I just
couldn’t help myself in succumbing to this as a hobby! He is so darn cute!!
I am so excited about my Elf on the shelf and have been
working on so many props for him!
The first thing I did was make him bendable and able to grip things -
so he has to have an elf surgery!
Here are the steps I did to perform his surgery…
What you will need…
- Floral wire (approximately 14 gauge)
- Needle-nose pliers
- Wire cutters
- Sharp needle
- Red & White thread
- Seam ripper
- White Velcro and glue if necessary
With the seam ripper…
- Cut the thread holding the Elf's hands together
- Remove the elbow and knee seams (see Note at bottom of post)
- Remove
a stitch or two from the tip of the Elf's hands and feet
Unwind some of your wire and using the needle nose pliers,
bend the top of the wire into a small loop. This prevents the wire from poking
through the ends of the Elf's arm or leg.
Slip the wire into the opening where you removed the
stitches earlier in the Elf's hand and work it up toward the Elf's shoulder. Keeping
the wire centered, all the way up through the padding to the top. Once the wire
is all the way up, leave room for what will be the loop at the end, then clip
using your wire cutters and loop with the needle-nose pliers. Then push
the loop back inside the hand.
After the wire is completely inside the hand, using your
sewing needle and white thread, begin stitching up the Elf's hand to close.
Trim the threads.
Repeat this process for the Elf's other arm and his legs
(use red thread when stitching up the Elf's legs)
Then attach a small piece of white Velcro to your Elf's
hands. I used the Velcro that is sticky
like a sticker but you can attach the Velcro using hot glue. I put the Velcro
on the backside of his hands. But I may apply Velcro to the other sides of the
Elf’s hands as well to increase our options. (wink) Now your Elf's hands will
be able to stick together so that he can hang from things.
Tada! Surgery is
complete! Now give him a kiss for being
so brave! Now you are both ready to go
ahead and make mischief and new memories with your Elf on the Shelf ready to
bend and grip at your will! The possibilities are endless!
**Note**
I removed all the elbow and knee stitches because that is
the look I wanted but if you want the elbow or knee look to remain…take your
seam ripper and at the BACK of the arm or leg, rip 2 of the stitches in the
center. Don’t pull out the threads; they can stay so it still looks
stitched.
