Here are a couple of the sketches that I have been doing - just trying to get an idea of the final figure and what objects he will be carrying.

Hotei is often shown holding a 'wish giving' fan called an oogi, (though I haven't had much luck finding a real reference) and a cloth sack which is filled with many precious items. some descriptions even say that his sack is filled with children, which would be very cool to model, but might be a bit much for this challenge... A lot of statues seem to show him holding an old gnarly stick from which his bag is hung, though I haven't found this mentioned in written descriptions.