DIY Christmas Gnomes You'll Want to Make This Season

Christmas gnome ornaments are really trendy right now, and DIY gnomes are so much fun to make! We have a few different cute gnomes for you to try, to spruce up your holiday decor.

Scandinavian gnomes are called tomte, tonttu, or, nisse in different parts of Scandinavia and are associated with Christmas and the winter solstice. These adorable little creatures with their bright colours are perfect for decorating around the house and Christmas tree.

It is really easy to make a Christmas gnome. There are some gnome tutorials on YouTube, but many are simple enough just to get started without instructions. The best thing about these DIY Christmas gnomes is that they don't need to be perfect - you can decide how short or how long the hats or beards should be, and since only the nose shows, you don't need to be artistic enough to create faces.

What You Will Need

There are a few items you will need from the craft store or dollar store, like cone-shaped and ball-shaped Styrofoam, and wooden craft balls for the noses. You can also create your own noses with clay.

Other things you will need are socks and fabric scraps of flannel, fleece, felt, faux fur and faux sheepskin. Floral wire is useful if you want a Christmas gnome hat to stick up more. You can either buy or make your own pom poms with yarn.

You'll also need a filling material like dry rice, beans or fiberfill.

Helpful, But Not Necessary

A hot glue gun and a sewing machine are useful, too, if you have them, but you can manage just fine without them, too.

Cute DIY Christmas Gnome Garland

This is possibly the easiest DIY Christmas gnome craft to start with, and you do not need to sew anything. Other than using the glue gun, it is a good one for kids to do.

Take a long stretch of raffia or ribbon, and hot glue on different scraps of fabric in long, pointy shapes for the hats, scraps of faux fur, or use yarn, for the beards, and then glue on small wooden balls for the noses to peep out from under the hats.

Tiny pom poms on the tips of the hats look even more adorable. You can have an infinite number of individual little gnomes, and use up any leftover scraps from other crafts. You can hang the garland on your Christmas tree or anywhere in the room.

Scandinavian Gnomes From Socks

These DIY Christmas gnomes use socks; you can use old ones if they aren't too worn, or get cheap new ones from a dollar store.

Stuff a sock well with beans or rice, and tie it off with string or a rubber band, then cut off any extra sock. The tied off end will be the top of the Scandinavian gnome. Use faux fur for the beard; cut it into a beard shape that reaches the bottom of the gnome or a little bit further when it is attached to the top third of the gnome body.

Glue a wooden ball right on the line of the beard. Next, use a piece of fabric to wrap around for the pointed hat, which will come right down to the nose, and glue it in place. You can also use another colourful sock, and tie it off at the end. Decorate the hat with bells, balls, or anything else you can think of.

For girl gnomes, use fabric to create a flared dress instead of the beard, and decorate festively. Use yarn to make braids to come out from under the hat.

These little guys are good for sitting on your front porch, or indoors.

Christmas Tree Holiday Gnomes

These cute DIY Christmas gnomes are perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree. Glue a wooden bead for a nose onto a little white, brown, or grey pom pom. Next, glue felt into a cone shape, and then onto the pom pom. You can decorate the hat with cross stitch, embroidery, or stickers - whatever you want! Thread or tie string to the tip of the hat, and your Christmas gnome is ready for hanging. These fun and adorable gnome ornaments also make good Christmas gifts.

Standing Nordic Gnomes

For these cute Christmas gnomes, use larger styrofoam balls for the heads, smaller balls for the noses, wood hearts or discs for the feet, and spools for bodies.

Wrap and glue felt around the spool, then shape felt, or another material, for the hat by gluing it into a cone shape around the head, completely covering the ball. Trim some faux fur into a long beard shape. Next, assemble and glue the head and feet to the spool, with the beard starting right under the hat. The wooden ball for the nose should look like it is just poking out from under the hat and over the beard.

Christmas Gnome Wreath

For this holiday season, decorate your front door with a gnome wreath. You can use fresh evergreen boughs, but it is easier to get a large pine teardrop swag from a craft or dollar store. The greenery makes the beard of your DIY Christmas gnome.

Sew a scrap of tan fabric into a circle and stuff it for the nose. It is a great idea to use a dinner plate, trace the circle, and then cut it out. Use floral wire to attach it about a third of the way down from the point of the teardrop pine swag.

Cut red fabric so that it will fit around the swag, right at the point of the nose, and glue or sew it to make a pointy hat that sits right on top of the point of the pine swag. A pom pom or bell at the end of the hat makes a nice finishing touch. Thread wire through to hang it.

Happy Holidays!

At Smitty's Fine Furniture, we hope you enjoy making these DIY Christmas gnomes, and wish you and your family a great holiday season.