Christmas Crafting- Pinecone Men

There are so many things I love about this time of year. The cheer, the smell of my Christmas tree, baking, eating(!), giving presents (even more so than receiving, though that's always good too, of course), snow (depending on my plans for the day), family gatherings, holiday music and last but not least, crafting.





This weekend I had my Mom and Grandma over for three generations of crafting. We made little Christmas men out of very basic craft supplies including pipe cleaners, pinecones, acorns, wooden beads, markers and nylon.


Here's the "How-to" on the first guy I made, along with some pictures of all the guys we made, together!

Materials
Nylon ( I used a pair of red ones that were nice and thick)
Styrofoam ball
Thread (preferrably a color to match your nylon)
Felt (Color of choice)
Hot glue (or any strong and fast-drying glue)
Acorn
Sequins, markers, etc. GET CREATIVE!

Start by cutting enough nylon to wrap the styrofoam ball in. This will be the body of your character.

Gather the opening into a tight ball (pinch the nylon closed) and sew as closly to the styrofoam as possible. Trim as much excess as you can without cutting your thread.

Using the felt, cut a thin piece for the scarf. Use the scissors to make cuts on each end for fringe. Draw a face onto the acorn. (Watch out if you are using acorns you've gathered, as many have small bugs inside. Check them before you bring them in the house!)

Bend a piece of pipe cleaner to make a set of legs. The length you need will vary depending on the size of your other components. It's always best to start with extra, as you can trim off any excess.

Glue on the scarf and nestle the head inside of it. (You can reverse this process. Depending on how much bulk of the nylon is left, it might be easier to glue the head on first and then wrap the scarf around.) Cut two pieces of pipe cleaner to desired length for the arms. These can be stuck right into the ball but you may use glue to make it extra secure, if you need/want to. Glue on the legs so he doesn't roll around.

Isn't he cute?

Here are others we made.The larger guys are replicas my Mom and I made last year of a Christmas Elf we found that Marge had made many, many years ago. Hers is still the best, but ours are pretty darn cute. I had mine out because Footloose ate his head last year and I had to recreate it.

Our messy table!

I hope some of you try to make these! They're versatile, cheap, fun, cute and good for ANY age.



Happy Holidays!