If you’re looking for a terrific Christmas craft for teens and tweens to make, these gnome ornaments are easy and adorable and can be made in about 30 minutes.
I have the sweetest gnome craft to share with you today! I had the older hooligans over for a craft day on Sunday and we made a ton of really awesome crafts and ornaments. I’ll be sharing them all with you this week, but I wanted to start with this adorable gnome ornament. It was the biggest hit of the day with my gang.
The kids loved going through our scraps of fabric, lace and trim to select the pieces for their gnome hats, and they got a lot of glue gun practice in, as that’s how we put the entire ornament together.
Gnomes weren’t even on my radar when I was planning the projects for our craft day, but I had a bunch of cardboard triangles leftover from our “Stained glass” Christmas tree ornaments, and I was thinking about how we could make something else with them. It occurred to me that they would make great gnome hats.
I experimented by making one of my own, and I was so excited with how it turned out! I just knew the girls would love making them. They’re SO DARN CUTE!
See how to use the same process to make our Easy Santa Ornaments and Easy Halloween Witches.
The supply list is minimal too! I’ll show you how we made them.
Supplies for Gnome Ornaments:
- cardboard triangle
- scraps of fabric and trim (lace, rick rack etc.)
- scissors
- button or pom pom
- small styrofoam ball cut in half (a pom pom would work too)
- yarn
- glue gun
- thread or yarn for hanging
Instructions:
Time needed: 30 minutes
Easy Gnome Ornaments for the Christmas Tree
- How to make your gnome’s hat
Cut a triangle out of a piece of cardboard and then cut out a piece of fabric slightly larger than the cardboard triangle. About a 1/2 bigger all the way around is good.
Lay the cardboard on the wrong side of the fabric. Fold the excess fabric to the back of the cardboard and glue in place with your glue gun. - Making the beard
Loop a long length of yarn around your hand several times (10-20 times depending on the size of your ornament). Cut these loops in half, and then in half again. Glue the strands to the back of the cardboard.
Trim the beard to the length and shape that you want it.
- Add trim
Glue a length of lace or rick-rack trim to the bottom of the gnome’s hat. If your trim is long enough, you can wrap it around the back of the cardboard and glue it overtop of those loose ends of yarn.
- The nose:
Cut a small styrofoam ball in half and paint it with flesh-coloured paint. When the paint has dried, glue the nose to the beard just below the edge of the hat.
- Add pom pom and hanging thread
Glue a decorative button or pom pom to the top of the hat, and add a loop of thread for hanging your ornament.
And that’s all there is to making these adorable gnomes. You’re all set to hang them on your Christmas tree!
Aren’t they just the sweetest?
You may also like our:
- Cardboard Gingerbread Man Ornaments
- Yarn and Cardboard Santas
- Cardboard Yarn-Wrapped Intial Ornaments
- Cardboard Yarn-Wrapped Star Ornaments
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
lynn
what does the back look like??
Jackie Currie
It looks like the front, but without the nose. If you cut your fabric piece large enough, you won’t even see the cardboard. 🙂
Joy
These are so cute!!! Plus it looks like a great activity for practicing scissors skills. I think that I will make some that do not have the beards trimmed and let my preschoolers trim them for cutting practice.
Jackie Currie
Great idea, Joy!
Mary
Love these what size Styrofoam balls did you use? Thanks. Mary
Jackie Currie
Any small-sized styrofoam ball will work, Mary. When cut in half, if the surface size is anywhere between the size of a dime and a quarter, you’re good.
Laura
About what is the size of the cardboard triangle?
Jackie Currie
If you look at the photos in the post, you can see how the triangles compare to the size of a bottle of paint and the kids’ hands/fingers, Laura. They were probably about 5 inches tall and 3 inches wide across the base.
Sue Brinks
Hi Jackie. These ARE the sweetest!! Can you please explain how to make the bushy beard. Thank you.
Jackie Currie
Hi Sue! I’m so glad you like them. That bushy yarn comes like that. I think I got it at Michaels. It feels like chenille. I can’t remember if it’s one of the “eyelash” yarns or if it’s something different. Unfortunately, I no longer have the label. Just pop into a major craft store or yarn shop, and you’ll find it for sure.