Santa's key

As I build my inventory of items for the upcoming craft fair, I wanted to cease the chance to create something that has been swirling around in my head for a couple months now.

It all started with a question from my son, "how does Santa get into our house?" I told him Santa usually comes down the chimney which lead to a host of other questions like "doesn't he burn his butt?" and "where is our chimney?" (a very good question as I don't actually know...). Then I resorted to something I think my parents once told me since our childhood homes didn't have fireplaces ... he uses a "magic" key.

And that lead me to this project.

I needed a few simple supplies which included ...

• a plastic silver bracelet (purchased for $0.99 at Michael's craft store)
• a swirly wooden "S" letter (purchased at Hobby Lobby for $1.99)
• ribbon (had at home)
• findings (a jewelry accessory, pic below)
• jingle bells (left over from a previous project)
• silver key ornament (on sale for $1.20 at Hobby Lobby)

And I used some left over paint from the Jingle All the Way blocks I shared earlier this week.

The first step was to use the metallic spray paint to cover all sides of the "S."

While that was drying, I got out the rest of the supplies.

Including the findings I mentioned earlier. I bought a pack of these jewelry clasps a couple years ago and they last forever.

First I cut the thick ribbon into a thin, 1/4 inch thick strip. Then I strung it through the three jingle bells, tied a knot, and tied that to the bracelet. I then used the ends of that same ribbon to tie the "S" to the jingle bells and bracelet. It looked like this:

Next I added a finding to the top of the key, and I used the thicker piece of ribbon (leftover from the smaller one I cut for the bells) to string it through the circle, tying that to the bottom of the "S" and made a bow. And presto, that's it!

Now it's set to hang and ready for Santa ... just in case he has a few two many cookies and a chimney shimmy doesn't look promising by the time he gets to our house. (I may also add a mini clothes pin to the back of the bells in case the kids have any special notes they want to share with the big guy when he arrives!)

How does Santa get in your house?