Santas galore: Kristy Tremayne brings holiday joy with homemade santa figures

HOMER, Nebraska — Kristy Tremayne has made a hobby out of repurposing various vintage materials such as children's shoes, fur coats and even wedding dresses to create unique Santa statues each year.

Tremayne is well known in the community for her Santa and witch figures. Making a couple hundred Santas a year, her creations can be seen throughout the community.

The Santas can be found at various charity auctions throughout the community, the annual Sioux City craft fair, and Flippin' Vintage Boutiques & Thrift.

Tremayne started her hobby with porcelain dolls. She then expanded into making witches and eventually, she found a Santa head in a store.

"I think the true reason I do them is I love to craft. I'm not a seamstress, but I'm a craft sewer," she said. "I love fabric and putting colors together, so I think probably my favorite thing to do is make the Santas."

Tremayne especially loves making nontraditional Santas. Whether that's sports teams, professions, cancer awareness, the Grinch and more, Tremayne knows how to spot a good combination other than the traditional red, green and white.

"I really love to do one-of-a-kind, unique fabrics, unique fabrics, change the beards out and just make the Santas special," she said.

Visiting various thrift stores and websites, Tremayne seeks out vintage fur coats, unique fabrics, buttons, belts, bells, baby shoes and more. Her craft room is a crafter's dream, filled to the brim with various materials, allowing her to mix and match colors, textures and materials. The centerpiece of the room is a wall of trim which she has been collecting for around 20 years.

Tremayne starts with a Santa head and creates a body. Sometimes the Santas sit, sometimes they stand, sometimes they are made from bottles, sometimes they are repurposed old Santa figures. They vary in size from 12 inches to six feet tall.

She will then create a suit or pick one she has premade, matching different colored furs and trinkets to make it unique.

This year, Tremayne is undertaking two projects utilizing sentimental fabrics. One of the projects is turning a vintage wedding dress into seven small Santas for a family. Another project is turning a customer's beaver and other unique furs she got on her travels into three Santas.

In the past, Tremayne has made other sentimental Santas, using other wedding dresses, baby shoes and other keepsakes.

"When I first had to cut a vintage wedding dress, I was really nervous," she said. Now I'm not so nervous, I have a little bit more experience behind me."

Tremayne does not use a pattern for her Santa suits and hats. From years of experience, she knows exactly what size to cut the fabric for different Santa sizes.

"If you ask me to sew a dress using a pattern, I probably couldn't do it," she said. "I can take a garment and make it into a costume ... I don't like following directions, give me a piece of fabric, I'll cut it, sort it, and go."

A small Santa can take around an hour to make, while a large one can take around three or four hours. Having made hundreds over the years, Tremayne said there are only a few she has ever made that she wanted to keep.

"You've just got to part with them," she said. "I couldn't keep crafting as a crafter if I didn't sell them. And I try to keep the prices pretty low because I want to get rid of them so that I can make some more."

She said there's some people who have 30 to 40 of her Santas, collecting them over the years. She said she loves the reaction people have when they get their custom Santa.

When she's not working with one of the various nonprofits she is involved within the community or doing set design and costuming for New Stage Players in South Sioux City, she is working on her craft.

"I can just be with me, I can create things that I like," she said. "I don't have to compromise ... I can't wait to get home and make them, after 30 years you would think you'd get tired of it, not me."