Tuesday, December 8, 2020

{Get Crafty} Easy Dollar Tree Gnomes

I've been kind of gnome obsessed these last few holiday seasons so when I saw an easy tutorial, I wanted to give it a try.
The last time I made some gnomes was at this fun Holiday Crafternoon. We made them out of toilet paper tubes, wooden beads and felt.
This time I hit Dollar Tree for my supplies, I also picked up a few decorations. That Christmas truck sign and those sweater ornaments had to come home with me!

This is the tutorial I used and she'll explain it much better than I do.

Supplies needed: socks, holiday hat/stocking with faux fur trim, filling, styrofoam/ping pong balls, river rocks/dried rice/beans, felt/fabric scraps, pom poms, rubber bands, twine/ribbon/cord, clear elastics & hot glue.  All of these items can be found at Dollar Tree.


I started with one sock for the body of the gnome. I used some river rocks to weigh him down at the bottom and then stuffed him with fiber fill that I had on hand. You can also use stuffing from an old pillow, plastic bags or dried beans/rice for the body.
When I had him at height I wanted, I secured the top with a rubber band and cut off the excess sock.  It helps to then tie a ribbon or twine around the rubber band for added security.
Remove the faux fur from the hat (or stocking). I couldn't find my seam ripper but this little pair of scissors did the trick.
I covered a styrofoam ball with some scrap felt that I had and hot glued it to the top of the gnome.  For the beard, I cut a piece of the faux fur and notched out a square for the nose.
Hot glue the beard right below the nose.   You can separate it a bit to make a mustache too.
I was able to use the top of the hat for his hat and tucked under the ends, then hot glued it over the nose  and in the back (the sides get glued with the arms). I added a little white  pom pom after removing the fur pom pom from the hat (I thought it looked too big).
I made arms with some leftover hat fabric by creating two little tubes and filling them with stuffing.  I made the hands with round pieces of felt that I also stuffed then tied off with a clear elastic.
The arms get glued under the hat and the hands get glued to the arms then tied with some cord. I added a berry sprig to the hat's pom pom and tied that off with some cord.



The gnome looks cute just like this. 
Legs can be added just like the arms for a sitting gnome.
I already had this boot ornament and it worked perfectly for him. I didn't attach the boots because I still want the option of using them as an ornament.
I found this pair at Hobby Lobby and decided to make a girl gnome too.
I started her the same way by filling up a sock and tying it off,
I needed another hat and I also picked up a stocking for the white trim.
This time I made the nose by tying off a bit of the stuffing in the body.  I secured it with an elastic and some twine.
While I was making her hat, I also added some white fuzzy trim to Mr. Gnome's hat to finish it off.
I made two braids out of the faux fur and glued them under her hat.
I also made her an apron with leftover hat fabric and some white trim.
I was pretty pleased with how these two came out!

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5 comments:

Julie's Creative Lifestyle said...

You made such cute gnomes Heather! I love shopping at DT for seasonal items. I too have the red truck sign that I put under our Christmas tree. It's fun making holiday crafts!

Carla from The River said...

CUTE!!! Thank you for sharing the tutorial.
Carla

Tamar SB said...

So so adorable!!

Andrea Nine said...

Oh Heather, they are absolutely adorable and you know I love the buffalo plaid!

Creations By Cindy said...

Look at you miss crafty. Love it! Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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