The idea of the Elf on the Shelf is so cute: every morning the kids have to find Elfie that would have moved to some place in the house doing something funny! I did not grow up with this, but definitely want my kids to, because it is something I would have loved as a child and I am sure they will too!
For those who are not familiar with Elf on the Shelf: Elf is Santa's helper, here to see if the kids are behaving. Everyday, starting with the 1st of December, the kids will find Elfie in a different spot in the house. Some people let the elf do naughty things, like messing with the cereal etc, but I think I'll use him to bring a decoration for the play Christmas tree each day, combining advent and Elf activities. Oh, and if you are on Instagram, be sure to follow us doing the #Elfcam challenge (posting a photo each day of Elfie's new spot in the morning). Creative challenge for mom, yay!
Now for the TUTORIAL
What you will need:
- Felt pieces, colour of your choice, I used red, white and black
- Pipe cleaners, a short one for the body, a short one for the arms, a long one for the legs, two short ones for the shoes
- Polistirene ball or big bead for the head
- Googly eyes or you can draw/paint eyes
- Cotton wool (to fill up the body)
- Paint and brushes
- Felt tip pens
- Glue(that works for felt and polistirene)
- Pompoms
- Thread and needle
The above photo shows the basic steps, at step 5 I added the "decorative" pieces, here you can use your own creativity and available items.
Step 1: cut a triangle, that will fit around the head
Cut two rectangles that will be the body suit
Cut the collar by cutting a circle and then cut small triangles out so it looks almost like a sun
Step 2: paint the head. It makes it easier when you use a tooth pick to hold the ball, and let it dry by sticking it upright into anything closeby
Step 3: bend the arms and the legs and attach to the body
Step 4: Here I could not take photos of myself doing the threading, but let me try to explain. Close the clothes while on the pipe cleaner body with a matching thread. I added the belt while doing this.
Also, I made the pants short, because it is summer here by us at Christmas time, but you can make your pants longer if you want.( yes I know, it has mittens and a hat, but my 3 year old will think like me, I promise) With the collar: I just use 2 stitches to keep it in place.
Step 5: With the hat: stitch the two sides together and turn the whole hat inside out. I added a white piece of felt, to finish it off, and a bell at the top.
For the shoes I simple bend the pipe cleaners around the foot to look like a boot, then added the pompoms. The belt also got a pompom and the hands mittens.
With the face you will have to use your own creativity, I looked at a picture and tried to copy it to the best of my ability, not exactly the same, but still cute, I think!
Hope all of this makes sense! Please come and share your elf on our Facebook page if your done, I'd love to meet them, and join in the #Elfcam challenge on Instagram from the 1st of December.
No comments:
Post a Comment