DIY Peg People Ornaments

Lately, I have been extremely busy. I keep adding items to my "to do" list and not checking many things off. Not only is Christmas quickly approaching, but we are attempting to get our home ready to sell at the beginning of the year. I'm making several homemade gifts, cleaning and decluttering, planning my daughter's 3rd birthday, teaching sewing lessons, painting kitchen cabinets, doing Christmas activities with the kids, making baby quilts, and attempting to keep up with the laundry. So my posts will probably be few and far between over the next couple of months.

And now for a fun and simple holiday tutorial! Each year before Christmas, we like to get our kids one new ornament that is just for them. Last year I splurged on character ornaments, but this year, I wanted to try my hand at making ornaments instead. After some research, I found some super-cute wooden peg people and decided to give them a try.

You can find similar items for sale on Etsy, as well as tutorials on various blogs. This was not my original idea, but I made these in a relatively short amount of time and wanted to share!

What You Need

• Wooden pegs (I found mine in an 8-pack at Hobby Lobby)
• Craft paint
• Fine paint brush
• Pencil
• Small screw-in hook (similar to the one pictured at the right)

What You Do

• Decide on what kind of people you want to make. I let my kids decide which characters they wanted. Eddie chose Iron Man, Captain America, and Spiderman. Violet chose Winnie the Pooh, the Grinch, and Rapunzel (not pictured because she is missing somewhere in the house).

• Find an image or toy to use as your model.
• Using your pencil, sketch your design onto the peg. You really don't have to be good at drawing for this. I am awful at drawing! These peg people are meant to be "minimalist," so use simple shapes and straight lines. And if you mess up, erase and try again!

Mr. Darcy, in progress

• Start painting. I generally begin with the most prominent color in the design and save my outlining for the very last. For most of my pegs, I used two coats of paint. Don't forget to paint the bottom of your peg, too, as it will be visible when hanging on a Christmas tree!
• Once your paint has dried, insert your screw-in hook. Depending on the size of hook you use, you may be able to do this without a drill. I used a drill and our smallest drill bit to drill a hole into the top of each peg, then screwed the hook in.

Pegs for my niece and nephews -- Sleeping Beauty, Ninjago, and Buddy the Elf

{Linked on A Little Claireification, The Wondering Brain, Sewlicious Home Decor, Be Different...Act Normal}