What to do about Santa

I'm having issues with my Santa and Deer rug.  It seems that all I do is air my dirty laundry on my blog about the decisions or issues with the rug I'm working on at the time.  And truly I do enjoy hooking, but since it's only me and Ben here there's no one for me to vent to other than my readers.  Oh don't you feel special now ~ haha.  But it also gives any of you newbies comfort knowing that you aren't the only ones who are in a quandary on what to do next.

So here's the skinny........ I've tried two different wools for possible background choices and not sure I like either because they will both make the moon disappear.  Hmmm, maybe if I use the most blue part of the texture wool which is to the right of Santa's beard around the moon it will be okay.  Oh, I've put a black arrow at Santa's cap and that is a tail sticking up and encroaching on the pom pom of Santa's cap.

Then there is the tan texture hooked in above the deer's butt and toward the tree.  Since the original antique had a tan background with a darker brown border thought that might be a good option. 

So...... do I go with the texture which has blue to make it look like sky or go with the tan/brown texture similar to the antique?  Decisions decisions.

The other problems are Santa's gloves (yet again) and the Deer's face.  For Santa's gloves think I've got it figured and will re-hook using the green in the tree limbs instead of the texture used for the trunk I used. 

So that next decision is what to do about the deer face.  The original antique has a collar around the neck instead of a halter across the nose.  If I change mine it will eliminate the issue I have on how to separate the face from the chest of the deer.  And, just now I walked away from the computer, pulled out the wool and re-drew the face.

So guys, gals and hookers all..... check back tomorrow to see what I've gotten myself into now.  Hopefully it won't be another 'hot mess' but a lovely antique adaptation going in the right direction.

Ta ta.

Saundra