How to Make a Gnome | Dollar Store Craft

Welcome to Day 3 of my 12 Days of Christmas Crafting. Looking for a fun, yet inexpensive project? Here’s how to make a gnome from dollar store items.

Dollar stores have sure come a long way over the years. Nowadays you can get so many decent and useful items, especially crafting supplies. That said, I must say that there are very few things in my dollar store that are actually a dollar – most are $3 or $4. But it’s still cheaper than a specialty craft store.

Christmas gnomes have become quite the popular decor during the holidays, and even year round. Gnomes have significance in Scandanavian folklore as being a household spirit responsible for the care and safety of the family.

Typically, gnomes are characterized as being short in stature, having a long white beard and a conical hat. They are similar to, but not the same as garden gnomes which have a whole different meaning.

Making a cute Christmas gnome out of dollar store items is quite easy.

Supplies to Make a Gnome out of Dollar Store Items

Of course, you can get these supplies anywhere, but did you know that your local Dollarama has most of these items?

Here’s what you need to make a gnome:

Dark coloured socks, adult size. Now the dollar store has socks, but are you like me and have a ton of single socks just hanging around hoping that the other will show up? This is a great craft to use up those socks!
Fleece scarf. Dollarama has these in various patterns and colours. Fleece is great as it doesn’t fray and it is easy to work with.
Plastic bag. I typically have on hand some dollar store snack bags which worked fine for this project.
Filler to weigh it down. Some suggestions include rice, decorative rocks or pebbles, or scrap fabric. You’ll have scrap fabric from the hat which could be used, in fact.
Fur trim. These come in rolls at Dollarama and are 2.5 inches wide.
Something for the nose – small styrofoam balls or wooden beads work well for this.

Other items that you will need to make this craft. Some are also found at the dollar store.

twist tie or elastic band
glue gun
sewing machine (optional) – you can continue using your glue gun instead
fabric scissors, or a good pair of sharp scissors that can cut the sock and fleece scarf; a rotary cutter also works
quilting ruler – I like straight lines, but you can freehand it as well.
box cutter

Make the Body

Put approximately 2 cups of filler in a plastic bag. I used rice in some of my gnomes. I have also used fabric scraps.
Insert the bag into the sock.
Tie up the bag of filler with the sock using either a twist tie or elastic band.
Trim the excess. You will likely be only filling up the foot part of the sock.

Make the Hat

I like a long hat. You can easily modify this to make it shorter or even longer. Remember, it’s always better to be too big as you can cut it smaller.

Using your fleece scarf, cut a 16 inch length.
Fold the fleece rectangle in half.
Cut it diagonally to make a triangle. I don’t cut right to the fold – I leave about a 1/2 inch.
With the wrong sides together, sew the long seam. If you don’t want to pull out your sewing machine, you can also use your glue gun.
Turn the hat right side out. To get the very tip out, use a chopstick from the inside to poke it out. I like to use my seam ripper to gently pull it out.
Fold up the bottom edge by one inch to make a band. This is optional. I just think it looks better. Put the hat on the body. Manipulate the body and the hat so that you get the look you want. I put the hat lower in the back than the front.

If you wish, you can secure the hat with a dot of hot glue on the back.

Tips for Cutting Fur Trim

The best way to cut the fur trim is from the backside, using a box cutter. You could cut it from the front with scissors, but you’ll lose a lot of hair and the hair will be in line with the cut lines. When you cut it from behind, you’ll lose less hair and you’ll be cutting only the backing, leaving some hair, so it’ll look more natural.

Finish your Gnome – the Beard and the Nose.

Cut the beard as mentioned above. I like a long-ish beard and so I cut a 5-inch piece. You can cut any length you want. Again, it’s better to err on the side of too big as you can always trim it down if you think it’s too long. Slightly taper the piece so it looks more natural. You can, but don’t have to come down to a point.
Gently lift up the front of the hat and add a line of glue with your glue gun. Attach the beard. Pull the hat down so that it covers the top cut line of the beard.
Put a dot of glue on the nose. Attach the nose right where the hat meets the beard.
That’s it! Look at this cute little gnome.