Santa’s elves work so hard each year, don’t they? Elves are in charge of making toys for the entire world and miraculously meeting their annual deadline with spectacular cheer! Does your family have an elf-on-the-shelf tradition? We think an adorable elf-craft-on-the-fridge tradition is the perfect way to decorate for the season- and get little ones crafting and having fun.
BONUS: All of our paper plate crafts for Christmas make excellent Christmas cards, too! Have your little one autograph their name on the back with a seasonal greeting.
If you’re ready to hit your elf workbench and get crafty with us, let’s get started!
Things you’ll need
- Paper plates
- Craft paint in various skin tones
- Paint brush
- Construction paper
- Googly eyes
- Pom poms
- Black marker
- Bottle cap
- Scissors
- Glue stick
Steps
First, prepare two paper plates by painting the undersides with a skin toned shade of craft paint. One plate will make your elf’s face and the other will be for the ears. Set the plates aside to dry.
Once the paper plates are dry, use one to make some iconic elf ears. Use your marker to draw a large heart in the center of the plate, then a line down the middle. Cut out the heart and cut it down the middle, rounding off the pointy edges with your scissors.
Trace a bottle cap onto a rosy pink shade of construction paper to make some cheeks. Cut them out.
To make your elf’s hair, use the edge of a paper plate to draw a curve on the construction paper. Draw a scalloped or wavy edge to make the elf’s fringe. Cut out this piece and set it aside. NOTE: the hairpiece should cover about one third of the paper plate.
Choose another shade of construction paper and trace around the elf’s chin to make a collar. You can make any style of collar you like, from soft and traditional to frilly and fancy. We went the fancy route, of course.
Now, for the elf hat. Cut out a large triangle from a full sheet of construction paper. You can make a long, vertical triangle for a folded cap or cut out a large, horizontal triangle for a short, pointy hat. Both are adorable.
Adorn your elf hat with some ribbon and a pom pom on the end. We added a blue button to ours. You can get creative with bows and bells, too.
Now that you have all of your elf pieces prepared, have fun glueing them in place.
Use your black marker to draw a sweet nose and smiling mouth. Your elf is complete! Nice job!
Q: What kind of music do elves like best?
A: Wrap music!
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