instructables

Santa's Elves Yard Display

by blipvert

After years of Christmas plywood cutout characters,

we decided to follow the 3D trend and build some
happy elves for our yard this year. Yard Elves Animation Video

The elves are wooden skeletons with newspaper

pressed and taped all around to form the shapes. 2019- Updated with dimensions on page 3
Two coats of paper mache, bits of clay added, gesso,
paint, and waterproofing and they are ready for
display!

Santa's Elves Yard Display: Page 1

Santa's Elves Yard Display: Page 2
Step 1: Materials and Tools

The basic materials are: Craftsman jigsaw with foot switch

--------------------------------- drill with large bits
2x2, 1x2, 2x4 lumber paintbrushes
dowels medium fine sandpaper
newspaper hot glue gun
masking tape
posterboard For the animated elf spinning package:
brown paper bags ----------------------------------------------------
paper mache - we use PlayBOX wheat paste 3lbs gear motor - Solarbotics GM21 $20
paper clay - Creative Paper Clay Co. 1/2" PVC pipe
gesso - Liquidtex surface prep Copper pipe
wrapping paper 2 scavenged scooter bearings
decoupage - Mod Podge 5/16" plain steel rod
Drylok Extreme Masonary Waterproofer paint without 5/16" ID steel coupler
sand (UPDATED 12/2013) 14ga steel sheet 9"x9"
Acrylic paints Styrofoam brick
Krylon acrylic crystal clear satin spray paint for 2 AA batteries and holder
waterproofing hot glue and gun
misc washers, allen set screws, hookup wire
Basic tools:
---------------

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Step 2: Skeleton

Build a skeletal structure for your happy little elf out of 2x2 and 1x2 pine. The feet are 2x4 pine for weight and
stability. The joints are pinned with dowels and wood glue.

The arms and legs are 7/8" hardwood dowels. They are pinned and wrapped with paper mache strips of grocery
bags.

Here are the measured FINISIHED dimensions of the 4 elves in inches:

Package Elf Back_Pkg Front_Pkg Spinner

------------------------------------------
Hat height 17 20 20 13
Head height 10 9 10 10
Head width 10 10 10 10
Head depth 10 10 10 10
Upper arm 11 9 9 9
Lower arm 9 7 6 5
Hand length 8 9 10 7
Torso length 12 16 18 21
Torso width 12 10 11 10
Torso depth 12 10 8 8
Thigh 7 13 13 12
Lower leg 12 9 8 10
Foot length 10 11 10 10
Foot width 5 5 5 5

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Santa's Elves Yard Display: Page 5
Step 3: Filling the Frame

Lots of newspaper and masking tape! paper cutouts.

Shape the body, head, arms, hands, and feet by Make it pretty firm so it will keep it's shape when
crumpling up newspaper and taping it to the skeleton. paper mache'ing in the next step.
You can round out things with more tape. More tape
is always the answer!

Add elements like hats and collars with heavy

posterboard paper. Check eye positions with colored

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Step 4: Paper Mache

Tear brown supermarket paper bags into strips. Do
not cut them, you need the feathered edges from
tearing. Bigger strips for the body and smaller for
around fingers and ears.
Mix up batch of wheat paste per the instructions on
the package. You can cover it and store it between
sessions.
Let dry then do a second complete coat of paper
mache on the elf.
Use paper clay on the face, especially to pop out the
eyes. On the hands to smooth them, and on the big
buttons to give them dimension. Sand the paper clay
lightly for a nice finish.

Dip the strips in the paper mache mix to coat both

sides and lay down in random directions. Cover the
entire elf.

Santa's Elves Yard Display: Page 7

 1

1. Different character, but this is what the dried paper mache looks like.

Step 5: Gesso and Paint

To smooth the elf, apply 2-3 coats of gesso then paint
it with waterproof basement paint (UPDATED
12/2013). The basement paint has really held up on
other outdoor projects.
Use the small containers of acrylic paints common in
craft stores or larger bottles from big box stores.
The present was made by just taking a cardboard box
and taping it closed, paper mache, then decoupage
Christmas wrapping paper to the box with Mod
Podge. You can make a bow out of posterboard. The
bow was paper mache'd and painted.

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Step 6: Animated Spinning Present
A spinning present on one of the elves finger was
done with a small mail-order motor, batteries and
some mechanical parts.
I bought a gear-drive motor from Solarbotics, 360:1
gear reduction that seemed
to spin at a nice rate with 2 AA batteries.
The motor fit nicely in some spare PVC pipe. I hated
to load the motor with the weight of the present, even
though it would be made out of styrofoam, so I
scavenged two bearings from a defunct scooter that
were the same outside diameter as the PVC and
slipped them all in a piece of copper pipe with some
spacers.
To join the motor to the present, I drilled a 5/16" piece
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of plain steel and tapped a set screw to hold it to the
motor shaft. Then I brazed a collar on the shaft and
brazed that to a piece of sheet metal that was
lightened with holes.
Two halves of styrofoam were hot glued around the
sheet metal and wrapping paper was decoupaged
around the styrofoam.
The whole assembly fit into the elf's finger nicely, the
hand was made to be removable.
I added a piece of a ping pong ball to round out the
fingertip and shield the motor assembly.
Santa's Elves Yard Display: Page 10
Step 7: Protective Finish

To make this even more waterproof, we sprayed the elves with a couple coats of Krylon indoor/outdoor clear satin
acrylic spray paint. Be sure to paint outdoors on a drop cloth with several light coats. Paint the presents too.

Water poured on the elf beaded up nicely so the are ready for our outdoor display. They have lasted 3 seasons
now but we cover them in heavy rain (UPDATED 12/2013).

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Amazing, I presented this idea and this is the result... thanks so much¡¡

Awesome! Thanks for sharing, the elves are busy all over the world.

We made these two this year...they are life size...standing next to our 12 foot tree! They are a great
addition to our Christmas decor!

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This was great!!! I love my elf

I love these elves and trying to make them,having an issue with the hands can you give me some
directions..Thank u so much
Hi- I just roll a tube of newspaper for each finger and sandwich it between two scrunched up
flattened balls of newspaper. Then tape everything to hold it in place so the fingers look nice. A
flattened bunch of newspaper for the cuff is taped to it and the wrist dowel is pushed through. Page
3 photos 3 and 4 can be enlarged by clicking on them to see a closeup. Enjoy!
Could you maybe blow up some rubber gloves a bit and paper matches them then pull the glove
out and add to the frame and secure?
thank you so much!!!

love them great instructions

That turned out great. What fun to see it. I am glad you sent us a picture.

This larger than life elf is almost 5 feet tall. It was a great project for my 10 year old granddaughter
and I!

Giving this a try but using PVC with 90 and 45 degree elbow connectors!

Please post pictures of your final results! I like the PVC pipe idea.

Side views requested by user:

Hello i am wanting to make this will it be able to sappor hairy rain

I just found this website, new to it. I just typed in paper mache and when I saw these, I just
laughed. I love whimsical, the more whimsical the better and these are just fantastic!!! I have never
paper mached before and I think I would love it, so going to start small and move up!
Totally amazing. Wow

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these are just beautiful but will they withstand our cold wet Oregon weather?

I undercoated them with masonary sealer paint which makes them hold up pretty good in the
weather. Some people say marine varnish works well. We live in California so they have never
been tested in really cold rainy weather.
How many coats of mod podge did you coat the presents with?

To tell you the truth I switched to plastic light up presents. The presents in the picture didn't hold up
to well in the weather. I did that so long ago I don't remember exactly what I did. Sorry I can't be
more help.
Can't wait to make these for Christmas this year :(!!

Make sure you send pictures when you finish them.

Will do!! Thank you!

This makes an awesome addition to our Christmas display. Many thanks. :)

Thanks for the photo, looks like a fun Santa's workshop!

I have gathered all of my supplies to make these elves but I am a little confused what you mean by
"pinned" as related to the skeletal structure. also can you tell me if the head is made just by balling
up newspaper until you get the desired shape?
I am happy you want to make some elves!

For the joints, I drilled through both pieces with a drill bit that just snugly fit a length dowel. Then
glued all around the joint and dowel held at the desired angle. After drying, trim any dowel ends
sticking out and wrap with paper mache' to stiffen. For dowel arms and legs going into 2x4s, just a
tight fit and outdoor wood glue.

Yes the head, feet, etc. are free form - bunching newspaper and taping it down. Lots and lots of
masking tape helps keep everything in place.
I want to make some of these but spooky style for Haloween! This tutorial is great, thank you so
much for it!
Sooo cute

Wow! Love this!!!!!! Do you take orders?

What a creative mind.
I love this! my only question would be, when you added the brown paper everything looked boxy,
but after wards it didn't, how did you do that part? did you add extra for the pants and such?
That was a picture we slipped in. Being so messy, we didn't take any brown paper covering
pictures of the elves. This is a Pinocchio pinata with paper towel tubes for arms and legs instead of
wood dowels.
The clothing was done with poster board just like the hat and collar in the previous picture. Paper
mache with newsprint then brown paper. It can get a bit soggy but everything works fine if you do it
in sections and let it dry between coats.
okay I see, do you have a finish photo of this one? I would love to see it as well. Of course I was

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going to make your elves for myself, but I ran out of time doing things for everyone else. now
Christmas is gone and they would look odd sitting outside my house/apartment during the summer
time unless I dressed them in hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts...lol
Here is a picture of the finished Pinocchio pinata. It does take planning, especially since paper
mache' dries much quicker in warm dry weather. Good luck and post your summer elves!

What a FANTASTIC job! I am a huge fan of paper mache. This display looks better then any you
could buy in a store! I really LOVE it!
wonderful job

muito boa criação amigo, gostei e vou fazer pra familia.

Poderia me dizer que carro é esse laranja na garagem?,estou muito curioso pra saber
Hello! It is my 1973 DeTomaso Pantera. It is very original condition and great fun. Here it is parked
on a mountain trip, thanks for asking! http://goo.gl/gaAfE
Your elves have such amazing personality. Love the vintage feel. I can't wait to try them and agree
with the person above who said you should be designing for a department store. These are
wonderful!
P.S. Marine varnish after you've done all your painting on papier mache is supposed to work well
outdoors.
Would you be willing to make these to sell?

I was wondering how well the elves held up outside in the elements?

They did get a little soggy with the rain but didn't turn into mush. So we overpainted them with
outdoor primer and repainted. They have held up well this year with a few rainy days. Good
question, one we were most curious about as well.
EXACTLY what I have been looking for!!!!!
Absolutely brilliant
Thank you all for your kind words and voting us into top finalist spot for the Krylon competition!
Stay tuned for more fun through the year.
oh gorgeousss !!!

awesome!

I'm happy you won. Really well deserved.

Well-deserved win! Congrats!

These are so great! Now you just have to hide from all the neighbors who come begging to know
where you found these smashing elves :0) I see orders in your future.

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