Santa jewelry pins are carved as a flat relief out of  quarter inch thick bass wood that is about an inch and a quarter wide, kinda like a yard stick without the numbers printed on it.  Each is carved using a knife.  The head covering is carved first so that when the head is carved it will fit into the hat.  The length is determined by how long of a beard the Santa will have, (making each Santa pin between an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half long). 

As the photo shows, each one represents a Santa but each is a personality all his own.  Santa Jewelry Pins are colored using the “Painting Softly” method described in an earlier post on this Blog.  The jewelry finding pin backs come from Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or similar craft supply stores.  Glue used to attach the pin backs is “ZAP-A-GAP” super glue using also the “Zip Kicker” Accelerator to speed up curing of super glue.  Larger version of this style of Santa have been carved either as larger jewelry pins, necklace or as tree ornament (out of three eights inch thick basswood).

One thing about Santa carvings, there are so many styles and all are acceptable as a way to further express the personality of the carver who creates the carving, so the question is, “Does a carving possess its own personality of does it reflect the personality of the carver who created the carving?”