Make a Christmas Gnome - Holiday DIY!

by justmightdiy

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Intro: Make a Christmas Gnome - Holiday DIY!

It’s time for a fun and easy holiday DIY! If it’s not safe to hang with your homies right now, how about hanging with your gnomies? Follow along with us as we show you how a tomato cage, extra branches from a Christmas tree and a few other materials can be turned into your very own whimsical Christmas Gnome. Best of all, this can be done in an afternoon.

STEP 1: Prepare Tomato Cage

We started with a 48” tomato cage, which is definitely too tall for a gnome. With that, we knew the first order of business was going to be reducing the height, as well as giving us more of a cone shape to work with.

Gather the following materials: tomato cage, metal saw (we used an Oscillating Multi Tool), large zip tie

Follow these steps:

1. Cut off the top ring of your tomato cage, leaving only small nubs around the vertical bars.

2. Slice into the middle of all four sides of the next ring.

3. Bend the metal rings in a bit.

4. Trim the vertical rails to your desired height (we went a couple of inches above where the top ring used to be).

5. Secure the tops of your rails with a zip tie (place it right under the numbs from the top ring).

STEP 2: ​Add Branches to the Cage

Now that your gnome skeleton is ready, it’s time to add the branches. Don’t worry if the gnome starts looking crazy at this point - that’s totally normal! Just go slow and use all the zip ties you need to achieve the shape you want.

Gather the following materials: tree branches, zip ties, pruning shears or pliers, scissors

Follow these steps:

1. Lay branches across the cage to get an idea of how you want to place them.

Tip: If you have any particularly full branches, trim out extra pieces to use for filler.

2. Add your largest branches first, securing with zip ties.

3. Use as many zip ties as you need on each branch to keep the cone shape.

4. Once most of your branches on are attached, step back and walk around your creation to identify any holes.

5. Add smaller branches to fill in holes, securing with zip ties.

6. Trim the tails on the zip ties.

7. Trim the bottom of the branches at the base of the cage, if needed.

STEP 3: ​Make Gnome Hat

It wouldn't be a gnome without a tall pointy hat! You could absolutely do this with a sewing machine, but we're trying to keep this super easy and accessible, so we used hot glue instead. Let's get to it...

Gather the following materials: poster board, tape, outdoor vinyl fabric, pencil, ruler, scissors, measuring tape, hot glue gun + glue

Follow these steps:

1. Wrap poster board around your gnome body into a cone shape so you can get an idea of the height and overall placement you want.

2. Secure poster board with tape.

3. Measure the bottom circumference of the hat.

4. Lay your fabric face down on a flat surface.

5. Add a half inch to your circumference and draw a triangle with a rounded bottom on your fabric.

6. The widest point of the triangle base should match your circumference.

7. Cut out rounded triangle with scissors.

8. Run a line of hot glue down one side of the triangle and fold fabric into a cone shape.

9. Press seam and let cool.

STEP 4: ​Make Gnome Hands

There are so many things you can use for your gnome hands. If you have a pair of mittens around, those will work great. But if you need to create some in a pinch, mini stockings will do the trick! However, you don’t want the hands to look like stockings, so you’ll need to do some minor surgery. This can be done with a sewing machine, but we wanted to keep this as easy as possible.

Gather the following materials: mini stockings, pencil, stapler, plastic bags, hot glue gun + glue

Follow these steps:

1. Flip the mini stocking inside out.

2. Draw a curve across the bottom so you can essentially hid the toe of the stocking.

3. Use a stapler to insert staples along the curved line.

4. Flip stockings right side out.

5. Stuff two plastic grocery bags in each stocking.

6. Run a line of hot glue along the opening and press to close.

STEP 5: Bring Your Gnome to Life

This is when your gnome finally comes together! If it’s been hard to envision everything working out at this point, trust you’re about to be absolutely delighted.

Gather the following materials: gnome hat, posterboard hat (optional), gloves, ornament, zip tie, stapler

Follow these steps:

1. If you want to give your hat some extra stability, place the poster board hat on top of your creation.

2. Place the red hat over the top of the poster board.

3. Attach gold ornament for nose using a zip tie to the appropriate branch, being sure to hide the hanger underneath the edge of the hat.

4. Attach the gnome gloves using a stapler.

STEP 6: ​Enjoy!

Woo hoo! Now all you have to do is place your gnome on your front porch, pour yourself some egg nog and admire your creation.

We hope you enjoyed this holiday DIY. If you did, drop us a note below (and if you see the vote button, please show us your support in the Holiday contest!).

If you liked this project, please head over to JustMightDIY.com for other tips, DIY stories and more. And if you’re interested in checking out more of our tutorials, check out our Instructables profile or head over to our YouTube channel.

28 Comments

bpoulton 3 years ago

congrats on the big win!!! you rock

PieBaby89 3 years ago

Absolutely love this!!! He is too adorable and I would love to make these as gifts next year. Congratulations on the win!

offseid 3 years ago

So cute! Well done. :)

Elaina M 3 years ago

This is awesome !!! It was so much larger than I initially thought when I clicked in - and soooooo wonderful :)

justmightdiy 3 years ago

Oh thank you! Yes, he's a larger than life gnome, but great for the front porch!

JeanMJones 3 years ago

I have a couple questions, lol.
1) Any ideas on what could be substituted for tomato cages? I have loads of some gorgeous greenery left over from making wreaths and I think they would be great for this, but I have ZERO tomato cages 😢😢.
2) Could a styrofoam ball (painted gold) be okay for the nose?
Thanks for any answer you give! I SERIOUSLY love gnomes and have since I was a kid and these are too seriously cute too pass up!!!
And yep, I voted for this for your contest!!

justmightdiy 3 years ago

Thank you so much! We're so glad you like it, and we appreciate the vote!! I think a styrofoam ball could work for the nose, depending on the paint. When I was younger, I spray painted some styrofoam balls and they disintegrated (not sure if the spray paints of today would do that, but I had a sad solar system that year for class - ha!). Otherwise, I think that should work.

For your other question - if I didn't have tomato cages, I'd probably try to find a couple of embroidery hoops (or something similar) and three or four wood dowels to attach and make a cone shape. If you have any of those Christmas tree cones laying around, that could work, too...

I'll keep thinking and will let you know if I think of any other tomato cage substitutes.

Let me know if you end up making a gnome! :)

evilangelgirl 3 years ago

That is adorable! I have some tomato cages left over from this summer and a huge cedar tree that needs trimming! We need some more decor on our porch and my Mom loves gnomes!

justmightdiy 3 years ago

Oh yay! Please do post a picture if you make one. They're so fun and easy!!

BR95510 3 years ago

CUTE CUTE CUTE!!! Definitely going to do this next year!! (Edited: 12/13/2023): Well it only took me THREE years to get to it! But I just love Mr. Mittens and I'm getting rave reviews from my friends! Thanks again for this awesome (and easy) project!

gcai_fwb 3 years ago

Dang is he ever cute! Great idea!

rozzieozzie 3 years ago

A house in my neighborhood had a similar gnome last year, and your design is much better! Now I can make my own gnome. Thank you for the instructions!

justmightdiy 3 years ago

Oh that's so kind of you to say! Thank you so much! Please post a pic here if you make one. We'd love to see it!

DonAbel20 3 years ago

Don99abel
Great looking Gnome. My next project.

justmightdiy 3 years ago

Awesome! Please do post a pic here when you make it - we'd love to see it!

BareFootFinn 3 years ago

This is adorable! What a great way to spruce up an entryway!
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