Squeeze Santa’s Cheeks for a Kiss . . .

As I was digging through a box of ornaments I discovered a bunch of older ornaments that I had gotten over the years from family members. I found one in particular that my grandma had made me that was a Santa. Attached to him was a tag that read “If you squeeze my cheeks I’ll give you a Kiss. . .” Once you squeeze Santa’s cheeks his mouth opens up to reveal a Hershey’s Kiss.

I thought that this was a super cute idea and so after looking mine over I figured out how to make them. Now I am in a hurry to get enough made for my daughter’s preschool class. She is super excited to hand then out at school. They don’t require much and they go together with out much of a headache.

First you need the plastic canvas. I was super surprised to find it at the only store in town, the local Wal-Mart. Once you have the plastic canvas you need to have 3 squares that are 10 by 10.

Start by taking one of your 10 by 10 squares and using white yarn stitch diagonally from top to bottom. I also leave a pretty long tail at the beginning so that I can use that later to stitch the pieces together. When you are done the front and the back should look the same. Side note: I used a tapestry needle so that the yarn was easier to get through the holes.

Put that piece to the side and now we are going to work on the back of Santa’s head. To do this you will again use white yarn and stitch diagonal over half of the plastic canvas. Since you are working diagonally you will get a zig zag pattern

Next get some red yarn and stitch across the top of the white in the opposite direction. Again I left a long tail once I was done so that I could use it to stitch the pieces together.

Now it is time to work on the final piece, Santa’s face. First I start off with white and stitch 3 high along the bottom of the square.

Then using some flesh colored or tan yarn stitch along the middle.

Next use red yarn and stitch along the top for his hat. After I got done with the hat I run my yarn under the back and do the mouth and nose before finishing off my thread.

Now for the eyes. A little bit of black yarn for the eyes.

To do the puff on the top of Santa’s hat I just made two stitches that I didn’t pull all the way tight. After they were secured I then messed with them a tried to pull the yarn apart a bit.

So now you should have three pieces that like like the ones above. Now comes the fun part, stitching them together.

I start with the red part of the hat. Place the back and front of Santa’s head wrong sides together and using the tail you left out begin stitching them together. Once you get all the way around weave your yarn under on the wrong side and secure.

Now it is time to start stitching on the bottom of Santa’s head. Using the tail that you left stitch the back of Santa’s head to the all white piece. Make sure you only stitch those two pieces together and not stitching the front together.

So that you don’t have rough edges from the plastic canvas finish the mouth off by stitching around the edges. Make sure you don’t stitch these together or else you won’t be able to open Santa’s mouth. Once your done run your yarn under the wrong side and secure.

Now that your done, all you have to do is stuff with Kisses and squeeze Santa’s cheeks for a Kiss!

Below is the printable tags to attach to the top of Santa’s head. Happy crafting!

Squeeze Santa’s cheeks Tag

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