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Christmas just isn't Christmas without the symbolic figure of Santa Claus. And no matter what its size it is still the most important part of our holiday decorating—for Santa is the herald of Christmas. Designing crepe paper Santa Clauses for sale purposes isn't exactly what I expected to end up doing when, to please a tiny niece, I made my first Santa centerpiece four years ago. But that is just what has happened. Everyone who saw that Santa wanted one like it. I made nine of them for friends and relatives that Christmas! Such enthusiasm for the crepe paper figurine prompted me the following fall to make a sample for display purposes in a local gift shop. (When marketing a holiday item it is necessary to show your product months in advance. Some shopkeepers place their orders for Christmas as early as July.) Twenty-three Santas sold at the shop that Christmas.

That did it! Such a response made me feel there were profit possibilities in decorative items of this type. There are! For four years now, I've been selling Santas of various sizes and models to gift shops, party shops, and to private customers in New York City and Connecticut. Each year profits have been mounting higher and higher—so you see holiday decorations can add up to fun—and to cash.

ONCE I had made up my mind to go into business as a paper sculptor I knew I would have to standardize my holiday figurine. When you intend to sell what you make, you must find all possible short-cuts in order to keep your work time at a minimum—or your profits will not amount to much. Following the basic design of my first Santa (which I had seen in Dennison's shop in New York City) I worked out, by trial and error, a figure which seemed to me satisfactory, both from an aesthetic viewpoint and a matter of time consumption. Santa is so versatile a figure that you can vary his poses and thereby give him a new look with little effort!

The techniques involved in making a holiday decoration like mine may seem elementary—as for example, covering a ball of cotton with red paper and pasting it to a face for a nose. But designs to meet particular needs are not intended as a permanent medium. Paper sculptured projects are generally made for short time use so juvenile art methods are often employed to achieve desired effects. I have found it expedient to make one model—and only one—each season. It takes time to perfect a design form, but the process of turning out similar items soon becomes routine.

Anyone can learn to make holiday figurines with a little practice. In paper sculpture imagination is probably the most important factor, but it's also necessary to know the basic rules of making paper behave—cutting, rolling, folding, curving. Too many people fail to go about it systematically. Trying to roll paper around a length of wire, using your lap for a table, can be exasperating! It is essential to have a hard, flat surface on which to work; such as a kitchen table or sewing table. So do a little reading on the subject of paper sculpture before you begin to make crepe paper forms. Many hobby and craft stores sell books on making holiday decorations; Dennison's puts out an excellent booklet called "Parties With Purpose," which sells for only 25 cents and gives complete instructions for making decorations for year-round celebrations. Another Dennison publication is "Make It A Merry Christmas." 'This booklet is priced at 15 cents and in words and pictures tells how to make all sorts of Christmas decorations. You can also find books at your library on this subject.

MY 1953 SANTA is very easy to make and can be used in a wide variety of decorations—to top off the cover of a gift box, as the focal point in a floral centerpiece, or as pictured here, as a Jack Horner pie. Just for fun, why not make one of these Santas? You may copy him exactly, or better yet, let your imagination have full rein and create a Santa that's your own original design. Santa-making may well become a profitable home business for you, too.

Whether you aim to make one for your own dining table, or for a church bazaar, or to sell to shops, Santa ought to net you gratifying results. Since the cost of materials needed is less than $1 (much less when you make them in quantities), if you intend to sell these centerpieces, your price tag will depend more upon the amount of time spent in making the item than on the material used. Don't attempt to set your price until after you have made several Santas and have learned all the short-cuts. I find it helpful to work along in sequence (like factory workers) and then you don't waste time. For instance, cover several arm wires at one sitting, make several heads, cut and sew at least half a dozen pairs of mittens at once, etc. The Santa Jack Horner centerpiece that I make sells to shops for $3.50. I now turn them out in about two hours so the overall profit is good.

Many people have no idea how to go about pricing what they have to sell. If you are it rank beginner, probably the best way to find out what to charge for your holiday decoration is to start by using the same figures other people in your line of business are charging. Visit local shops that stock party decorations and pretend to be a possible customer. Ask to see several items. Make a note of the prices. How do these items compare with yours as to workmanship, materials used, size?

If you find that stores differ a bit on price tags, try a top price first on your items. It is always easier to cut than to raise your charge! And just as a double check on prices visit or write to one of the field service offices of your State Department of Commerce. They will help you in many ways, even to finding the proper price tag for your item.

A very fair measuring stick to use when setting the price tag for a handcraft of this type is that given by the New York State Department of Commerce. Once you have a record of your material and labor (when I began selling I aimed at $1 an hour for my time) they tell you to add ten per cent in case you ever wish to get wholesale orders. Take these total costs and double them. You then have your top retail price.

HERE ARE directions that should make it possible for anyone to duplicate this Christmas centerpiece. Materials needed for making this Santa-in-a-chimney which stands about twelve inches high are one package each of crepe paper in red and peach, one spool of No. 15 heavyweight wire, cotton, white library paste, Scotch tape, a bit of chalk or white paint, needle and thread, white matstock spool wire, and one box with cover, five or seven inches square.

First, cover the box and lid with red crepe paper and then with chalk or paint mark in the brick outlines (or you may buy some chimney paper with which to cover the box). To make Santa's head, form a tube 7 inches deep and 8 inches across of double peach crepe paper and paste together, allowing ½ inch overlap. Tie 1½ inches from top with spool wire and cut off surplus paper. Stuff tightly with cotton to within 1½ inches from bottom. Next, cut a 14-inch length of heavyweight wire and bend in half. With a pencil or scissors, ease an opening up through center of cotton stuffing and insert the rounded end of bent wire up into head about 2½ to 3 inches. Then, tie base of head with spool wire (Figure 1). Using ½-inch strip of peach crepe paper, wind surplus paper at base of head to wires in order to make a neck about 1¼ inches long. Puncture two holes in center of box cover and place head wires through these holes. Spread wires and hold in place on inside of cover with Scotch tape.

Arms: Turn back ½ inch at end of a 15-inch length of heavyweight wire, forming loop for hands. Cut a strip of peach crepe paper 13 inches with the grain, 20 inches across and roll tightly around wire between hands (Figure 2). Using mitten pattern (Figure 3), cut four pieces from red crepe paper. Sew two pieces together for each hand, stuff lightly with cotton, insert wire loop and tie securely around wrist with spool wire. Tie arms to neck about 1 inch down from head. With ½-inch strip of peach crepe paper wind around arms and neck joining to hold firm (Figure 4).

Features: Paste in place for the nose a tiny ball of cotton covered with red crepe paper. Tint cheeks with dry rouge. Snip a bit of blue and red from a magazine cover (or use gummed signal dots) to make eyes and mouth.

To dress: Using double thickness of red crepe paper, make two tubes each 8 inches long and 6 inches in circumference. Tie at wrist with spool wire, and paste to shoulders and body section. Gather a piece of red crepe paper about 3½ inches deep by 23 inches across, folded 1¼ inch down over a knitting needle (Figure 5). Slip piece of spool wire through fold, remove paper from knitting needle and tie around neck for collar.

Hat: Make a tube 5 inches wide of double red crepe paper and big enough to fit over head after some cotton hair has been pasted on head. Tie hat together at one end with spool wire. Cover wire with cotton, and paste band of cotton around open edge of hat. Paste hat to head. Cut beard and mustache from cotton and paste in place. Paste bands of cotton ½ inch wide around wrists and around edge of collar. Make a white bag (you may cut up a dime store handkerchief for this) and use red satin ribbon for drawstring. Fill bag with tissue so that it looks bulging with packages, and hang over Santa's shoulder. In place of a bag, if you prefer, you may cover some miniature boxes with Christmas wrapping paper and wire them to Santa's wrist. Stand the chimney box on a round piece of cardboard about 12 inches in diameter, covered with cotton—or you may use a mirror plaque. The chimney may be filled with small souvenir packages attached to ribbon streamers.

IT'S SUCH fun making these holiday decorations you'll find yourself immediately beginning to experiment with others. Why not make small Santas to serve as nut dishes for each member of your family? Such a Santa will also take the place of a place card if you just paint the person's name across Santa's bag. A medium size Santa in chimney can be put to use to hold homemade cookies for a good neighbor. Or you might give a flower lover a chimney filled with summer blooming bulbs.

Although Christmas is the big holiday as far as decorations go, should you decide to go into business in this field, other days such as Valentine's, Hallowe'en, St. Patrick's Day and Thanksgiving, offer ample opportunity for you to make special decorations.

Original holiday design forms are constantly in demand and are well paid for. Stores that readily sell table decorations are gift shops, party shops, children's stores. So list these stores in your locality and visit each one. Take samples of your decorations to show the buyer. At first you may not receive outright orders. Rather, you may be asked to leave a sample for display so that special orders may be taken. But this is a good way to learn what people want and like.

In order to build up sales when you start out in business you must use your own ingenuity to figure out ways to get the greatest number of customers possible. Why not ask your woman's club to display your centerpiece at the November or December meeting? Or suggest that you be a guest speaker on one of the club's programs, and tell about and show some of your decorations.

Don't be timid about approaching directors of a woman's club. Without exception these women are friendly and interested in adding anything to their programs which will help their audience. Of course, you must prepare an interesting talk first!

Another satisfactory approach to customers is to list the names and addresses of your friends and acquaintances and send out some form of announcement (I usually do this early in November when people are beginning to think seriously of Christmas). A government postal card will do. You can give your announcement color by pasting a small Christmas seal on it and with green or red ink, writing in something like this: "A jolly Santa will make your Christmas table much more festive. Call or write for details." Along with your name and address and phone number, you might include the price of your Santa. Prospective customers are often swayed into buying when they see an inviting price tag.

Any mention in newspapers proves invaluable in attracting customers. So if you live in a small town take one of your centerpieces to the editor of the newspaper. Tell him some human interest detail such as how you happened to get the idea for your little business. It is likely that he will print a little piece about you—and in most instances this results in many orders.