We had so much fun making these:
![059 059](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EFugeLHI/AAAAAAAAS0w/Debu9hs4Wfc/059_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
And these:
![088 088](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EG5A7GDI/AAAAAAAAS04/qSAA-QbSKOM/088_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
Here’s what you need:
![042 042](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EI3yUDqI/AAAAAAAAS1A/MMh1PMOuraI/042_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
1. Pinecones
2. Felt
3. Ribbon or string for hanging.
4. A glue gun (This is a necessity and only a couple dollars at the craft store if you don’t already have one! I don’t think there is a glue in a bottle on the market that would stick to pine cones.)
And just for the owls:
Feathers
Googly eyes
And just for the elves:
Tiny pom-poms
Pipe cleaners
Crayola Model Magic in Skin Tones
We found pine cones in our backyard and then put them in the oven for 2 hours at 250 degrees to kill any bugs and dry them out a bit. Of course, you can just buy them at a craft store.
For the owls:
1. Cut a beak from felt.
2. Cut a string to hang.
3. Wide part of the cone on top, using a glue gun (for little ones I let them choose the color of beak and the feathers they wished to use), glue the string, beak, feathers and eyes on. It’s that easy. Abbey added a bow for a girl owl.
For the elves:
Using the Crayola Model Magic..
![037 037](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EQ26PYcI/AAAAAAAAS1s/IAwxbRx447o/037_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
…roll into head shapes, and dry. To speed up drying time I set them near a heat duct.
1. Using Sharpies or other thin markers, draw a face on the hardened modeling clay.
![004 004](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1ESHhTpvI/AAAAAAAAS10/mWFjQA3cI7Q/004_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
2. Cut a wide triangle out of felt for the hat.
![029 029](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1ETFqMLXI/AAAAAAAAS18/kifsJeHsXZ0/029_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
3. Cut a string for hanging.
4. Glue the string or ribbon into the triangle, and then glue the triangle into a cone shape.
![032 032](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EUvQomDI/AAAAAAAAS2E/7W7ZVb1RFuo/032_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
5. Glue pom-pom on hat.
6. Trim hat if necessary.
![033 033](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EVrtRoSI/AAAAAAAAS2M/saXGF2t5aPo/033_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
7. Glue hat on elf head.
![039 039](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EXHK-KVI/AAAAAAAAS2U/yNVe_T2MVH8/039_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
8. Cut and tie scarf. (You can use fabric like picture above, but we mostly used pieces of felt like below.)
![009 009](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EYFaIReI/AAAAAAAAS2c/ED7brTy6wgY/009_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
9. Cut arms and legs out of pipe cleaner.
![011 011](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EZvtQ7LI/AAAAAAAAS2k/2qnFOdPwGVM/011_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
10. Cut mittens and boots out of felt and glue onto the ends of pipe cleaner.
11. Glue appendages onto pine cone.
![065 065](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pnod42FNjYY/TP1EcJQEzcI/AAAAAAAAS20/NFAR5CmaFrc/065_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800)
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Need gift ideas?
Here's a list of our favorite, most-played with, delivered-to-your-doorstep, Mom-approved toys.
Here are some great teen gift ideas.
By age and interest
here.