These cute little gnomes are popping up everywhere I look (it probably doesn’t help that I started following an All About Gnomes board on Pinterest). I’ve never made one of these gnomes, so I started pinning DIY articles, but there are so many variations on how you can create one. I thought I would just dive right in and it would be super easy, but I found it a little challenging. Good news is that each gnome can be different in their own way.
You can make your own following this tutorial, or buy one of the many variations of gnomes sold at our Raid The Knight Vendor Fair on March 28th.
Table of Contents
Supplies
Women’s White Crew Sock
Dry Rice or Beans
Hair Tie
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Scissors
Faux Fur
VGK Cotton Fabric
Red Yarn
Pipe Cleaner
Valentine Ribbon
Wood Ball Knob
(You can find most of the supplies at Hobby Lobby)
Step One: Creating the Body
I decided to use a women’s white crew sock because I had some on hand from another project. Plus, I figured the beard would cover most of the sock. I saw that you can also use an ankle sock or a colorful fuzzy sock. I added the rice to a cup first, placed the sock over the cup, and poured the rice into the sock. I wanted a fatter gnome, so I added two cups of rice. (This is a perfect project for your expired rice. I have heard you can use beans instead if you are concerned about bugs.)
Force the rice to the bottom of the sock and tie the sock off with a hair tie.
I glued the top of the sock down so the hair tie would not slip off.
Step Two: The Beard
I found out from the lady at the cutting counter that you can buy sheets of faux fur; they come in various colors at Hobby Lobby. Cutting the fur can be a little tricky. You want to cut just the backing and not the fur itself. I decided to carefully use scissors, but I saw another version where you can cut the backing with a crafters knife or box cutter.
I used a 1/4 section of the fur and cut it into the shape of a triangle.
I decided to glue only the top half of the beard onto the sock. Depending on how large and long your beard is you can glue the whole backing to the sock.
Step Three: Assembling the Hat
Now is the part that was challenging for me. I wanted my gnome to have a VGK hat. I saw a DIY article that you can use floral wire to bend the hat how you would like it to be. I could not find my wire, so I improvised with a piece of pipe cleaner.
Cut a piece of cotton into a triangle with it wide enough to wrap around the head of the gnome.
Glue a piece of wire onto one of the hats sides.
Glue a piece of Valentine ribbon to the bottom edge that will go around the gnomes head.
Then glue the edges together (or sew them).
I wanted some sort of pom pom to finish off the look of the hat. You can glue on a colorful pom pom, but I decided to make my own out of yarn.
I like the idea of securing it to the hat by cutting a little hole and tying it on.
Step Four: Finishing Touches
Glue the wood ball to the center part of the beard, low enough for the hat to sit above the ball and below the edge of the beard. (I should have glued it down a little bit lower).
Your final touch will be to glue the gnome’s hat on. I did this in sections, added a thin line of glue onto the edge of the beard and secured the hat.
Continuing this step around the gnome until the hat is completely glued on. Then bend the hat and adjust it how you like.
I found my first gnome to be challenging, but the more you create them, the easier they get. From fuzzy socks, to felt hats, to smaller beards, to stuffing the hat, to adding braids, each gnome has his/her own unique style.
