How to Make Santa Claus Figurine

Santa Claus is one of the most popular symbols of Christmas. If you want to make your own homemade Santa Claus, then follow this guide on how to make a Santa Claus figurine that you can also sell to make an added income this holiday season. To make a Santa Claus figurine, you will need a two-piece mold:

Tools and Materials:

Santa Claus model
big hard plastic straw
modeling clay
cardboard
500g silicone rubber
mixing bowl
25g catalyst
spatula
about 2kg plaster of Paris
small knife
about 600g water
modeling tools
3g mold release agent or petroleum jelly
dry cloth
paintbrush

Procedure

A. Preparing the Model:

1. Lay the Santa Claus model face up on top of the mound of clay. Press model against the clay so it is half buried int the clay. The sides of the model are covered with clay to distinguish the front from the back. Also, press a big hard plastic straw so it is half buried. This depression formed will become the hole where the casting will be poured.
2. Using a small knife, level the clay.
3. With a pointed tip of the paint brush, gently prick the clay to make shallow dents or holes.

B. Making the First Part of the Model:

1. Put 250g silicone rubber into the mixing bowl. Add 12.5g catalyst and stir well.
2. Pout about 1/4 of the mixture to the model and base. Make sure all parts of the model are covered with clay. The first layer is purposely made thin to make sure that the silicone rubber mixture goes into every detail of the figurine and to avoid trapping air bubbles. Use fingers if necessary, to spread the mixture into the model. Pour the rest of the mixture over the first layer to add strength and stability.
3. If the silicone rubber is not enough, pour another amount into a container. Add catalyst then mix well.
4. Apply silicone rubber mixture to the model to thicken the silicone rubber applied earlier.
5. Let the mixture dry for 30 minutes. this is the first part of the 2-piece mold.

C. Making the Support of the First Part of the Mold:

1. Put cardboard walling around the model making sure that the highest part of the figurine does not show past the height of the cardboard. Fasten with masking tape.
2. Put 300g water and 1kg plaster of Paris into a mixing bowl. Stir well until viscous.
3. Slowly apply plaster of Paris mixture to the surface of the dry mold. The mixture should be thick enough to make the support durable. Dry for 25 minutes.

D. Making the Second Part of the Mold:

1. Remove the cardboard walling the turn-over the figurine.
2. Remove the clay completely. Scrape off excess plaster on the sides of the model.
3. Apply mold release agent or petroleum jelly to the first part of the mold to prevent the second mold from sticking permanently to the first part. Wipe-buff the release agent with a dry cloth.
4. Put 25g silicone rubber into a mixing bowl. Add 12 1/2 g catalyst. Mix well.
5. Apply the prepared mixture to the opposite side or back of the model until entire model is fully covered. First with a thin layer using your fingers and coat with the rest of the mixture.

Note that the silicone rubber will not drip even when the model is raised. Dry for 30 minutes.

E. Making the Support of the Second Mold:

1. Fasten the cardboard walling again.
2. Put about 300g water and 1kg plaster of Paris into a mixing bowl. Stir well until viscous.
3. Slowly apply mixture to the surface of the second mold. The mixture should be thick enough to make support durable. Dry for 25 minutes.
4. When dry, separate the halves of the 2-piece mold.
5. Remove the model and the big straw from the 2-piece mold.

You may now use the 2-piece mold for making the Santa Claus figurine.

Casting and Finishing

Tools and Materials:

about 500g plaster of Paris
about 150g water
spatula
2 pcs rubber band 1/2″ x 24″
paint brush
small and big knives
scissors
100g paints of different colors

Procedure

A. Casting:

1. Put a small amount of water and plaster of Paris inti a mixing bowl. Stir well until viscous.
2. Using a paint brush, apply mixture to the molds.
3. Join together the two molds along with the support and tie with rubber band to secure.
4. With the remaining plaster of Paris and water, make another mixture.
5. Stand the mold upside down and pour plaster of Paris into the hole of the mold.
6. Shake the mixture so it will fill all part of the mold. Dry for 25 minutes.
7. When dry, remove the rubber band.
8. Suing a big knife, separate the support and the mold. Remove the cast of the Santa Claus.
9. Scrape off excess cast around Santa Claus.
10. You may also fashion a stand for Santa Claus. To make the stand, pour plaster of Paris mixture into a piece of carton and let the Santa stand on it. Let dry.

B. Finishing:

Once the stand becomes dry, you may now paint the Santa Claus figurine. Paint parts with the same color all at once to save time.

Product Costing and Computation of Selling Price
(Prices are based on survey of resin and ancillary products in Metro Manila as of July 2004)

Direct cost – P 52.49
Indirect cost – P 367.74
Other materials – P 698.60

Assuming that you can make 8 pieces of Santa Claus figurines in one day with your mold, in a month of 22 days you can make 176 pieces. In 6 months, production will be a total of 1,056 which is the basis for the indirect unit cost.

Unit cost: P 72.15

Suggested selling price:

P 72.15 x 20% markup = P 86.58
x 25% markup = 90.19
x 30% markup = 93.80

For supplies and materials:

Polymer Products (Phil.) Inc.
11 Joe Borris St., Bo Bagong Ilog, Pasig City
Tel: 671-9837 to 39
Email: info@polymerprod.com

source: trc.gov.ph