Years ago I became fascinated by these little elves after coming across them in a thrift store. Best I can figure, they were produced in West Germany and Italy, but Japan was quick to jump on the bandwagon with their popularity from around the 1930's through 1950's.
If you know more about them, I'd love to hear about it as I cannot find much history on these little pinecone people.
These were the inspiration for a holiday project I created to do with the students. Like me, the kids were fascinated by the vintage elves I had on the table for them to look at for inspiration.
Once they were done admiring them, we got down to creating our own take on these quirky little holiday decorations.
First each student picked out a couple of pinecones that caught their fancy. I happened to have a few dozen that I had spray painted silver last year for a project that never came to fruition. I was glad to finally have a reason to use them!
They stuck the pinecones firmly into some white oven baked clay to create a sturdy base.
If I had the luxury of time, I would probably of used air dry clay. When I did these with my own kids almost 10 years ago, we used a painted cardboard circle that I hot glued the pinecones onto for a base.
While those were in the oven baking, each child took a couple of wooden beads and a bit of flesh colored oven bake clay and began sculpting faces. They first covered the wooden bead completely in clay and then started added clay as necessary to create a face.
Believe it or not, this was a great opportunity to throw in a lesson on the planes of the face while they were having fun.
About the time they finished the faces, the pinecones were ready to come out of the oven. So out came the pinecones and in went the heads to bake and harden.
I had a bit of white paint out that the students could use if they wanted to add some "snow" to their pinecones. Some were quite happy with the silver and skipped this step.
What they didn't skip was the opportunity to put a little glue on the clay base and add some glitter! Not many can pass up sparkle and I can't say I blame them.
I had a variety of cut 4" length pipe cleaner in brown, white, and red to use for arms. After finding the middle of the pipe cleaner, the kids added a bit of glue and stuck it through the scales where they felt the arms should be on their sculpture.
They then began to add some accessories for their little elves to hold.
Some of the items I picked up on clearance at the craft store and others came from a jar of miniatures left over from past year projects, because as my husband exclaims anytime he comes into my studio, "Good Lord woman, you're a hoarder"
Kind of like the above elf.
Is it even possible for it to hold one. more. thing?! I can relate, there can never be too much Christmas decor.
About this time, the heads were finished and the students had the opportunity to add features with either permanent markers or paint.
Do these elves not remind you of MADD magazines "Spy vs. Spy" comics? I am quite smitten with them and their black eyes.
Especially this one where the arms were accidentally put on the wrong way, but it works!
This elf, with his arms laden with gifts, looks like most men who wait until the 24th to do their Christmas shopping. Running around at a frantic pace through the mall, crossing the finish line as the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve.
And this little guy pretty much sums up my husband's expression after reading the above commentsabout last minute shopping. He is not amused.
Once the faces were decorated, I hot glued the heads onto the pinecones. Using a bit of white pipe cleaner, we hot glued on the "beard" and then they glued on the felt hats they had decorated. I found a template on Martha Stewart's website for the hats. (creating 20 of them took less than a half hour.)
There was plenty of time left in the workshop and so the kids began to create another elf. It was quite interesting to see how quickly the project took a life of it's own as the kids gained confidence in creating the elves. They began to push the boundaries with amusing and wonderful results.
The "so over it" elf or otherwise known as "the bah-humbug grinch".
This prim and proper elf with a fur hat and diamond earrings no less!
And this sweet little elf who is overwhelmed with it's holiday "to do" list while entangled in a string of bells.
Or this happy little clown elf all wrapped up in his winter scarf.
There was quite a collection of little guys by the end of the workshop. All quite worthy of giving the vintage elves used for inspiration a run for their money in the cute and quirky holiday decor category.
I honestly believe the kids, who ranged in age from 6-13 years old, were sad to see the two hour class end and would of been happy to stay in the studio creating more elves.
I found it quite difficult to say goodbye to these little guys as they left to add holiday cheer in their new homes, each and every one of them so full of personality and charm. I'm guessing as the years pass by, they will become cherished little ornaments brought out each holiday season, much like the ones in my own house that my children created all those years ago.
Merry Christmas everyone!
