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This post first appeared on the Mod and Mint blog.
Over the years I have collected many vintage Christmas ornaments. My favorite are for sure the small wooden Scandinavian peg doll ornaments. Most that I have found were made in Denmark and Sweden around the 1960s. They have such a happy and cheerful look about them, I just can’t resist their charm.
Unfortunately, these vintage Christmas decorations are getting harder and harder to find. So when I recently came across a bag of blank wooden peg dolls, I knew what to do.
Make DIY Scandinavian vintage-inspired Santa Christmas Peg dolls!
These handmade Christmas decorations are great heirlooms to use year after year and eventually pass on down.
They also make great little Christmas gifts. If you glue them onto a wood slice you can write a short note on the bottom!
Or turn them into cute Christmas ornaments for the tree. Simply thread a piece of string or baker’s twine through the tip of the hats, and they are ready to hang!
Continue below for the printable Christmas peg doll step-by-step instructions!
DIY Wooden Santa Peg doll Christmas Ornaments
These are the cutest handmade holiday crafts! Let's find out how to make these handpainted wooden Christmas peg dolls.
Materials
Tools
- Paintbrush
- Hot Glue Gun
- Scissors
- Dotting Tool
Instructions
- Start by lightly sketching the faces and bodies on the peg dolls in pencil before going in with paint. This way you can easily adjust positioning and proportions as needed.
- Next, paint the bodies. Let dry.
- When the bodies have dried, draw on arms, belts, and mouths with an ultra-fine Sharpie marker.
Next, paint on the eyes and noses. Use the dotting tool to make perfect small dots for the eyes and noses.
Put a small dot of soft pink paint on the cheeks. Use your finger or a cotton swap to blend it out.
- When all is done and dried, varnish with a layer of Mod Podge sealer to add durability to your creations. Let dry completely before moving on to the next step.
- Cut triangles from the red felt to make the hats. Make sure the bottom part of the triangle is wide enough to go around the head and still have a little overlap. Fold in half and hot glue the sides to form the hat. Hot glue around the inside of the hat and place it slightly slanted on the head.
- Cut out a small piece of white felt for Mrs Claus’ apron. Hot glue it on her belly.
- For Santa’s beard, take a very small piece of a cotton ball. Flatten and pull it into a small beard shape. Carefully hot glue it on Santa’s chin.
- Finishing Up: Hot glue Mr. and Mrs. Claus together on a wood slice. Or turn them into hanging ornaments. To do so, thread a piece of string or baker’s twine through the tip of the hats!
You can try to find original vintage figurines on Etsy. You might be lucky and find some wonderful vintage Christmas peg dolls.
If you enjoyed this project, you might also like the tutorials on how to make cute pine cone elves, pom pom Christmas wreath, or the paper Christmas reindeer. More easy holiday crafts to do!
Your peg dolls have more of a rounded body. The link you shared to Amazon, the bodies are triangular and tube shaped. Where did you buy the ones in your picture of completed Santa family?
Hi Natalie, Yes, there were more options when I originally wrote this article. Here is a peg doll listing that has some similar ones. It’s the female peg dolls that have the more rounded bodies. Sometimes you can find larger sets of male/female peg dolls.