Bleach Bottle Santa Door Decoration

This is a cute, unique Christmas door decoration that can be made without too much bother or artistic ability. It recycles that empty bleach bottle, too. I've gotten lots of comments about how cute he is.

Materials

• 1 white bleach bottle
• 1-2 skeins white yarn
• 41 white pipe cleaners
• red felt
• flesh colored felt
• 2 google eyes
• 1 red 1/2 inch pompom
• scissors
• ice pick or nail to punch holes
• glue

Instructions

First remove the label from an empty and clean bleach bottle. Then using scissors or an Exacto knife cut the bleach bottle in half length wise through the handle so that each half has half of the handle and half of the spout.

Make the hat. Cut the red felt into two triangular pieces with a base of 9 1/2 inches and height of 15 inches. Sew the long edges together and then turn the stitched side in. Cut 9 pieces of yarn 4 1/2 inches long. Fold the yarn pieces in half. Place the looped end on the tip end of the hat with the loop extending about 1/2 inch on to the tip. Tie in place with another short piece of yarn. Glue the hat in place along the side to side seam line on the outside of the bottle.

Next make the hair and beard. You will be making 41 looped yarn pieces. The measurements are for the length of the loop not the length of the yarn piece needed.

You will need:

• Quantity - Size
• 10 - 12 inch loop pieces
• 2 - 10 inch loop pieces
• 2 - 9 inch loop pieces
• 2 - 8 inch loop pieces
• 3 - 7 inch loop pieces
• 2 - 6 inch loop pieces
• 2 - 4 inch loop pieces
• 2 - 5 inch loop pieces
• 16 - 2 1/2 inch loop pieces

Make the loops by winding the yarn around something the correct length or by folding back and forth using 20 loops for each. Secure in the center of the loops with one pipe cleaner, twisting to hold tightly.

Now punch 7 holes about 1/2 inch apart, 1/2 inch from the edge, down the sides of the bottle. Punch ten holes across the bottom of the bottle about 1 1/4 inches from the bottom. Punch 16 holes across the middle of the bottle directly under the bottom edge of the hat.

Make the face. Glue the flesh colored felt to the bottle between the bottom of the hat and the holes on the bottom and sides. Cut to fit. You may do the next steps of making the face now or wait until you've attached the hair. Glue the pompom 2 1/2 inches from the edge of the bottom of the hat and 4 3/4 inches from the side edges for the nose. Glue the two google eyes above and to each side of the nose.

Cut three circles of red felt one inch in diameter. I used a water bottle lid as a pattern. Glue one on each side of the nose for cheeks and one 1/2 inch below the nose for the mouth. Punch a hole under the nose between the nose and mouth. Insert one of the 7 inch yarn loops here for the mustache.

Now do the hair and beard. Insert one of the 2 1/2 inch loops in each of the 16 holes under the bottom edge of the hat. Twist the ends together in the back. Starting with the 4 inch loop going down the sides, put first the 4 inch then 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,and finally the 10 inch loops in each of the 7 side holes on each side of the face. Now insert the ten 12 inch loops in the ten holes across the bottom.

You need some way to hang your Santa. I sewed a cafe curtain ring to the back top of the hat. You could just sew on a yarn loop.

Now you have a cute Santa for your door to welcome your friends!

By Kim D.