Wine cork elf ornaments are the perfect way to reuse those wine corks sitting around the house. I don’t know if you are anything like me BUT… I have a few! Like two huge vases overflowing! I like collecting wine corks to use for this craft and a couple others which I hope to share soon.
You may feel like September is a little early to start talking about Christmas ornaments but in the crafting world this is the best time to get started. Before you know it the holiday season will be here and the last thing you want to do is stress on making gifts, decorations or favors. Trust me I know! I made tons of these for our December wedding and wished I had started in July!
If you don’t want to gift them, keep them for yourself. We have plenty that adorn our tree as this is a craft that comes back year after year!
Have fun crafting!
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Wine Cork Elf Ornament Materials
- Wine corks
- 1 inch craft bead with a hole through the center
- Felt
- Elf hat stencil
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Needle and thread
- 1/4 – 1/2 inch Bells
- 1/4 inch mini buttons
- Yarn or Ribbon
- Red paint
- Paint Brush
- Twine
- Hot glue gun and glue
- Wood burner
Directions
Find a flat surface to work on. Turn on the hot glue gun and the wood burning wand with the rounded tip so they heat up while you prepare the wine cork elf.
Elf’s Hat
- Download the elf hat stencil.
- Sketch stencil with a pencil on felt and cut out.
- Prepare your needle and thread.
- About 24 inches of thread is enough to get the stitch done.
- Fold elf hat in half and sew the two sides together.
- Attach the bell to the top of the hat with thread.
- About 8 inches of thread should work. If you are a bit short when you need to tie off the thread, turn the hat inside out, tie off the thread and turn right side out.
- Hot glue the hat to the craft bead ensuring that you don’t cover the hole. Hold the hat in place until the glue has cooled.
- The hole of the craft bell is for the twine in order to hang the elf on the tree.
Nice work! The elf’s head is ready to attach to the wine cork!
Elf’s Body
- Hot glue the elf’s head to the wine cork.
- Angle the elf’s face up a bit so you will have room to add the cheeks and eyes.
- Cut 8 – 10 inches of yarn or ribbon for the elf’s scarf.
- Wrap the scarf around the elf’s neck (where the craft bead and wine cork are joined).
- Prepare your needle and thread.
- About 8 inches of thread should do.
- Stitch the ribbon at its intersection and add a tiny button.
- Cut excess ribbon to desired length.
Yay! The elf is ready to put on her face.
Elf’s Face
- Get out your soft angled mini brush and a bit of red paint. Dab off some of the red paint onto another surface until you get a light shade of red. You want flushed cheeks for the elf.
- Softly brush the red paint onto the elf’s face (craft bead) where cheeks should be.
- Get out your wood burning wand; it should be plenty hot by now.
- Gently press the rounded tip straight into the craft bead where you would like the elf’s eyes.
- If you would like to do sleepy eyes, softly press crescent shapes into the craft bead where you would like the elf’s eyes.
- Add the twine through the whole of the craft bead. Tie the twine into a knot and you have a completed ornament.
Ta-Da! The wine cork elf ornament is complete; make as many as you like!
Wine Cork Elf Ornaments Alternatives
Sharing a couple shortcuts for the wine cork elf ornaments just in case you don’t want to sew or don’t have a wood burner.
- If you don’t want to sew the hat together you can hot glue the edges together.
- An alternative to sewing the scarf is to hot glue the ribbon or yarn together then hot glue the button on top.
- You can paint on the elf’s eyes with black paint or a black permanent marker if you don’t have a wood burner or don’t want to use one.
What Can Be Composted From These Wine Cork Elf Ornaments?
If for some reason you need to compost wine corks you totally can. Let’s say the wine cork you had saved for this craft split in two; compost it! If your yarn or ribbon is made of organic materials like cotton, wool or silk you can compost the scraps. Thick heavy pieces of felt don’t compost well but if your pieces are small or thin and made of organic materials throw them in there too.
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