Gnomes for Xmas

Recently, I traveled to Japan and was surprised to see Xmas was in full swing there.  Not unexpected, there were Santas everywhere and strangely there were lots of gnomes, too. I suppose it must be the European influence....lots of Swedish and French products for sale.  Of course, I purchased a few small gnomes and stuffed them into my already bulging suitcase.  Wanting more gnomes, I decided that I could probably make my own...so I did!  

I started by blending white Hearty clay with a bit of red and orange Hearty clay.  When I achieved the flesh hue I desired, I formed three cone shaped bodies and three little ball noses.

Next I cut some green felt into skirts....no need to be perfect as gnomes are the older, grungy version of woodland fairies..LOL!  I cut wired extra wide Xmas ribbon to form the pointed caps.  (I used a pencil and Fabri-tac glue to shape ribbons into conical hats.) I cut off the wire on the top of the cap but left the wire on the bottom edge to add some support.  The gnomes were easily assembled with glue once the Hearty Clay was dry. I used wool roving for the hair and beards. (Sometime you can find wool roving at HM Ben Franklin Crafts but you can always just pull apart fluffy yarn.) If you feel your gnomes might encounter moisture you can coat the exposed clay surfaces with a clear matte acrylic sealer.

My family of gnomes is large now but I am already planning the next gnomes...perhaps bigger with movable arms (pipe cleaners inside a sleeve?).  Hope you'll be GNOME for the Holidays!