Nutcracker, Christmas charm

I live in a country where for many years Christmas was not accompanied by all those magical decorations that exist. We had a different way of spending these days. But as everything changes and evolves, little by little we have been incorporating this beautiful fantasy to our culture. Until now, I had only seen the nutcracker in movies and stories, I had never had it in my hands. In order to appreciate all the details it carries, I reviewed several stories, videos and photos.

Here I show you my first nutcracker, which I am sure will not be the last. I will be perfecting it little by little. So, let's get started! First, I'll show you the materials I used and then the process of making it. It's not as complex as I thought, and since I like to reuse materials, I used a toilet paper roll and a very hard black cardboard from a perfume box to give them a new use.

Materials:
Foami in the colors pink, blue, red, red, black, white and frosted yellow.
1 roll of toilet paper.
Black cardboard from a perfume box.
2 small eyes.
Solid silicone gun
Liquid silicone.
Scissors.
Pencil.

I start by marking the toilet paper tube with the measurements of each part of the nutcracker: the head (2.5 cm), the jacket (3.5 cm), the pants (2 cm) and the boots (1.5 cm). In addition, I make a round of black cardboard to be the base of the hat.

With the same measurements mentioned above, I cut the foami in the corresponding colors. I use black for the boots, blue for the pants, red for the jacket and pink for the head. Then, I glue them around the tube with the silicone gun.

Next, I make the little hat. To do this, I cut black foami 2.5 cm wide and 14 cm long. I glue it around the circle with the foami, and on top I place another circle of black cardboard that I have also cut out.

To make the arms, I cut two rectangles of red foami 3.5 cm high and 5 cm long. In addition, I cut two strips of frosted foami 1 cm wide, to which I make bangs to make the epaulettes. I also cut a 0.5 cm thinner strip to be the cuffs. Then, I glue them all together with the silicone gun, form the arms and glue them on both sides of the body, on the jacket part.

Next, I paint the mouth with the nutcracker's teeth in white foami. I also paint the hands pink and cut white foami 2.5 cm wide and 10 cm long to make the hair, cutting bangs.

Taking into account the width of the paper tube, I draw a template to make the feet of the nutcracker. I make them out of the thick black cardboard, make two and glue them together to make them firm.

Then, to add the details, I cut three thin strips of frosted foami, each 1.5 cm wide. I make a golden oval and a smaller one in red, and glue them as shown in the pictures.

To finish, I paint the eyebrows and the whiskers with a black marker, and the nose with a pink marker. I also highlight the teeth better, and that's how it's finished!

I am very grateful for this initiative, because thanks to it I was able to make my first nutcracker and I am really happy about it. I hope you enjoy it, and if you have any recommendations, I'll be happy to accept them. i wish you all a nice day! see you! 👍❤️

The photos were taken with my Xiaomi Note 11 phone stitched together and recreated in canva.

The photos were taken with my Xiaomi Note 11 phone stitched together and recreated in canva.