FATHER CHRISTMAS RELIEF-PRINT DECORATIONS
These can be tied with seasonal greenery to a door handle or put on a tabletop as jolly place settings.
YOU WILL NEED
6B soft pencil Tracing paper Tape White sheet of Fab Foam HB pencil Wooden skewer or large blunt bodkin Screw punch (optional) Scissors or craft knife Cutting mat Newspaper Small tube of Daler Rowney red block-printing ink (available from jacksonsart.com) Old plate (for rolling out paint) Small sponge roller Ivory premium smooth paper Double-sided tape Striped twine 1 Download the Father Christmas template from elizabethharbour.co.uk, then trace out the design in a thick, heavy line using a 6B pencil onto tracing paper.
2 Turn the tracing paper over, sticking it down with tape at the corners to the front of a piece of Fab Foam and transfer the design by following the pencil lines softly on the back with an HB pencil.
3 Gently peel back the tape and lift one corner of the tracing paper to check the whole design has been transferred.
4 If it has, remove the tracing paper and use a wooden skewer or blunt bodkin at an acute angle to draw over the design (where the pencil marks are) to create an indent.
5 I used a small-bit screw punch for the eyes and mouth and a larger tip for the nose. If you do not have one, you can carefully cut these out with a craft knife or indent them firmly with a skewer several times.
6 Once you’ve done that, cut out the semi-circle (around the edge of the Father Christmas) using scissors or with a craft knife on a cutting mat.
7 Place the Father Christmas stamp on newspaper. Squeeze a blob of red block-printing ink onto an old plate and cover a sponge roller evenly with ink until it makes a wispy sound. Lightly roll over the stamp with ink.
8 Place the Father Christmas stamp onto a fresh sheet of newspaper. Lower a sheet of ivory paper on top, then using the palm of your hand, gently smooth over the back of the paper, being careful not to move it.
9 Gently peel back the paper and leave to dry.
10 Repeat the printing process as many times as you wish. After two or three times, if you find that some of the details have not come out clearly, carefully go over these areas with the wooden skewer again.
11 Once dry, cut around the edge of each Father Christmas. Pull round the edges into a cone shape and stick the overlapping edges together using double-sided tape.
12 Thread with looped striped twine to hang.