How to create the Father Christmas figure

(00:27) MOULDING THE FIGURE: Begin by lightly dusting the Katy Sue Father Christmas Mould with cornflour and tap out any excess – this helps the clay release from the mould. Choose a flesh tone for your figure. Heather chose a very pale pink by mixing a small amount of Red Hearty Air Drying Clay with White Hearty Air Drying Clay. Using your fingers or a cosmetic sponge, press the clay into the mould, pulling it away from the edges as you go.

Flex the mould to release your Father Christmas and place on a paper towel to dry overnight.

(05:30) PAINTING THE OUTFIT: Start by painting the coat and hat with red acrylic paint, letting the brush press the colour into the recesses. Be careful not to bleed into the fur trim.

Choose a colour for the undergarment, Heather has painted this in green. Paint the presents, then paint the sack an ochre colour and the list a little lighter.

Paint the fur trim on his coat and hat white, then his gloves, belt and boots black.

(12:33) PAINTING THE FACE: The clay is already a flesh colour so start by painting his eyebrows, beard and moustache white.

Using a cocktail stick, dot black paint onto his eyes, wait until this dries then dot a highlight of white paint on top.

Add a little rosy pink colour to his lips, cheeks and nose.

(15:45) PAINTING THE DETAIL: Load a flat paint brush with white paint then wipe off the majority of the paint. Lightly brush all over the figure – this dry brushing technique accentuates the textures created by the mould.

Paint the buttons and buckle with metallic gold acrylic paint.

TRY OTHER FINISHES: You could use watercolour paints instead for softer colouring (19:04), or mould the figure in a darker clay and use a metallic gilding wax (29:50) to pick out the detail. 

MAKE THE REINDEER AND GARLAND: Use the same techniques with the Katy Sue Sitting Reindeer Silicone Mould (31:54) and the Festive Garland Silicone Mould (37:26) to create more embellishments for your bauble decoration.

Watch the video to see Heather makes these elements.

How to assemble the bauble decoration

(47:28) PREPARING THE BIRCH BAUBLE: Paint the Birch Plywood Bauble Frame in gold and the bauble base with a wintry scene – Heather has painted a blue sky with white spots of snow. Then glue the frame and bauble base together. Tie a ribbon to the top for hanging.

Dot PVA glue on the spots of snow and covering the lower third of the wintry scene. Liberally sprinkle Polar White Flower Soft® over the glue and tap off the excess to leave a snowy texture on your bauble.

(51.58) ASSSEMBLY: Once all your moulded embellishments are painted and dry, before you stick anything down, play around with the placement on your bauble.

Once you're happy with the composition, apply glue to the back of each embellishment and stick down – Heather recommends PVA rather than hot glue.

Your bauble decoration is ready to hang, present to a loved one, or use as a unique gift tag!

Let us see your Christmas creations!

Help to inspire our crafty community and share pics of your crafts on our Katy Sue Craft Creations Facebook Group. We love to see what you've made! It's also a great place to look for ideas and get help from fellow crafters.