On this page
Craft guide
Paper Plate Santa Craft with a Fluffy Cotton Beard
A white paper plate becomes a cheerful Christmas decoration with a few paper shapes and soft cotton balls. This paper plate Santa craft has a folded red hat, rosy cheeks, a bright pom-pom nose, and a rounded beard that sits along the lower half of the face. The open cheeks and sideways hat tip give the finished Santa a friendly expression without adding complicated cutting.
Make one during a family craft afternoon or prepare the paper pieces ahead of time for a small classroom group. Children can arrange the features and press the cotton into glue, while an adult helps with measuring and cutting. The paper face also avoids a painting stage, so you can begin assembling as soon as the shapes are ready.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
- Recommended age:
- 4+ with adult supervision
- Time needed:
- About 20–30 minutes of active making, plus glue-drying time
- Main materials:
- Paper plate, colored paper and cardstock, cotton balls, pom-poms, googly eyes, glue
-2.jpg?prefix=media&prefix=media&prefix=media&prefix=media&prefix=media)
Materials You Will Need
- One sturdy white paper plate, approximately 9 inches or 23 cm across
- One peach paper circle, approximately 6 inches or 15 cm across
- One sheet of matte red cardstock for a hat with a base about 7½ inches or 19 cm wide
- One white cardstock strip, approximately 7½ × 1¼ inches or 19 × 3 cm
- Two pink paper circles for cheeks, approximately ¾–1 inch or 2–2.5 cm across
- Two googly eyes, approximately 18 mm across
- One red pom-pom, approximately 20 mm across, for the nose
- One white pom-pom, approximately 30 mm across, for the hat tip
- About 18 cotton balls: 12 for the beard, five for the brim, and one divided into two moustache tufts
- Child-appropriate white craft glue suitable for paper and cotton
Cotton balls vary in size. Use the photographs as a guide to coverage, and gently spread the beard pieces when needed. A plate with a firm rim is easier to handle than a very thin plate that bends under wet glue.
Tools You Will Need
- Child-safe scissors
- Pencil and ruler
- A small bowl or another round object to trace the face circle
Keep googly eyes and pom-poms away from children who still mouth small objects. Adults should supervise cutting and gluing. For a child who needs fewer loose parts, prepare larger paper eyes and a paper nose before starting.
How to Make the Paper Plate Santa Craft
1Step 1: Cut and Prepare the Paper Pieces
Trace and cut the peach face circle. Cut a broad red triangle approximately 19 cm across the base and 16 cm tall. Fold the upper point diagonally toward the right to create a floppy hat tip; flatten the crease so it stays in place. Cut the white brim strip and two round pink cheeks.
Set these pieces beside the blank plate. Separate the cotton into beard and brim groups, then divide one additional cotton ball into two short, fluffy moustache tufts. Keep the eyes and both pom-poms loose at this stage. Younger children can begin with paper shapes an adult has already cut.

2Step 2: Attach the Face and Folded Hat
Spread a thin layer of glue on the back of the peach circle and press it into the center of the plate. Position the red hat over the upper edge of the plate, with its broad base overlapping enough of the plate to hold securely. Glue only the area touching the plate.
Glue the white cardstock strip across the hat base, overlapping the top of the peach face slightly. Add the white pom-pom to the folded hat tip. Rest everything flat while the glue begins to set. The face should still be blank, and the hat brim should still be plain paper.

3Step 3: Add Santa's Eyes, Cheeks, and Nose
Arrange the eyes just below the brim before gluing them down. Leave a small gap between them. Place one pink cheek to each side, a little lower than the eyes, and put the red pom-pom nose in the middle.
Once you like the expression, attach the pieces with small dots of glue. Avoid large puddles, which can make paper wrinkle or allow the pom-pom to slide. Leave space directly beside the nose for the moustache and along the lower plate for the beard.

4Step 4: Build the Cotton Moustache and Beard
Glue one small cotton tuft on each side of the nose to make the moustache. Keep the eyes visible and leave most of each pink cheek uncovered.
Arrange the 12 beard cotton balls around the lower half of the plate in a rounded U shape. Begin below one cheek, follow the bottom edge, and finish below the other cheek. Fill the lower section with a second short row. Gently stretch a few pieces if you need to close a gap, then glue them down one at a time. Keep the upper sides of the face open and leave the hat brim undecorated for now.

5Step 5: Finish the Fluffy Hat Brim
Glue the five remaining cotton balls in a row across the white brim. Space them evenly, pressing just enough to make contact with the glue without flattening all the fluff.
Check that the nose, hat tip, and beard pieces are secure. Leave the Santa flat until the glue is fully dry, following the glue manufacturer's directions. Drying time depends on the product and how much you use; allow extra time if any parts move when gently touched. The finished craft is ready for a Christmas display.

Easy Ways to Customize the Craft
Choose a skin-tone paper color that your child likes. You can also use slightly darker pink cheeks, a burgundy hat, or a paper nose instead of the pom-pom. Keep the same broad arrangement so the eyes and cheeks remain visible.
For a smaller decoration, reduce the paper shapes to suit a dessert plate and use fewer cotton balls. Another option is a paper-curl beard: attach short white paper strips along the lower rim and curl their free ends around a pencil. These variations change the supplied design, so adjust the materials before starting.
Where to Use or Display It
Display the Santa on a shelf, a classroom bulletin board, or a Christmas craft wall. Once everything is dry, an adult can add a taped ribbon loop to the back if you want to hang it. Ribbon and tape are optional display supplies rather than part of the five-step build.
Store the decoration flat in a shallow box so the beard and hat tip are not crushed. Keep it indoors and away from moisture, which can soften the plate and loosen paper pieces.
Final Thoughts
This paper plate Santa craft combines simple cutting, arranging, and gluing in a cheerful holiday project. Give the cotton time to dry, let children choose the expression, and enjoy displaying a Santa they helped make.

