Homemade Christmas Elf (simple no-sew craft)

Add a little seasonal magic to your home with these adorable Christmas Elves. Simple to make with no-sewing required, they're a perfect size for little hands to hold, & would make a great addition to any Christmas small world play scene.



To create them we used these wooden peg dolls. We bought ours from eBay but they can also be found on Etsy, or other local craft stores.


For our elf outfits I used a selection of coloured felt (again purchased from eBay, but Amazon have a great range) & cut the felt into 3 different sections; a piece for the body, the cape, & the pointed hat. Below are the measurements I used for our 6cm wooden figures, but you may have to adjust them slightly if you use larger/smaller dolls. If you wish to use our templates click on the picture below & then right click to print the image.


To make the elf outfit we added the 'body' section of felt first, wrapping the material around the body & securing with a glue gun.


To add the cape I followed the same method but tilted the fabric slightly so it gave the cape a cross-over appearance. I secured the material again with a little glue.


To create the tall pointed hat shape you need to make sure the rounded edge of felt is at the base of the hat. I added glue around the middle of the dolls head & then stuck one corner of fabric to it before wrapping the felt around making sure the hat was forming the correct shape. To secure the hat I added glue to the straight edge & twisted the top of the hat, this helped create the pointed edge.


Voila! One very sweet little elf all set for Christmas.


To create a little clasp for the cape I added four tiny sliver beads & stuck them onto the outer corner. Our elf was now ready but I felt he needed a few pals for company!


Here are a couple of elves I made following the same design. I mixed the fabric colours on a few, & also adjusted the cape sizes slightly so they had different lengths. On one of the elves I added a tiny bell to the top of the hat by simply attaching it with glue.


I just love these elves, they are truly magical, & perfect to leave around the house to be discovered by your children/grandchildren during Advent. 


I've since made these elves with children using pre-cut felt shapes & double-sided tape instead of a glue gun, & they turned out great, although their elves seemed to have many more embellishments than mine!


These little elves would look great in any Winter play scene. Our little set of elves are getting ready for their journey around the house at the beginning of December for our Advent Countdown to Christmas. 


Looking for more Elf Crafts? Take a peek at our
DIY Paper Elf Houses that create aChristmas Small World Play Scene
 or ourElf Trees made from a paper plate