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Niki Jin Crafts is Back!

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Last you heard from me (from this blog, anyway) was almost two years ago when I said goodbye and went exploring new directions. I started another blog (it ... didn’t last), and wrote a post here and there for my portfolio website, mostly talking about my professional art and design work. Nowadays I stick to posting mostly to Instagram.

So what have I been up to? Life has been busy, taking care of two young kids and building a freelance career doing book design and illustration. In between, I keep myself busy with various projects related to my art.

I let go of Niki Jin Crafts for a little while, but recently, it came back to my mind. I thought about what I want to do with this site. Just let it sit there? Delete it? Well no, I’m not ready to get rid of it quite yet! It could use a little updating, though, that’s for sure. I’ve given the site a new look (I hope you approve!) but that’s not what you’re here for, right? We need some new content, of course. I promise, new stuff is coming…
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Santa Doll Makeover

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Well, it's officially the Christmas season, which means sparkling snow, pretty twinkle lights, cookie baking, and holiday crafting.

To kick off this December, I thought I would share this DIY gift that I had fun making for my mom a few years ago. She likes to collect Santa dolls to display in her home at Christmastime, so I came up with the idea to design and make her a custom doll. I ended up buying a Ken doll and modifying it to look like Santa Claus. See below for my work-in-progress pictures and the end results.




BEFORE
This particular doll worked well because I could use the boots in the final Santa outfit.



I used permanent markers to add some wrinkles and rosy cheeks to the face.



I sewed batting scraps around the body of the doll to plump him up a bit. I then designed and knit a miniature winter sweater, and also sewed him a pair of pants and hat from fabric scraps.



I glued strips of white specialty fur yarn to the face to create the eyebrows and hair, and knit a small block with the yarn to create the beard.



AFTER

Happy December!
Niki



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And don't forget... My Christmas coloring book is for sale on Amazon!



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I opened up a shop on etsy.com today. I've posted some sweaters for 11.5-inch dolls (I hope to post other types of items in the future). You can visit the shop here. These miniature sweaters were very fun to create. They are all designed and handknit by myself.

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**UPDATE - 2015** The miniature sweater knitting pattern has been revised.  View/Download the new pattern here:
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A gift tag template for creating a Christmas ornament from this sweater can be found on my Templates and Patterns page. Additional sweater patterns are available for sale in my Etsy shop.


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