Champagne Cork Santa

Now that the holidays are here I have finally found some time to make a Corky I've planned on doing for months: Santa Claus! 
Even though I was planning on making him much earlier than this, now's actually the perfect time for something so christmassy. Of course these could make great Christmas decorations or gifts.

For an introduction to Corkies, see my previous Instructable: Corkies - Champagne Cork Figurines

Materials

• Champagne cork
• Thread
• Pins
• Artificial fur
• scraps of cork
• Brown fabric
• Red and white felt
• 0.5mm wire

Tools

• 0.5 black permanent marker
• Pencil
• Compass
• Craft knife
• UHU glue
• Needle nose pliers
• Scissors

One way in which this Corky is unique is the nose. All of my other Corkies so far have drawn, 2D noses. I had to give Santa a 3D nose, because it would have looked strange with the glasses, beard and moustache.
For the nose, get a regular cork and chop it up into smaller pieces. Carve a piece into the right shape and size to make a round Santa nose.
Notice that in the third picture I already started making the beard. Don't do this yet; it makes things much more complicated.

The clothes are by far the easiest part of this corky. All you have to do is cut out strips of felt and glue them on with UHU glue. 

Probably the most annoying and time consuming step, this one might take a couple of tries to get right. Don't do it like I did it. Stick on the bottom part of the beard first, then stick some more wads of fur on to make the hair and sides. For the moustache, simply cut out a small strip and stick it onto the beard, right underneath the nose.

When I started making his hat, at first I had the impression it looked more like a dwarf or elf hat. It got better by the time I added the white felt, though.
The hat is actually only a felt cone, folded down on the back. It might help if you don't close the tip completely, so you can add the fluffy ball thing. 
To keep the hat down, pin it down onto the head. To camouflage the pin I colored it red with a sharpie.

Now for some extras that really polish it up. The trademark Santa glasses are easily bent out of thin 0.5mm wire. Use needle nose pliers, wrapping the wire around the tip of a pen. Make sure that the glasses are long enough to fit along his head and wide enough to sit on his nose.
For the eyebrows, just cut out a tiny piece of fur and clue it right above the eyes (try not to put glue on the eyes, as it will smudge them).

For Santa's sack of presents, get a piece of brown or red fabric (not felt), fill it with something (I got some scraps of cardboard and taped them together), then tie it all up with some thread. Attach it to Santa's side with pins.

That's it! Have fun with your Cork Santa! 

Don't forget to subscribe and post a picture of your own Santa Corky below!