Jewelry-Making Articles

Santa Becomes Jewelry, Jewelry Becomes Santa

Design Idea 9A42 Earrings
by Dan Day, Exclusively for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads®

Santa Claus himself is not particularly into jewelry, but you can put him into your jewelry to celebrate the holidays.

Okay, so it is possible to celebrate the holidays without Santa, but why would you want to? For many, he's the icon that ties the holiday together.

History
Our modern day Santa Claus is a blending of legendary figures from various cultures. Thus, he is also known as St. Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and more. But whatever we call him, he's the one on Christmas Eve who loads his sleigh with gifts made by elves in his workshop at the North Pole and delivers them to children around the world. Santa Claus represents the Christmas season and his presence (and presents) lights up the faces of everyone. Santa symbolizes giving, sharing, joy, wonder, warmth and the coming together of family and friends.

There are lots of ways to incorporate the Jolly Old Elf into your Christmas jewelry designs. Yes, Santa's look is not especially blingy: a red outfit with white collar, cuffs and beard along with black belt and boots (when he wears gloves they are most often white, but they are sometimes black, green or red). But he's got lots of design cred because he's instantly recognizable and loved with his image available in a variety of jewelry components.

Charms
As always, charms are great way to show off your Santa spirit. Choices include a variety of whimsical representations of Sinterklaas such as this delightful enamel and gold-finished ''pewter'' (zinc-based alloy) charm showing him reclining on a wreath.

Going in a different visual direction, these Santas are depicted in antiqued sterling silver.


Pendants, Drops and Focals
This group provides lots more design options including Santa bells and ornaments.

Beads
Let's not forget beads. Glass beads, including lampworked beads, are most prevalent and are typically decorated with epoxy or enamel.

Design Idea 9B1U Earrings

Design Ideas
And now for some examples of how Santa components can be incorporated into jewelry designs, here are a few design ideas to get your wish list started.

''Modern Santa'' earrings depict a stylized Santa made of Swarovski crystal beads and pearl.

The ''Santa Scene'' bracelet features lots of dangling glass Santa beads.

Design Idea 9B1Z Bracelet

The ''Santa Baby'' necklace features Czech glass beads and a necklace drop using a paper ''Victorian Christmas Santa'' image mounted in the setting and coated with Magic-Glos®.

The ''Santa's Coming'' pin features a Santa clip art graphic mounted on a glass cabochon and an imitation silk tassel.

Design Idea F54H Necklace and Earring Set

And here's a Santa ornament made from Kato Polyclay™ and Czech glass druk beads.

You are encouraged to experiment with different components and as you create your own version of these designs.
Design Idea AA1H Brooch
Design Idea CA7A Ornament ''And to all a 'Good Night'''
You'll never be on the naughty list as long as you include some Santa in your Christmas jewelry designs.

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