Christmas in July!

It's that time of year.
Christmas in July. It's never to early to start getting ready for that busy period.

To start this off with we have a perky elf from Santa's shop.

He is presented by VintageKeepsakeTrunk on Artfire.

You can see him at: http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=292047
Here we have a very unique, Primitive Folk Art Santa's Elf. He is just a perfect display for Christmas hanging on the wall, as a door greeter, or hanging on the fireplace! This piece measures 22 in tall and 6 in wide.

This elf's body is sewn from tea-dyed muslin and stuffed tightly with needle-sculpted elf ears. His dangling arms and legs are made from thick jute twine that I have knotted for his knees and his hands. His round red nose is barn red fabric stuffed tightly and his matching Raggedy red hair is made from Loopy Locks. His curled elf boots are sewn from black fabric and tiny gold jingle bells are stitched to the tips with hunter green knit scrunchy socks.

For his festive ensemble, he wears a shirt sewn from a red, green and white Christmas plaid with his sleeves turned up. I have blanket-stitched the edges of his barn red felt vest with black floss and embellished the front with two tiny black buttons. A tiny painted wooden gingerbread man pops out of his pocket. His night cap features a tiny red gingham check with a gold jingle bell tied to the tip. His pants are sewn from a black and green check and prim stitched around the edges with red floss with a matching green bow tie.

Rudolf the Reindeer dangles from one hand tied on with jute linen thread. His body is sewn from tea-dyed muslin with separate needle-sculpted ears, head, legs and body. He boasts a big red bow under his chin with a gold jingle bell. His big red nose is stuffed felt and his eyes are dip-dot black paint. His tuft of hair features blonde stringlets and his antlers are made from curled black wire.

The Feed Bag dangles from his other hand and is sewn from natural Burlap and each corner is tied off with bows of natural jute linen thread. A label is prim-stitched in red floss with Reindeer Food written in pigma pen. A tiny holly leaf and berry embellishes the feed bag.

I have given him a Prim Tag that I have aged in a coffee-vanilla-cinnamon mixture, baked and topped with a nostalgic print of a vintage greeting card showing Olde St. Nick with his back pack of toys and a Christmas pine tree.

This piece was lovingly made by me from a pattern created by Sweet Dreams.

This design will come to you dated, signed and tagged with my own label Collectibles by Joan which states The Handcrafting and Time Invested in this Piece are its Own Mark of Quality.

Enjoy your summer and the time to prepare for Christmas.

Hugs,
Barb