These fun Christmas critters involved a little sewing and beading. I found the elf pattern in one of my many old Christmas craft books. I made about a dozen of them in red, green and white. They have pipe cleaners for bodies, so they can bend and pose for you! Their heads are made from wodden balls, and their hands and feet are made from beads. The spiders were made from some bead kits that I bought through a mail order catalog. They are made from beads and wire with various jewelry findings. I had not tried this type of bead work before, and it was fun to put the kits together. The instructions were very good. As you can see, they are frisky little guys. The elves just kept playing "giddyap" on the spiders backs! I kept some of them for myself, but gave away most of the elves to lucky holiday passerbys ... The UPS lady could hardly believe that I made one for her (we worked her hard this year with lots of Christmas present ordering through the Internet!) She was so harried that day. I said, "Oh, stop! Just a sec!" and disappeared around the corner. "Here, this is for you," I said as I handed her the elf. She looked completely stunned. "For me?" she asked? "You made this?" "Yep!" I answered. "Merry Christmas!" I think I made her day. I love giving those kind of surprises.

   

Making the Elves
	Materials Assorted colors of felt Matching thread Needle One 1/2 inch wooden bead for the head Four pony beads for hands and feet in coordinating colors 12 inch pipe cleaners (chenille stems) Glue Instructions Using the patterns at left, trace onto cardboard and cut out. Trace around the cardboard patterns onto your felt. I liked using a different color felt for the body than I did for the hat and collar. Some of the hats and collars are the same color, on other elves I varied all the clothes colors. For each elf, cut two hats, two collars and two bodies. Cut the pipe cleaners into two pieces: one is 5 inches and the other is 7 inches. Fold the 7 inch piece in half. Form a 1/2 inch loop at the top for the head. Twist the two pieces of pipe cleaner around each other below the loop for almost an inch to form the body. Separate the pipe cleaner under the twist to form the legs. Wrap the 5 inch piece of pipe cleaner under the loop (at the neck)and twist to keep it from slipping to form the arms. Whip-stitch the felt body front and back together down one side and at one shoulder. Insert the pipe cleaner body, then whip-stitch the other side and shoulder. Whip-stitch the inseam. Glue the 1/2 inch wooden bead onto the top loop. Whip-stitch the front and back of the hat together. Glue it onto the bead head. Whip-stitch one shoulder seam on the collar. Wrap it around the neck of the elf. Whip stitch the second shoulder seam. If you like, you can glue the collar into place. Make little loops in the pipe cleaners at the hands and feet. Dip the loops in glue and slide the bead into place.
	The original pattern recommended using Sculpy clay to form the hands and feet. I found using beads handier, simpler and faster. The original pattern for these elves was found in: Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications Christmas Ornaments 1992 Page 78