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It isn't fair to leave Santa to do all the work at Christmas without his
army of elves.
Here's an elf you can make to give Santa support.
It's a hanging ornament, and will make the job of spicing up your Christmas tree a
bit less of a load for old Santa.
It's so easy to make, you might want to create several.
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Holiday Image Designs
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Christmas Elf Ornament Supplies
At left is shown the supplies you'll need, short of glue and paint, for
making a Santa's elf.
As you can see from the inset, this is a very cute little fellow, and
making him is pretty easy. If you intend this to be a kid craft, you might
need to drill a couple of holes first, then the rest can be assembled
by a child.
Here's what you need to make Santa's elf
Some Twine
A 5/8 inch wood flower pot
A 3/4 inch wood ball
A 3/4 inch diameter wood candle cup
A 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch wood gingerbread man shape (optional)
Four 3/8 inch diameter wood balls with center hole
Two 5/8 inch to 3/4 inch long wood ovals
A 1 inch long wood shape pointed on the ends
A small jingle bell
Two toothpicks
A piece of red felt
A candy cane colored chenille stem (optional)
A red chenille stem
A 1/8 inch diameter wood dowel
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| Like with many of my wood projects, on this one I make heavy
use of small wood shapes that come in wood shape assortments. A bag or two of
these gives incredible crafting possibilities. If you shop for them, look for
wood shapes.
Here's some reputable online supplies where you can obtain these materials.
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The Elf Body and Pointed Ears
The first step in construction is to make the little elf's body. As
shown in the illustration, the body is composed of the large wood ball
glued to the inverted candle cup.
The ears for Santa's elf are made from a wood shape that is oval, but
with pointed ends. Simply cut the shape in half as illustrated to make
the two pointed ears.
Glue the cut halves of the wood shape to either side of the elf's
head, pointed end up.
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How to Make the Christmas Elf's Arms and Legs
The most difficult step in the construction of the Christmas elf is
adding the arms and legs.
To do this, first drill two holes in the candle cup body. As you can
see in the illustration, the hole nearest the head will be for the arms,
and the other hole will be for the legs. Drill the holes about 1/4 inch
from the ends of the candle cup.
Cut two 1 inch long pieces of the 1/8 inch dowel to make elf arms. Drill
small holes about 1/4 inch from one end of each arm -- large enough to allow
insertion of a toothpick.
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Cut two 1 1/4 inch long pieces of the 1/8 inch dowel to make elf legs. Drill
small holes about 1/4 inch from one end of each leg, also to allow insertion
of a toothpick.
Insert a toothpick through the shoulder holes of the candle cup. Apply some
glue to the toothpick and candle cup where the toothpick exits the holes, and
glue on the arms. Adjust the angle of the arms according to your desired
pose before the glue dries.
Holding the legs so that the leg holes line up with the hip holes, insert
a toothpick through the hip holes and legs.
Glue this toothpick where it exists the candle cup.
When the arms and legs glue is dry, trim off the excess length of the
toothpicks.
Glue the small wooden balls onto the ends of the arms (for mittens) and
legs. On the legs, be sure the wood balls are flush with the dowel end.
Glue the remaining ovals onto the bottom of the legs to make the Christmas
elf's feet.
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The Finished Christmas Elf Ornament
Cut a piece of twine long enough to make about a 3 inch long loop.
Tie a knot in the loop, and run the loop through a hole in the flower
pot, and also through the jingle bell.
Glue the knot up inside the flower pot, and then glue the pot onto
the elf's head for a cute hat.
Paint the elf what ever color you like. I used flesh tone for the head,
with some felt tip pen work for mouth and eyes.
The elf is painted green, with black feet.
If you want, glue the gingerbread man to one hand, and a chenille
candy cane to the other.
A loop of red chenille around the legs and a collar of red felt complete
your handsome Christmas elf.
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