The tomte is one of the most popular Christmas decorations in Sweden. In recent years, the cute Christmas gnome has also gained popularity in this country. Luckily, you can make Swedish gnomes quickly and easily from household items.
Making Swedish gnomes: The necessary materials for Tomte Tummetott
According to legend, the Swedish gnome Tomte is a true animal lover: in the countryside he finds shelter in the stable or dog house and watches over the animals at night. In the big city he likes to hang out in workshops where he helps out with work in the evenings. In Scandinavian countries it is believed that if you take good care of the magical creature, it will bring you luck and prosperity.
In the books, the Swedish gnomes are always depicted simply - in typical Scandinavian style. The Tomte has an oversized, knitted pointed hat, a large knobby nose and a long bushy beard. That's why the magical creature is pretty easy to recreate. The necessary materials may vary depending on what you already have at home:
- For the Santa hat and body: a red sock with Christmas motifs or a red sock or red felt fabric
- Filling cotton or a large cone for the body or a small jam jar
- Cotton wool for the beard
- a wooden bead or a pompom for the nose
- Micro LED fairy lights, battery operated
- Bindfad
- Scissors
- Universal glue
First, put the body together. To do this, fill the tip of the sock with fiberfill and then tie the sock with a piece of twine. Cut off the excess part. Attach the wooden bead as a nose and the cotton as a beard. Turn the top end of the remaining sock part inside out and glue the other end together. Fill this Santa hat with stuffing so that it stands upright and pull it up to the elf's nose. Now you can decorate the pointed hat as you wish. For example, you can cut out stars and hearts from colored paper and glue them on, spray the hat with glitter spray, etc. You can also wrap the LED light chain around the hat so that it lights up in the evening.
Alternatively, you can make the body not from an old sock, but from pine cones or a small tea light jar. Proceed as follows:
1. DIY with cones: take a large pine cone and attach a wooden bead for the nose and cotton wool for the beard. Cut out the Santa hat from felt fabric. For this purpose, make a cone out of felt and glue it in place.
2. DIY with a tealight jar or small jam jar with a lid: Drape the LED fairy lights in the jar and put the lid on. Attach the nose and beard, put together the hat, fill it and attach it.
Christmas decoration ideas with the cute gnome
Diecute decorative figurescan be staged anywhere in the house and garden. We explain how you can make your own Advent decorations with the elves:
- Decoration for the coffee table: Stage gnomes with other decorative figures on a wooden disc.
- Decoration for the children's room: “Hide” the magical creatures made of socks in the children's room. You can also put a magical gnome door in the children's room and stage the magical creatures in front of it.
- Window decoration: Tie the small figures made of cones with felt hats (simply shape the felt material into a cone and glue the ends together) into a garland.
- from the balcony: Display gnomes made from jam jars.
- Under the Christmas treeand replace Santa Claus with Swedish elves.
- On the garden table –It is best to display the decorative figures protected from the rain, as the filling dries very slowly.
- On the mantelArrange with other decorative figures such as Christmas trees made from bottle brushes.
- For the entrance to the house: Decorate the door wreath with a gnome figure.
The cute decorative figures also make super nice gifts and souvenirs. If you have children, you can also send the homemade decorations to their grandparents. The small decorative figures made of pine cones and felt are also ideal as place cards. You can even write guests' names on the felt hats.
The Scandinavian gnomes made of socks can be easily displayed in rustic and country house style interiors. Along with paper stars. Christmas trees made of Styrofoam cones and wool, cute wooden reindeer and elves form a particularly attractive arrangement. Our tip: The more colorful the elves are, the simpler the rest of the Christmas decorations should be.
A beautiful and creative oneScandinavian style decoration: Tomte has enchanted children and parents and has become an important part of the festive decorations. Be inspired by the instructions and create beautiful Christmas decorations for your home and garden. You can put together the cute decorative figures with just a few household items.
Also interesting:Make a snowman: Bring the winter mood into your home
