I love the thought of Santa’s little elves helping to make the season bright. I’ve made elves on the show before, and they were all full of the Christmas spirit. Well, because of the Hallmark movie “Northpole”, I was inspired to create little elves that had a different theme…a mischievous spirit!  These little elves are up to no good, but all in Christmas fun.  Who knows where we will find these elves, or what they’ll be up to!  Are they changing names on presents? Are they changing the naughty and nice list?  We will have to see! To create your own little crew of Santas favorite helpers, here is how you get started.

You Will Need:

• Felt in a variety of colors
• Pinecones
• Round wooden balls 3/4”
• Hot glue/glue gun
• Brown chenille pipe cleaners
• White chenille pipe cleaners
• Tiny jingle bells 1/4”
• Fabric scissors
• Paper scissors
• Fine-tipped sharpie

• Any item that would be cute for these elves to create their mischievous spirit! I’m using gift tags, chalkboards, scrolled paper, etc.
• Double-sided tape, putty or butyl

How-To:

1. Choose pinecones that are in good shape, not missing any scales.

2. Use hot glue to attach the bottom of your wooden ball to the bottom of the pinecone. Hold in place until it dries completely.

3. Take your pipe cleaners and cut two different lengths for each elf, 3” for the legs, and 2” for the arms.

4. Attach these in between the scales of the pinecone with hot glue, two where the legs would be and two where the hands would be.

5. Take your felt and draw mittens for the hands. Cut out four mittens for every one pair of mittens. This will make a back side and a front side of each of your mittens.

6. With hot glue, attach the front side and the back side of the mitten around one of the arm pipe cleaners. Do the same with the other arm.

7. Take your felt and draw shoes for your elves. Again, you will need to cut four pieces for every pair of shoes so that you have a front and back to attach together.

8. Attach the front and the back of the shoe around the bottom of the pipe cleaner legs.

9. Take your felt and cut a cone shaped piece that becomes the hat of your elf.

10. Wrap the felt around the wooden ball, or head, of the elf and secure with hot glue.

11. Take white pipe cleaner and add it to the rim of the hat.

12. Take a small jingle bell and secure it to the top of the hat with hot glue.

13. Cut a strip of felt about 5” long and ½” wide. This will be a little scarf for your elf.

14. Drape the scarf around the “neck” of your elf and secure with hot glue.

15. On the very end part of your scarf, take fabric scissors and cut tiny slits about ½” long into the felt to make it look like the scarf has frilly ends.

16. This is the fun part! Place your elves in different areas as if they are mid-action. What they are up to is entirely up to you!

17. With your fine-tipped sharpie, draw a face on your elf. You could do this first before you glue it on the pinecone, but I like the idea of placing the elves in mischievous positions first. That way, you know what they are up to, and what face would accompany such an action.

18. Add any props that you have to complete the look of the elves’ actions.

19. Make sure they are stable in their position, use double-sided tape, putty or butyl to secure them in place, see what they are up to, and enjoy!