Cap'n Santa

OK. It's a little known fact but Santa loves Talk Like A Pirate Day! And shiver me timbers, he's even got a jolly ol' treasure chest just for the occasion!

I love the intent of this wooden treasure chest ornament, but for Santa, it just doesn't have enough Yo Ho Ho spirit. So, lets get to work. Argh!

NEW TREASURES
I started by emptying the chest, removing the paper trunk labels, and giving it a fresh paint job. Now for the fun part!

I trolled through my stash of bits and bobs and found some treasures I think belong in Cap'n Santa's treasure chest. But my stash was missing some of the essential pirate kit. That means I'll have to make them...

SANTA'S PIRATE HAT
I started with the hat. A simple red, felt ball would do for the cap, and for the tri-cornered brim, I cut a triangle out of matching red felt and rounded the corners. Then I folded the three corners up and tacked them to the cap with a bit of felt glue. I used a bit of white fabric paint to draw the detailing along the brim, and added an "S" for Santa on the front. Oh, and Santa being Santa, the hat wouldn't be complete without a white pom pom on top!

SANTA'S PIRATE HOOK
Now, what do you suppose would make for a great pirate hook way up in the North Pole? You guessed it! I took a candy cane trinket from my stash and hot glued it into the metal top of an old glass ornament. (Be careful. The metal heats up really fast so I found out!)

Of note, my candy cane was a bit too narrow for the ornament top so I had a little hot glue showing. To cover it, I dabbed a little silver fabric paint over the hot glue which wound up adding a little extra sparkle to the effect!

SANTA'S EYE PATCH
A pirate isn't a pirate without an eye patch, of course. And for Santa, red is the new black. For this, I cut two matching pieces of red felt in the shape of an eye patch, then a bit of green embroidery floss for the tie. Super easy, I put the floss between the two piece and glued it together. Then, to add a little Santa flair, I outlined it with glitter gold fabric paint.

FINISHING TOUCHES
And for the finishing touches, I added a candy-cane-and-snowflake insignia on the front and a special Santa message on the back just for you!

Ho! Ho! Argh!

ORL #9: CAP'N SANTA

This ornament has been rescued! Please stop by our Etsy shop to see all of our other ornaments that need a home in time for Christmas. And remember...

All proceeds benefit Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence, RI.

FOR RESCUERS
If you want to give this a try at home, you'll need...

• Treasure Chest as a base
• Toys, trinkets, and other Santa treasure
• Pirate Hat (see instructions above)
• Pirate Hook (see instructions above)
• Pirate Eye Patch (see instructions above)
• Crafters' acrylic paint (in your choice of colors)
• Snowflakes (I used snowflake buttons but you can cut them out of paper too!)
• Hot Glue
• High Gloss Shellac

The basic steps are...

1. Clean out the treasure chest. Sand and paint as needed.
2. Add candy-cane-and-snowflake insignia on the front
3. Arrange treasure and pirate gear in the box and glue it down
4. Shellac to a high gloss

Merry Christmas!

Cheryl
Ornament Rescuer