The Mrs. Kenney Milkweed Pod Santa Claus Ornament Tutorial

This is my Mrs. Kenney Milkweed Pod Santa Claus Ornament Tutorial. It is named after my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Kenney, who showed me how to make them.

What you need:

• paint
• paint brushes
• Snow Tech, or other snow like paint.
• milkweed pods (don't say I didn't warn you)
• a surface to paint on
• decorative ribbon
• hot glue gun
  

I usually just pick a whole bunch of milkweed pods and then sort through the good and bad ones once I get home. Good pods for this project are skinny(ish) and still have a rounded appearance. Bad choice pods are flattened, or curved in a funny way.

Steps:
1. Clean out all the fluff from the inside of the pods and clip off the stem.
2. Paint the inside gold, this is optional, I just think it looks nicer.
3. Paint the top part of the pod red like a hat.
4. Paint a cream/skin colored circle (ish) shape under the red, this makes the face.
5. Paint the rest of the pod white. It might take more than one coat.
6. Now the fun part, use your Snow Tech paint and make a band across the bottom of the hat and top of the face, a pompom at the very top of the hat, and a beard and mustache on the face, and two eyebrows. The eyebrows are hard to do but they really make the Santa look more complete, trust me. It's okay if the eyebrows look like Andy Rooney. It is a little tricky to "paint" with this consistency, I used a palette knife, a snazzy oil painting tool, but I am sure the opposite end of a paint brush or even a toothpick would work just fine.
7. Now with some pinkish paint make a mouth, (also optional, some of mine have mouths, some don't), rosy cheeks, and a red button nose.
8. With the tiniest brush you have, or a toothpick, make two black dots for eyes, let dry, then make two even tinier white dots inside the black dots. This part really makes the Santa's come alive.
9. Cut a piece of ribbon or decorative thread, loop and tie, then hot glue to the inside of the milkweed pod at the very top.
10. Hang on your tree and enjoy! Or wrap them up as gifts for your friends and family.
Happy crafting!

Lauren