DIY {Christmas Pinecone Elves}

Last year, inspired by Martha Steward, I made these little pinecone elves, one for each member of our family.
Gma, Thanksgiving table 003
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I made these based on Martha’s tutorial, with a few tweaks here and there (since I didn’t want to sew) and added the little nametag.
Supplies:

 

  • Pinecones
  • Wool felt (for hat and scarf)
  • Pipe cleaners (for arms, legs, and I added some around the hat)
  • Tiny felt balls (I used them for hands, feet, top of hat)
  • Hot-glue gun
  • 3/4-inch wooden craft bead
  • Black marker (eyes)
  • Red crayon (cheeks) Step 1:   Make arms and legs: Cut 2 pieces, each about 4 inches long, from pipe cleaners. Hold a pinecone (about 2 inches long) so bottom end points up. Tuck 1 piece of pipe cleaner between the scales of the pinecone, positioning it as the arms. Position the other piece as legs. Secure with a hot-glue gun.  Bend ends of legs to make feet- here I attached the tiny felt balls to the end of the pipe cleaner to make hands and feet, instead of making gloves like Martha did (I tried the felt feet and hands on one elf, then gave up).   Here’s a picture from her website depicting how to make the body and head.
    image
    Step 2Make head: Hot-glue a 3/4-inch wooden craft bead (hole side down) to the end of the pinecone. Draw 2 eyes with a black felt pen.  Draw cheeks with a red crayon.
    Make scarf and hat: Cut out a rectangular piece of felt for the scarf and tie around the neck.  For the hat, cut a piece of felt in the shape of a triangle and glue the ends together.  Place a tiny felt ball at the top point of the hat.  (Martha sewed hers, I used hot glue).  image
    Step 3:  Make nametags:  I used my computer to print the names in “Kingthings Christmas” font on red paper, then hole-punched one end to stick onto the arm.
    Here are Martha’s elves in action: imageAnd here are mine:Gma, Thanksgiving table 004
    P.S. I got my elves to stand up by gluing the pinecones to these little flat wood pieces that I found at Walgreens in a bag of something similar to potpourri.

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

20 Comments

  1. Very cute! I'm not big on sewing either, so I think your tweaking is just up my alley! Great idea… I'm so excited for Aidan's first Christmas! Does James have cousins that he will be able to play with on Christmas day?

  2. How cute! I will have to try to make a few for the grands. They are fascinated with the "elf on a shelf" story right now. Thanks for sharing your streamlined version of Martha's.

  3. Too cute, just adorable!!

    I hope you have come to enter my giveaway from Empress of the Eye!
    xoxo
    Karena

    Art by Karena

  4. Oh so darling! They don't look that hard to make either. What a fun gift…hmmm might have to make some : ) Thanks for sharing!!!!

  5. They are UBER cute…and you make me uber jealous. Please send some crafty dust your way. Nothing in the project world seems to be working for me today. I may just have to copy this for Thurgood's little bedroom tree. So cute!!!

    Cheers~
    e

  6. sooo cute! and super easy! i think i need to drag my boys out on a nature walk to find some pine cones one of these days!! thanks for sharing!
    ps. your closet is an enviable place of supreme bliss and i love it!

  7. So Cute!! I've never seen these before. I host a craft time at my local library and I can totally see these being a blast…thanks!! 🙂

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