Domestic Diva On A Dime: November 2012

My little Christmas Gnomes....

This is the picture I'd seen... embellishments
on a greeting card. Very cute!

I saw this idea on Pinterest...actually it was a greeting card of some sort for sale in an Etsy store. They didn't show how to make them so I tried to figure it out for myself....

Supplies Needed:

~ mini 'pinecones' that are under 1" each
~ green felt, 1 square
~ wooden balls for heads, 12 mm
~ mini jingle bells, 1/4"or 16mm
~ black paint & a toothpick for the eyes
~ blush & Q-tip for the cheeks
~ gold thread for a hanger (I use gold thread for most of my Christmas ornaments, so buying an entire spool is economical for me, but any color thread that is pleasing to you will certainly work!)

I realized after I finished that I didn't add the little silver star to the front of each gnome. Well, it's not too late....

I also, on advice from my daughter-in-law, Brenda, made a girl version in pink! (There's a picture of it at the end of the tutorial.)

So first I went to my friends house .... she has a tree out front that drops these 'mini pinecones'. I took a bag and gathered 20 to 30 of them.

I had the bells but had to make a trip to the craft store for the wooden heads and the felt.

STEP 1: First I hot-glued the wooden balls to the pinecones. Make sure the flat side is where the head is glued...

STEP 2: Using the toothpick, dot on the eyes with black paint. Then using the Q-tip and blush, I added the coloring to the cheeks. The rosy cheeks are especially important because they give the final item more character & lends to the idea that they are, indeed, out in the cold!

STEP 3: I cut the felt into 2" squares, folded one edge up and hot-glued into place. Then I placed a drop of hot glue to the top of the head and centered the felt piece, making sure the folded edge was in the front and not covering the eyes.

STEP 4: I then trimmed the sides at an angle, ending up with
a triangle-shaped piece. In the above picture, the face is facing my thumb nail.

STEP 5: I added a thin strip of hot glue to the side of the face
and back around the head, where I wanted the hat to rest.

STEP 6: Next I did the same for the other side of the head. Don't worry
if they don't match up perfectly in the back. This will get fixed later...

STEP 7: Next I ran a thin strip of hot glue along one of the back edges,
carefully pinching the two sides together, trying not to get burned!
I had to hold it for tiny bits of time & quickly move my fingers to another spot,
then back again, trying not to get burned, but at the same time, making sure the edge
gets glued together before the glue cools down.

STEP 8: Finishing up.. I cut a strip of felt (4" long & about 1/4" wide)
for the scarf, glued it to the back & brought it around and tied it.
I secured it with hot glue.
Next I glued the bell onto the top of the hat.....

STEP 9: Lastly, I used a 6" piece of gold thread, threaded it through my needle
and stitched it through the top of the hat right behind the bell. After I had
gone through the hat I pulled until the thread looked even on each side
and I pulled the needle off, leaving the thread behind. I tied a knot about
3 times in the same place, close to the two ends to make a large loop for a hanger.