Petr Václavek is the creator of the Acorn Elves, beloved characters in the Postcrossing community and beyond.
Petr paused from his work last autumn to share with Clarisse (aka CStar9) how he got his start in photography, give us an inside look at his artistic process, and let us peek at the cute stickers he debuted last year.
- You’ve described the acorn elves (dubánci, in Czech) as a happy accident. When building woodland characters to entertain your children, you ran out of chestnuts and switched to using acorns. At what point did you realize this was an idea that could be widely – even globally – popular?
Yes, it was exactly like that – the acorn elves were created by accident. We ran out of chestnuts and so I used acorns instead, which we had plenty of in the garden. I first realised the popularity of the acorn elves when I posted the first pictures of them on social media – everyone loved them and they were one of my most successful posts. But it took me another year to realize how popular they really are. The first year I made only two or three figures, but a year later I made more and since then I’ve been making them regularly. The most successful one was of course the one sitting on the toilet, which literally went around the world (at least on the internet).
The most famous and widely shared acorn elf - What are some elements that define Dubánci for you?
Playful, curious, mischievous, funny, mischievous again… They are forest creatures that have inhabited oak forests since time immemorial (sometimes you can see them in nature, but they are very shy and can hide themselves skillfully), but at the same time they are – at least some of them – very curious and so they watch what is happening in the human world and then try to imitate humans. But they don’t always get everything right and that’s how a lot of comical situations arise, which I like to capture in photographs.
- How do you get an idea from your head to the final image? Which step in that process is generally the most challenging / time-intensive?
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Learn more about Petr’s process behind one picture. The process is sometimes a bit lengthy – sometimes it takes a few years from the initial idea, because I have a lot of ideas and they keep coming. In order to get them out of my head and not forget them, I write them down – actually, I sketch them – in a notebook, and then once in a while I make one of the ideas come true – I build an acorn elf based on the sketch, take it to the woods or some other nice place, take a photo of it there, and then edit the photos in Photoshop at home.
Sometimes the hardest part is to make the acorn elf, sometimes to glue together its equipment (bike, motorbike, lantern), and sometimes it’s much harder to take photos. Just to find a suitable place in the forest I have run dozens of kilometers there. Sometimes the shot needs a lot of editing in Photoshop, because even digital photography isn’t omnipotent (or I shot it wrong).
But I enjoy all of the above stages and am happy when the result entertains the fans.
- Is there a particular image that has a funny or surprising creation story?
It’s interesting that even after eight years I still remember where I took each photo, including the story that led to the photo. Many of the photos were taken with my youngest daughter in the stroller – when she was about to go to bed after lunch, I loaded her into the stroller, grabbed my acorn elves and camera, and headed out into the woods. Along the way I looked for nice places to take pictures and when she finally fell asleep, I stopped and took pictures of acorn elves.
Faithful copy of the famous Czech motorcycle, the Jawa 250 I have made several means of transport for the acorn elves. The first one was a bicycle (I am an avid amateur cyclist), followed by a scooter, a skateboard and then a motorbike came to mind. But I wanted it to be perfect, so I found the plans of a historic Czech motorcycle, Jawa 250, and glued together a faithful copy of it. It’s probably their most challenging item – it took me 10 hours to glue it together, but the result is worth it!
A scene Petr didn’t plan! While photographing the instructions for making Halloween pumpkin decorations for a children’s magazine, one of the acorn elves dropped his little hand. So I immediately shot a horror scene, which was definitely not in the plan. At least the kids will be more careful of their fingers when they are working with the knife while carving the pumpkins!
My most famous and favourite photo is of the acorn elf sitting on the toilet and reading newspapers. When I was taking a set of postcards for the holiday campers, I thought I would reuse the toilet! All I had to do was make a wooden caddy and a funny new scene was ready!
Petr’s first postcard of an acorn elf This was one of the first acorn elves postcards. The owner of a local postcard company talked me into designing a couple of postcards with acorn elves on them. And when I told him that postcards weren’t used much anymore, he showed me Postcrossing. I was impressed and immediately asked him what should be on the postcard, what motif would users like the most. He replied – well, something with mail, like a mailbox. I immediately remembered that a few days ago I was building little houses for the acorn elves in the nearby forest with kids, so I just glued together a mailbox and some letters and postcards from birch bark at home and went to take pictures.
I was once approached by a magazine that said they would like to do an article on acorn elves and that they could be on the cover, but as it was for the Christmas issue they wanted something with a Christmas theme and came up with the nativity scene.
I took it as a challenge and had a great time. Especially shooting in the dark and lighting the scene. It made a perfect cover and to this day it is one of the most beautiful Christmas cards.
- What is your studio like?
I may surprise you, but I don’t have a studio. I usually glue them in the evenings at home, right in the living room on the table, when my wife and children are asleep. I have a quiet place to work and no one disturbs me. It’s just that the midnight clean-up is sometimes more difficult, because I have to carry a lot of boxes of material and all sorts of tools while I’m working.
Petr’s studio: a table in the living room in the deep night The most important tool in the work is of course the hot glue gun – it’s unbelievable what you can do with a melt gun. At one time I used to make stuffed animals with my youngest daughter with a melt gun because I got tired of sewing them with a needle :) Another must is a sharp knife or gardening shears. But sometimes you also need to use a jigsaw, a hacksaw, a small cutter or a soldering iron.
And if you ever catch me gluing acorn elves in the evening, you might be surprised how often I look in the mirror and try out their poses – I want the result to look as natural as possible. So sometimes I’ll use a mirror, other times I’ll search the internet for inspirational photos of the pose.
- Acorn elves look simple. But there are trade skills needed to create their world: woodworking, photography, and design, to name a few. You learned woodworking in your father’s workshop as a child, then studied software engineering and became a programmer and web designer. When did photography come into your toolkit? And, do you still work as a designer?
When I was a kid, I liked to help my dad in the darkroom when he developed our family photos, but I didn’t try photography then. I didn’t get interested until after graduation, when I was a senior front-end developer for a multinational corporation and the first affordable digital cameras came out.
Sometime in 2003 I bought an Olympus C730 digital ultrazoom with an amazing 3 megapixel resolution and 10x optical zoom. It was a small miracle for me and I fell completely in love with digital photography – I watched a lot of photography websites, had my images critiqued and gradually learned how to take decent pictures.
Everyone liked my photos and I often heard that I could do it for a living. So I tried uploading my images to microstock sites and was surprised at how well they sold. So I gradually built up my portfolio on the microstock in the evenings, and later I started adding vector illustrations because I found they sold even more and I enjoyed making them.
As time went on, my earnings from the microstock were more than my income from my corporate job, so I switched to freelancing. Nowadays, I still make my living from the microstock, but I do other graphic design work on commission from time to time, and then of course the acorn elves make some money too, but I still think of them as my creative escapades that I do for fun.
- What is your relationship to postal mail, and how has that evolved over time?
I love the mail, it’s always a surprise what turns up in the mailbox and when it arrives. When I discovered Postcrossing, I thought it was a great idea and I love it! My kids and I have sent several postcards out into the world this way. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the price of postage doesn’t go up too much and that Postcrossing will continue to thrive in the future.
And one more thing – this year I have prepared a special set of stickers with acorn elves for decorating postcards. So maybe someone will like it.
Get the stickers here! - What’s something you’re proud of, outside of the acorn elves project?
Definitely my kids! We have three and they’re so smart. My oldest is following in my programming footsteps and my two daughters are incredibly creative, so I have my acorn elves followers.
- The acorn elves are now postcards, calendars, stickers, t-shirts, books, even games. What’s next for them, and for you?
I’ve been making postcards, calendars, and t-shirts for years. I thought it was a shame to keep the photos only on the internet. This way, the acorn elves are more exposed to the real world and many more people get to know them. Over time, in addition to my Czech e-shop, I started a shop on Zazzle, just to fulfill the wishes of my foreign fans. And of course I also made a separate site in English.
In the last few years, I’ve started to create more books. I began to collaborate with a successful children’s book writer Klara Smolíková and so gradually three books with stories of acorn elves for children were created. It’s a different job again, when I have to read the text and take pictures according to the story.
I didn’t limit the author in any way as to what is and isn’t possible in photography and so there were many challenges that I thought I couldn’t possibly overcome. For example, I photographed a flying bird nest with a lizard and an acorn elf, or an acorn elf with a dog fleeing underground through mole burrows from fighting earthworms. But in the end I did it all! And if I can get a publisher abroad, these lovely books will be published in English.
Actually, I have already published one book in France, bilingual (English and French): Acorn Elves – the lovely creatures from Petr Vaclavek. But it doesn’t contain a story for children; it’s a book of my photos with short bilingual captions, a short interview, and a photo guide for gluing and taking pictures of an acorn elf.
- What does the future hold for the acorn elves?
I’d love to see them in an animated movie or TV show someday. I’ve been working with a Czech company on this for a year now, but it’s a long haul – you can’t do it with one person anymore. I definitely also want to try to come up with a board game with acorn elves in the next few years, and maybe we can make a computer game – that would be a nice stepping stone to a movie.
You can find out more about Petr and his acorn elves on his website, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube or other social media. You can also visit his shop for Europe or for the rest of the world.
And now, for the traditional giveaway! Clarisse is going to send 4 postcards featuring Petr’s Acorn Elves to 4 randomly picked postcrossers. To participate, you have to tell us: “If you could create your own acorn elf, what would it look like or what would it be doing?” Leave a comment below, and come back this time next week to check out the winners!
79 comments so far
What a great creator, I love the way people use there fantasy.
This interview is again a nice way to read how we enjoy postcrossing.
My acorn elves like to do a little skating on ice, like we are doing as Dutch.
These acorn elves are just wonderful. I wish someone would send me a postcard with them) My acorn elf would be fishing while sitting in a boat.
These are absolutely adorable - you are so clever.
My acorn elf would be walking his acorn dog.
I’ve never seen or known about this wonderful world of elves! My elf would be riding a bicycle.
Great interview - great artist - lovely acorn fellows! :D
Perhaps I'd send one of them as an astronaut to outer space, meeting some friendly aliens...
Wonderful creations!
My acorn elves would like to swim.
Thank you for your kind and lovely comments! And also for your ideas for new Acorn Elves. Feel free to mention in your comments which Acorn Elves you think are missing from the postcards. I will definitely pick some of your suggestions and photograph them for the next set of postcards, or (if I already have a suitable photo) I’ll add it to the collection.
Petr Václavek, creator of the Acorn Elves
OMG, that absolutely warmed my heart; just what I needed today ❤️. If I could create my own acorn elf it would be a Physical Therapist in a humorous situation/treatment with a patient !
I recently went to an art gallery and absolutely fell in love with a contemporary artist. I wanted to support her work but there were no affordable options in the giftshop. I have so much respect for artists willing to produce postcards and stickers so that their work can be shared widely rather than limiting it to a select elite few. Petr - your art is so charming and so clearly made with love! Please continue to breathe life into Europe's mischievous and charismatic legendary creatures!
I would LOVE an acorn elf interacting with a cat - maybe just looking at it from a distance, or even riding it - that would be such a great cross over for all the cat fans out there :D
Lovely Photos. My Acorn Elves would like to dance or do covers of famous art works.
My acorn elf would chill in the hammock 🏖️.
Very nice Acorn Elves 😍.
What a delightful interview, thank you! I’d love to see the elves camping, or an acorn elf teaching a child something like how to tie thier shoes. Or an acorn elf feeding a baby their first solid food.
Thank you for sharing this creative artist with us!
Oh my! What adorable pictures 😍
My acorn elf would be tending to his garden of crops. Maybe in cute little pots, or if he is a more ambitious gardener a small farm of wheat or mini-sunflowers.
My acorn elf would be soaking in a hot tub.
My acorn elf would be sailing in a kayak or playing board games at the table with a group of friends 🌰🛶🎲
I have an acorn elf https://www.postcrossing.com/postcards/AT-716832 :)
Amazing work, Petr! This is the uplifting story we need nowadays. Kudos to all the creators everywhere.
My acorn elf would be doing Tai chi!
My acorn elf would be walking a dog. I love the acorn elves.
I love these elves! Firstly when I saw them years ago, it reminded me about forest creatures from my favorite "Kuky se vrací" movie. And he is from Czechia as well :)
My acorn elf would meet Kooky the Bear.
That's such an amazing art work 💙
My acorn elf should be a singer or a guitar player in a band 🎸🧑🏽🎤
Love these little creatures. One day, all my favorite little friends would have a giant party (the little chef, the moomins...so on). In the meantime, how about crocheting? I'm happy to crochet you a few tiny scarves to use!
My elves would be playing tennis on the tennis court as I am a huge tennis fan 🎾
Wonderful creations!
My acorn elf would take a walk with his house friends a cat & a dog!
(the cat must be black wit orange eyes and the dog must be an Akita dog)
xoxo
:) :D
These cuties made my day and just motivated me to try it on my own. I think acorn elves with flying kites would be sweet. 🌬️🪁
what a great creativity, really love this :)
My acorn elve would stand on a ladder picking apples from a tree.
I think my acorn elves would be green leprechauns because I have a house that is green with a big oak tree and Saint Patrick's day is soon and one extra acorn elf would have a sombrero for Cinco de Mayo because acorns will jump like Mexican jumping beans when you collect them from the Oak tree in our green house yard. I know this to be real and true!
These are absolutely adorable =)
My acorn elf would be embroidering.
wow, what a great story! If I had the talent, I would make the Beatles with 4 elves, including the instruments
I ADORE these wonderful little people. How clever and unusual.
I would love to see a whole choir of acorn elves, singing with joy!
Hi Petr! I remember seeing your work floating around blogs back in the day! It's wonderful to hear that you've made a living from your creative works. My acorn elf would definitely be napping in some soft, green mosses, I wish I could do that myself! All the best.
I love the acorn elves! As I was reading your story, I was visualizing you pushing your daughter in the baby stroller. So my acorn elves would be a proud acorn father pushing a stroller with his little baby acorn in it OR a set of proud acorn parents cradling their newborn acorn baby and looking lovingly down at him or her snuggled up in a blanket.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent with the world!
Eileen, USA
If I could make an Acorn Elf, she would be knitting! I adore how deceptively simple they look, and yet appreciate how complicated and exacting they must be to make. Thank you for sharing!
I love the creativity and spirit of these little elves, and of course I would love some postcards. My little elf would be sewing a quilt for those cold winter nights.
My acorn elf would be walking in a wind storm with leaves flying around. Thank you for sharing your amazing work.
My father would always tell me, "Remember that the mighty oak was once a nut like you", whenever I was frustrated for felt that I could not succeed at something. Back then it made me feel strong, and now it reminds me to be humble. We all start out small, just like acorns. When my father passed, I got my first tattoo (at age 55!) of two acorns and an oak leaf. Right over my heart.
My Acorn elf would have to be a father and daughter walking hand in hand.
My acorn elves would have dachshund.
So cute!!
100% delightful! (I needed delight today.)
My acorn elf would be flying a bi-plane with an open air cockpit!
If I made an acorn elf, I think I would show itgardening. Maybe it will have flowers growing? Maybe some bushes? Maybe a pretty gazebo or an arbor!
My acorn elf would send mail or play with an acorn unicorn - both have lots of scenic possibilities.
These little acorn people always make me smile :) I would have my acorn person scooping grain into a wheelbarrow to go feed the animals. I was raised on the farm - can't tell, can you?? :) Thank you for the story too!
My acorn elf is nestled in the heart of the forest, surrounded by a mandala of colorful leaves, each one carefully arranged to form a natural circle. In the centre, the elf is painting a new Czech stamp design on a tiny canvas. Beside the elf is a pestle and mortar, used to mix pigments made from crushed forest treasures—berries, mushrooms, delicate flowers, pine needles, moss, leaves etc. A palette holds each of these earthy colours which capture the hues of the woodland. In the background, a curious squirrel peeks from a hollow in the tree. Nearby, strips of tree bark are scattered, adorned with sketches and small sculptures, remnants of the elf's creative process 🌿
What talent! I have a love/hate relationship with acorns since I several oak trees near my garden. The squirrels dig up my vegetables and flowers to plant them.
I'd love to see a little acorn gardener (s) being chased by a squirrel.
My acorn elf would be trekking up a mountain with a big backpack on their shoulders, and it would be a lovely sunny spring day
My acorn elf would be sitting around a bonfire playing a banjo
My elf would have a little cape like a superhero!
My acorn elf would be a scuba diver!!!
How sweet and whimsical are these little acorn elves. I love them all and hope someday to receive a postcard of them.
I haven’t looked at any of the above comments because I don’t want them to influence my idea which I got while reading the interview.
I would have an acorn elf sitting in front of an open burning wood stove holding out one hand warming it and the other wiping a tear from her eye saying, “ I wish they had cut down the maple instead, mama.”
Really lovely work Petr. Bless your creative mind and hands.
These Acorn Elves are new to me and I love them!
I'd like to see elderly Acorn Elves and also a birthday party scene.
My perfect Acorn Elf would be sitting in an Armchair with a nice cup of tea , warmly dressed and wearing their spectacles whilst reading a book intently.
That simple ! I love these acorn Elfs......
My acorn elf would be doing cross-stitching or knitting
My ahorn elf would be collecting mushrooms in the forest.
Really love your acorn elves!
These little guys are my favorite postcards to send! As I live near the beach...I'd have them surfing, playing volleyball, building sand castles or just lounging on the sand relaxing!
These little acorn guys are so cute! I’d make one sitting down with a glass of wine in hand and a cozy cat on the lap. 🐈
I love the Acorn Elves. What wonderful fun!
My Acorn Elf would be wearing a beret, carrying a baguette and would of course, drive a Citroen 2CV.
My acorn elf would be a little explorer, dressed like an intrepid adventurer with a tiny acorn cap as a safari hat, a twig walking stick, and a leaf-shaped map in hand. It would be on a daring journey through the deep forest, encountering curious animals, discovering hidden mushroom villages, and perhaps even befriending a mischievous squirrel along the way. To capture its sense of wonder, I’d place it standing on a mossy rock, gazing at a glowing firefly like it’s a rare treasure. After all, every great adventure begins with a tiny step—or in this case, a tiny acorn elf!
These elves are so cute! My acorn elf would be painting a picture or driving a car.
How delightful!
My acorn elf would be sleeping. In a cosy, peaceful place.
I was thinking about one roasting some marshmallows, but maybe a mountaineer elf climbing a tall tree/branch (to see what it could see). This was a lovely feature article, thanks!
Cool. I've seen a lot of postcards with elves, but I don't think there was a businessman :)
My acorn elf will be a hat salesman. The bald customer will try on a fashionable acorn hat in front of a mirror.
So much fun to look at them!
My acorn elf would be a mountaineer climbing a big rock in the forest.
If I knew how to do woodworkm I would do my acorn elf sunbathing on a beach, sitting on a chair under a beach umbrella!
I absolutely loved reading about the creator of Acorn Elves! I've seen these adorable designs before and even purchased a few, but I was always curious about the entire collection and whether there were more designs. I'm thrilled there's a link to the stickers. My Acorn Elf would be exploring the depths of outer space! 🪐🌕🚀 🌎
Adorable,
Acorn Elves planting acorns, like in
The Man Who Planted Trees, book by French author Jean Giono, published in 1953.
I would make my acorn elf look for critters in a stream.
It was so nice to meet the creator of these famous little works of creativity! My little acorn elf would be feeding her chickens.
These are wonderful. My acorn elf would be gardening--badly, with flowers and weeds and veg all mixed up together. I don't think elves are big on weeding.
Acorn elves have been with us for more than two years. They are very popular with me and my friends. My acorn elf would definitely be the lighthouse keeper. He could stand at the top of the railing. Or he would sit on a bench next to the lighthouse. And watch the sunset.
AMAZING😆
So much fun! 🤩
I’d like to see a game of tug with a doggy 😍
Since i'm a surgery nurse from the bottom of my heart, i'd definitely create a surgery acorn elves team at work! 😷
My acorn elf would sit on the couch, watching football and a fluffy cat would lie on his stomach.🙂
Acorn elves are so cute! My acorn elf would be sewing, either clothes for the little ones or perhaps a quilt to keep warm on cold winter nights.
These acorn elves are absolutely delightful! My acorn elf would be working at a sewing machine, fixing up some new clothes!
I love this!🤩 It reminds me of fairy furniture for fairy gardens.🧚♀️
My acorn elf would be somewhere in a forest sitting on a tree stump meditating.🧘
I love these! I would love to see my acorn elf relaxing in a nice bath, maybe in a forest puddle.
Very sweet. My mom showed me photos like this recently, I think she’d love a postcard of it.
My acorn elf would say give a friendly wave to a squirrel.
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