Santa sculptors hair question

I have several Santa's that I attached fur to for a beard and mustache. After time I have noticed several of them have some "wild hairs". I'm afraid if I glue them in place they will look messy. Have any suggestions? Thanks, MrsClaus

Two words Mrs. Claus,,,,,,,Styling Mousse! Spray it on smooth it and let it dry then comb through it with a big needle. Works for me! Also you can use sheep mohair skins cut to size and glued on. The way i do it is glue hair to a piece of fine see through fabric let it dry then glue to the face. huggs Paula

Thanks, what a great idea.

Hiya MrsClaus,

I think Paula summed this one up pretty good. I normally just cut the hair and glue it down with fabritac directly to the figures head. Styling mousse is the best stuff to use to fixin the hair problems! Just a little bit goes a long way. Have fun!

Hugs,
Lori

WOW... that's one thing I love about this group and someone asking a question...we all learn something NEW!!! Paula... what a wonderful idea and OMGOSH (hitting head like I should have had a V8) I can't believe that I hadn't thought of doing it that way. I just glue hair directly onto sculpt too and use mousse and then gently use a needle to style.

Big Hugs,
Regi

I sometimes get lumps when I use the fur skin, especially in the back of the head where it curves. Any suggestions? Does anyone have a good source for fur? I've been looking for gray to use on black Santa's. Kathy

Kathy,
You might try searching etsy for black mohair roving, or try black sheep fur. I can't think of the exact name off of the top of my head at this very moment. But, I can tell you that I bought some black sheep fur trimmings off of etsy for making black santas as well. It wasn't the best stuff in the world but, it worked out alright. In fact, I used the exact same stuff on my wicked witch posted here some place in these forums. At any rate, it did not have the skin on it....so maybe that might help you out a bit.

Another thing I would mention too. If you do use the mohair roving (which is what I might do next time) you can always make curls from it easily by wrapping it around a knitting needled. But, I'm sure you already knew that anyway.

Hugs,
Lori

I haven't bought any mohair pelts in a long time I generally use cottswold sheep hair. But I do use other hair as well, depends on the curl. Border leichester is really pretty but really expensive. Wool hair is so easy to dye, rit woorks great, but I have also used cool-aid to get some strange colors for fairies. Just make sure you use lots of salt as a mordant, it makes the cool-aid bite to the wool. A friend of mine sent me huge box of straight wool that I haven't cleaned yet, hope there are no moths in it. Cleaning it is a booger, but its worth it.
You can usually cut little clips in the pelt to make it fit properly just make sure you clip from the skin side and not into the fur.
Google Mohair pelts to find sellers on the net.

I really like cottswold and I think that comes in gray. I took a class once where the instructor had a curly gray sheep(?) skin, which I used for a black Santa. She couldn't recall what kind of fur it was or where she bought it from.
I was at our 99 cent store and found eyelashes there before Christmas. They were 2 for $0.99 and I bought a shoe box full of them.I love dollar stores.

Off to get my sewing machine. Take care,Kathy

Good evening to all....I have a great site that sells some wonderful fiber for doll making. It's llama wool and it's wonderful. Split Rock Ranch is the name of the company and the owner is Brenda Vance. She is a fantastic fiber artist herself and just the sweetest person...takes great pride in her llamas and her fibers.

She does all the blending and dying herself. She has just about everything regarding wool. Give her a look and see if she might have what you are looking for. Please tell her that I sent you...nothing in it for me...LOL...I just like my friends to know that I spread the word about them.

Here is the link....happy looking!!!

Split Rock Ranch

Hugs,
Regi

Awesome wool!! Great colors.. Kathy

Thanks for sharing, Regi, that is very sweet of you. I'll have to check them out when I got more time. Right now....it's bed time...yuck!

Hugs,
Lori

No problem Lori...ya know I LOVE to share!!!!!!!!! Hope you have gotten some rest and are busy sculpting!!!

Hugs to all,
Regi

Paula, the mousse worked great! I finisihed 2 unfinished projects now. I took my Jack in the Box Santa to my exercise class last night and 2 people ask "how much". It's not for sale though and I doubt I'd get what it's worth. Kathy

Great Kathy! Some thing else you can try is a fine mist wax. Makes the hair shiney and kinda waxy, but it really holds curl. The one I use is by John Frieda and its called sheer blond tousled tresses. A little goes a long way. I usually raid my daughters medicine cabinet, shes a hair product junkie

I was so flattered when someone wanted to buy my Jack in the Box. When I went back to class the next night I was asked again why I don't sell them . She continued to say, she thought I could get $49.99 for it. I guess that's why I don't sell them!