Vintage Pinecone Elves For Christmas

I wanted to share these cute little vintage pinecone elves with you all today in hopes that it inspires you to see their charm and beauty!

Sometimes I just have to wonder! I wonder how people came up with some of the ‘vintage decor’ items that are so popular today? For example, who in the world decided to try making an elf by mixing pinecones, spun cotton, chenille, and felt. I don’t know … but I sure am happy that they did! May I introduce you all to the cutest little vintage pinecone elves out there!

I have amassed a small ‘gang’ of these vintage pinecone elves (some call them gnomes) over the years and I usually just mix them in with my old Putz houses. This year I wanted to do something new. I wanted to give them their own moment to shine.

A few months ago I was brainstorming ideas of how to display these guys. After thinking it through I decided to do a variation of this display that I did last year.

I wanted to create a little ‘vignette’ that made it look like these vintage pinecone elves were in “forest” of sorts. Instead of trees, I decided to use mushrooms (I ordered these beautiful mushrooms online) and I used this moss as the ‘forest floor.’

I decided to create this “forest” in a weathered decorative bucket that I got at a recent estate sale for $8.00. I used soil to fill the bucket up and then covered the soil with the moss. I first nestled in the large mushroom ornaments around the planter and then I popped in the smaller mushrooms (you can find those here) and peppered them in here and there.

Next, I worked in my vintage pinecone elves and I was mindful to place them so that their charming little faces can be seen. Each little guy is so different and full of character. I love them!

The majority of these vintage pinecone elves are marked “Japan” and my guess is that they were made around the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. They are roughly 2 to 3 inches tall and each of these little guys indeed shows a little age here and there – a result of being handled and played with over the years.

I do not know too much about them otherwise. My guess is that these elves originated in Germany and then Japan jumped in to make them as well. If you know ANYTHING about the history of these guys, I would love it if you could comment below! One of my biggest goals here is to continue to learn as much as I can about the old things that I love and that I am drawn to.

I finished off the space with a few vintage shiny bright ornaments. I used red ones and silver ones in various sizes. I chose those colors specifically because I liked the way they matched the mushrooms!

I am including a few links to a few pinecone elves that I found. These are ones that I would gladly add to my collection. To shop – simply click on each picture!

I hope you enjoyed these little faces as much as I do. I love sharing these photos here on the blog. I do love sharing on instagram too (as so many of you know – follow me here if you aren’t already), but the blog allows me to share so many more pictures and this is where my vignettes and visions can live on for a lot longer….. all of that to say, thank you for being here!

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