The Woodshop Shed

Legendary Tree Hugging Elf

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


My daughter wanted me to make her one of the Winfield Tree Hugger Birdhouses. The pattern design was pretty basic so I decided I would have some fun and make a few chances. The first change was to make the sleeves and pants hang down a little to give it some depth; add a couple of Elf Ears; and do a little creative painting. I thought the ears would be a challenge since carving is not one of my better skills. I found a pattern for Elf Ears on the Internet; sized it: and printed 6 left and 6 right patterns. These I pasted them on a couple scrap pieces of red wood and cut them out on my Scroll Saw. I then drew the rounded shape of the horizontal shape of the ears and shaped it on my sander. Then I drew the pattern of the vertical shape of the ear and shaped it on my sander. I went through this process to shape all 6 sets of ears. Finally I used my Dremel, with a burr, to carve out the inside of the ear. Easy process (see below). Took me an hour to complete all 6 sets of ears. Now it was time to get creative painting the Elf. The only pattern I had to make was for the hair on the side of the head with the side burns. All I needed for the belt, belt buckle and belt loops was a ruler and circle stencil.Skin color was obvious, left over green I used for the Dinosaur Rocking Horse I made for my Grandson. The yellow shirt was left over from a Lathe Tool/Accessory Cabinet and Drill Press Cabinet I made for my Shop. I used baby blue for the eyes to match my grandson's eyes, left over blue for the blue jeans, etc.As you can guess I was not able to make just one. My wife and a friend both loved the idea of having a Tree Hugging Elf in the yard. So one turned into three.Since then I have had neighbors and the county worker turning on the water across from my daughter's house ask where to find one. My answer is the same to all. These are limited editions, the basic pattern is available on the Winfield site if they want to make their own. I did show a friend of mine how to make the ears. He and his wife (the friend that got one) are crafters interested in making a few to sell.All-in-all a fun rewarding experience….

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