Undoubtedly, gnomes have become one of the most popular Christmas decorations! Homemade pine cone gnomes are a fun way to add a natural element to your Christmas decorations and delight both the children and adults in your family. These cute ornaments look great on a mantel, in a centerpiece, or even on your Christmas tree. Their hats are made of felt, which comes in almost every color. Using these instructions, you can make elves out of pine cones that fit perfectly with the rest of your Christmas decorations.
This time of year, pine cones are a popular material for various crafts. You want another oneMake cute gnomes? Follow our step-by-step instructions!
Accessories for Christmas crafts
For this easy Christmas craft you will need the following:
- Pine cones: You can purchase pine cones at the craft store (the ones that smell like cinnamon work especially well!) OR you can collect your own from under trees. If youCollect pine cones, you may want to bake them to eliminate bugs.
- Felt:Inexpensive 9×12 sheets of craft felt work great; Depending on the size of the pine cones, you can probably make two hats from one sheet of felt. You can also use more expensive wool felt if you prefer.
- White craft paint + foam brush
- Weiße Pom-Poms
- 3 cm large wooden balls or wooden beads
- Hot glue gun. If you want to turn your pinecone gnomes into jewelry, you will also need string or a jewelry hanger.
Also read:Crafting with children with pine cones for Christmas: create beautiful decorations yourself
How to Make Pinecone Gnomes
1. Paint the beard
For this gnome, the top of the pinecone (the flat side) will be the bottom of the gnome so it can stand on a table. The bottom of the pine cone (the pointy side) faces up, into the hat. Choose which side of the pinecone will be the front. Using a foam brush, dab white paint in a V shape along the edges of the front of the pinecone to create a beard.
2. Cut out the hat
To make the hat you need to cut a triangle out of one corner of the felt. The triangle has two straight sides and one curved side. To do this, fold the felt in half from one corner and then again from the same corner so that it is quartered. Measure down from the corner and then cut the felt in a curve. To figure out how far to measure, use a tape measure to measure the pinecone you want the hat to sit on.
3. Glue the hat together
Now you have a triangle shape with two straight sides and one curved side. Cut the corner where the straight sides meet. Fold in a straight side and place a line of hot glue along that side. Fold the other straight side in so that it overlaps the hot glue. This creates a cone-shaped hat. Check the size of the hat by checking iton the pine conesput. If it hangs down too far or seems too big, trim the bottom a little (if you want, you can also check the size of the hat before gluing it together).
4. Attach the pompoms
Hot glue the pom poms to the top of the hat.
5. Assemble the gnome
Spread a line of hot glue along the bottom edge of the hat on the back and place the hat on the pine cone, pressing down the glue point. Then think about where you want the wooden ball for the nose. You can use wooden balls that have an opening at the back. It works well if this opening is over one of the spikes, and it is best if the ball is between the spikes. Normally you can adjust the spikes a little so that the wooden ball fits between them. Just find out whatfor your pine conefits best, and then attach the wooden ball with hot glue. The nose should overlap the hat. This looks cute and helps secure the hat to the front of the pine cone.
Your pine cone gnome is now complete! If you want to turn it into a pinecone gnome ornament, you can glue (or sew) a loop of yarn to the back of the hat, just behind the pom-pom.
Also learn how to make cuteBe able to make owls out of cones
