Are you looking for a cute craft to do with your preschool class, or with your kiddos? This super cute DIY wooden elf family portrait is a craft that works great with the book "Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition Gone Bad." It's a great way to decorate for Christmas, and it is something parents can look back on from one Christmas to the next.
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💖 Why You'll Love This Craft
- Customizable for Every Family Member: Each wooden elf can be painted and dressed to match someone in your family—even the pets—making it a heartwarming, personalized holiday keepsake.
- Perfect for Tabletop or Mantel Décor: Unlike flat crafts, these stand-up wooden elves bring dimension and charm to your holiday displays.
- Helps Kids Recognize Family Roles: It's a fun way for little ones to connect with extended family by creating elves for grandparents, cousins, and even teachers.
🎨 Supplies Needed
- Canvas
- Wooden craft circle
- Red craft paint
- Green craft paint
- Googly eyes
- Red craft pom poms
- Green craft pom poms
- White craft pom poms
- White craft paint
- Paintbrush
- Red and green pipe cleaners
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
RELATED POST: ELF ON THE SHELF CRAFT FOR KIDS
🖌️ How To Make Elf Craft
- Step 1: Begin by dipping a wooden craft circle into red or green paint, and pressing it gently onto the canvas where you would like the heads of your elves to be.
- Step 2: Be sure to leave room under the heads for the bodies of the elves. You can make the heads different heights to represent different members of your family.
- Step 3: Cut the pipe cleaners into different sized pieces. You will need a longer piece for the body of each elf, and four shorter pieces for the arms and legs. Again, you can customize this to each elf to represent shorter or taller members of your family.
- Step 4: Try to use a red pipe cleaner body for the elves with green heads, and a green pipe cleaner body for the elves with red heads.
- Step 5: Use hot glue to attach the pipe cleaner bodies with arms and legs under each elf head on the canvas. You can use craft glue instead but will need to wait an extended period for it to dry. Using a paintbrush, paint an elf hat onto the top of each elf's head. Use green paint for the elves with redheads, and red paint for the elves with green heads.
- Step 6: Glue two googly eyes to each elf head on the canvas.
- Step 7: Use hot glue to attach a white craft pom pom just below the googly eyes on each elf head, to serve as the elf’s nose.
- Step 8: Paint a smiling mouth onto each elf with white craft paint.
- Step 9: Attach a red or green craft pom pom to the tip of each elf’s hat.
Your Elf portrait is now complete. You may want to add family names to the canvas or leave it as it is.
This will make a fantastic gift or elf themed Christmas decorations for the home this Christmas season.
If you like this Christmas craft, check out: Elf on the Shelf Craft for Kids or Fantastic Elf on the Shelf Ideas You Need to Try.
💡 Pro Tip: Run this craft in small groups so each child gets time to explain who their elf represents, encouraging storytelling and personal connection to their creation.
🧑🎨 Expert Tips
- Plan Character Layout First: Sketch a rough layout on paper to decide where each elf will go before assembling, so the final composition looks balanced and intentional.
- Use Light Pencil Guidelines: Draw soft outlines for arms, hats, or accessories to guide placement without leaving permanent marks on the background or character shapes.
- Keep One Tool Per Section: Assign separate glue sticks or scissors to each section of the table to reduce crowding and keep the workflow running smoothly.
- Support Standing Features with Tabs: Add folded paper tabs to upright pieces like ears or hats to help them stay raised without drooping after drying.
- Photograph Before Final Gluing: Take a photo of the mock layout once everything is in place so kids can refer to it while assembling the final version.
- Store Completed Sections Flat: If making multiple elves separately, store them flat in labeled trays until final assembly to avoid bending or mixing up parts.
💭 FAQs
Tracking which bins were used earliest helps staff gauge usage trends and simplifies supply checks without needing to recount everything at the end.
In simple tasks where the steps are clearly explained aloud, skipping printed guides helps avoid table clutter and reduces unnecessary paper use.
Using a shared container for loose caps ensures they don’t get thrown away or lost, especially when containers are saved for multiple rounds.
One-sided sheets let children follow quick instructions without flipping pages, reducing errors and speeding up their start with fewer distractions.
🖌️ Related Crafts
Love these crafts! Don't forget to pin them on Pinterest or leave a comment and let us know how you got on!
Elf Craft: DIY Wooden Elf Family Portrait
Equipment
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
Materials
- Canvas
- Wooden craft circle
- Red craft paint
- Green craft paint
- Googly eyes
- Red craft pom poms
- Green craft pom poms
- White craft pom poms
- White craft paint
- Paintbrush
- Red and green pipe cleaners
Instructions
- Begin by dipping a wooden craft circle into red or green paint, and pressing it gently onto the canvas where you would like the heads of your elves to be.
- Be sure to leave room under the heads for the bodies of the elves. You can make the heads different heights to represent different members of your family.
- AFTER THE PAINT DRIESCut the pipe cleaners into different sized pieces.
- You will need a longer piece for the body of each elf, and four shorter pieces for the arms and legs. Again, you can customize this to each elf to represent shorter or taller members of your family.
- Try to use a red pipe cleaner body for the elves with green heads, and a green pipe cleaner body for the elves with redheads.
- Use hot-glue to attach the pipe cleaner bodies with arms and legs under each elf head on the canvas. You can use craft glue instead but will need to wait an extended period for it to dry.
- Using a paintbrush, paint an elf hat onto the top of each elf's head. Use green paint for the elves with redheads, and red paint for the elves with green heads.
- Glue two googly eyes to each elf head on the canvas.
- Use hot-glue to attach a white craft pom pom just below the googly eyes on each elf head, to serve as the elf’s nose.
- Paint a smiling mouth onto each elf with white craft paint.
- Attach a red or green craft pom pom to the tip of each elf’s hat.
- Your Elf portrait is now complete. You may want to add family names to the canvas or leave it as it is.
Did you make this craft? Leave a review and comment below! Alternatively, bookmark it in your browser or save to Pinterest.
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