Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Cork Elf on the shelf or tree tutorial



Do you have an elf on the shelf?  If not you can make one from a discarded champagne cork and some craft supplies you may already have on hand.  You can bend his arms and legs any way you choose to sit him on a shelf.  You can even sit him cross-legged on a table or hang him on the tree.  He is quick and easy to create and makes a great package decoration or small gift.

Supplies:

·      Champagne cork
·      20 gauge red wire
·      Wire cutters
·      Red chenille stems (pipe cleaners)
·      Red felt scraps
·      White felt scraps
·      Acrylic paint- flesh, red, brown, blue, white and black
·      Small paintbrush
·      Tacky craft glue
·      Clothespin to hold the felt while drying
·      Awl or nail for making holes in the cork


Instructions:

1.     Use the awl or a pointed nail to make a hole in the top of the cork.  Cut a 3 “ piece of red 20 gauge wire with wire cutters.  Bend in half to make a loop.  Add some tacky glue to the wire ends and insert into the hole you made in the cork.  (See photo)




2.     Paint a face and ears (As shown in the photo) with the small paintbrush loaded with flesh colored acrylic paint.  Rinse the brush and paint the hair all around the top, back and sides.  (See photo)


3.     Paint the body (The bottom of the cork) red.  Let the paint dry. 


4.     Paint the facial features, eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, etc.  Use the photo as a guide.


5.     Cut two red chenille stems 2 inches long (arms), and two red chenille stems 3 inches long (legs).


6.     To make the cuffs on the arms cut a small ½” piece of white felt and use some tacky glue to attach to the ends of each arm.  Hold in place with a clothespin till dry.


7.     Cut the collar from the pattern.  Apply a generous amount of tacky glue around the neck and attach the collar.




8.     To make the hat, cut the hat pieces from the pattern.  Attach the white edge around the hat piece and let dry.   Fold the hat around and glue both sides together.  Use a clothespin to hold it together while it dries.





9.     Use the nail or awl to drill holes in the sides of the body.  Apply some tacky glue to the arm pieces and using a twisting motion attach to the body.  Repeat this step with the legs, drilling holes in the bottom of the cork.  Glue the hat onto the head allowing the wire loop to come out the top a bit for hanging if desired.











3 comments:

  1. Such a cute and clever idea! I think I need to make one of these!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Clever idea and great way to use a cork. Thanks for sharing with us at the Merry Monday Link Party! Hope to see you again on Sunday!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your lovely comments!