The other day I got the sudden desire to make something. I was probably on Pinterest or something. And then I saw someone post this adorable DIY Gnomes. The post was a simple image, no link to an actual tutorial, so I did some simple searching online and found a TON.
I ended up seeing this YouTube video, as well as this blog tutorial, and kind of mashing the two together. One used a foam cone and the other used a bag of beans from the dollar store. Once I was actually at the Dollar Tree, I ended up kind of mashing the supplies together in my head. Most likely because I was distracted by all the OTHER stuff I found while there, AND because I had a Christmas ornament gift idea I was purchasing for as well. Clearly I need a shopping list in Dollar Tree more than I even do in a grocery store. Danger all around.
So I got home and realized I kind of had a hodge lodge of items to make these gnomes. Different supplies from different tutorials that I had seen. Guys, THIS is how I craft. Heh. I’m a pro.
So I grabbed my supplies and got to work. First of all, I realized I didn’t buy enough socks. I meant to buy three different colors, but couldn’t find enough that I liked. I am kind of picky on colors and prefer neutrals, so I went with black and grey. You could EASILY go with festive Christmas socks, or bolder patterns to change things up.
I ran upstairs because I had just gone through my sock drawer that week and had some set aside for giveaway. Instead, they were sacrificed to crafting. A worthy cause. That was my first win against being unprepared for this craft.
I realized after the fact that Dollar Tree does have foam shapes for crafts and arrangements, so I could have easily followed the blog tutorial above using the cone…had I thought of that IN the store. Instead I had beans on the brain and went thought route. Either is fine really, but I feel like the beans would give a bit more heft to the gnomes, allowing them to sit better.
Step one was to shove the bag of beans into a sock. I didn’t do anything to the bag of beans. I left them in the bag and just shoved them in. The first “gnome body” I did, I rubber banded it shut and then hot glued the middle of the opening. The other two I didn’t have any rubber bands within reach, so I simply tied the sock above the bag of beans and cut off the remaining length of one sock and just folded over the remaining length of the other. Lazy man’s crafting. I’m telling you.
Next I cut off the strings of the mop to create the beard. I just chopped them close to the top of the mop and then laid them on my counter. Then I slowly added hot glue to the top third of the gnome sock body, and added a strand at a time. I only did one or two layers going just past the sides of the gnome body. I think I might go back and thicken them up a bit. I’m also not a very decisive crafter.
I then grabbed my “fancy” socks to place on top. Again, I was NOT consistent with placement. They first one I rolled over the ankle cuff a couple of times to create a hat lip. I pulled it over the top of the sock body, making sure to cover at least the tops of the mop strands all the way around. Then I placed hot glue just under the edge all the way around. The other two I did the same way, but I didn’t roll them first. There wasn’t a lot of sock to roll before the frayed underside showed, so I just used the natural sock edge as a finished hat edge.
For all three hats I tied them in a knot around where the heel of the sock sits. It gave a little weight to the sock to make the hat “droop” just how I wanted it to. Then, true to my nature, I tied one hat end with twine and chopped off the end, but then left the other two hats intact and glued a bell to them. Variety is the spice of life, right?
After the sock hat was secured, I pulled apart the mop strands. It made the beard a little more full, as well as a little more beard-like. I might need to pull them apart even more in some spots for variety. This guy also got a slight beard trim after I was done. I felt like it was a little TOO long. I do like giving haircuts, so maybe that just stretches all the way to craft creatures as well.
At this point I needed noses for the gnomes. All the posts I saw online used wooden balls. I couldn’t find anything like that at the Dollar Tree, and my kids were acting crazy enough already that I was NOT going to attempt another store. So I grabbed some bells. Bells are festive!
Sadly, the bells were too small. I went with small ones thinking the gnomes were small, but I should have gone with the more oversized ones. Bummer. So I quickly started searching for a substitute. I ended up going with pom-poms, also purchased from Dollar Tree on a previous outing. I’m not 100% happy with them because I still feel like they need to be BIGGER, but they will do until I find a suitable replacement.
And there you have it. Dollar Tree Gnomes to decorate my house. Simple, easy, inexpensive, and fun!
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