support him back on to his stand. But this was no easy feat! First of all, he had enough hot glue on his feet to hold a house down in a hurricane! I don't know if this was because someone had previously tried to "fix" him or he was made this way.
But the stand was a bit beat up and I never liked the way his glue showed before I repaired him so I decided to add some batting around his feet, because being from Scandinavia, he might encounter a bit of snow during his gift giving. Still, it is completely removable.
As for the socks, well, I just pulled the pants down over them.
I stitched his bag, that was originally hanging awkwardly loose and threw him out of balance, to his back making it more sturdy and an more appealing design.
So, using floral picks attached to vintage or "vintage style" wooded ornaments (I can never tell the difference) I feel it gives him a more festive look.
Also, I removed a set of 3 bells that were looped over his belt and secured with a bit of hot glue and replaced them with this set of decorative goat bells that I've had for a long time. I thought they'd go better with him that any of my other Santas since he comes from an area where they are typically used.
Jule Nissen comes with a tag telling his story and of julesnisse, the Scandinavian pixie from which his name is derived.
