Make your own Christmas gnome that will conjure up a magical holiday atmosphere

Do you love the charm of Scandinavian living?

Do you want to create the perfect festive atmosphere at home?

Make a Christmas elf figurine!

With our instructions, you can easily manage it; you will see that the Christmas elf will settle in quickly.

So let’s go!

Fabric Christmas Elf

Scandinavians are known for their frugality and love for renewable materials, which is why you usually don’t find decorations made of plastic; on the contrary, textile decorations look timeless and are practically indestructible.

Skilled seamstresses can tackle more challenging pieces, but even beginners needn’t be afraid. How to make a Christmas elf?

What you will need:

• a cloth bag or an old sock in a suitable color
• uncooked rice
• various scraps of fabrics or felt
• hollow fiber padding or other suitable stuffing material
• cotton balls
• cotton wool or a ready-made mustache
• needle, thread
• melt gun

Method:

• Fill a bag or sock with dry rice to form a more or less regular ball and tie it.
• You can cut off the rest of the sock. The sphere forms the sprite’s body.
• To make all the limbs, you will always need two identical pieces of fabric, which you will sew together into a tunnel, which will be open on one side and sewn on the other.
• Turn the tunnel inside out and fill it with hollow fiber or fabric scraps. Finally, you sew up the filling hole.
• Make two hands, two legs, and a nose like this.
• Sew or glue all the limbs to the sprite’s body.
• If you have a finished beard, glue it to the upper body and place the nose on it.
• If you have an elf without a mustache, glue the nose directly to the body.
• If you want a gnome with braids, braid them from several strands of cotton, tie them with a ribbon, and fasten them next to the nose.
• Make a hat from a triangular piece of fabric or felt and glue it to the head so that the bottom edge touches the nose.
• You can decorate the gnome with buttons, a belt, or perhaps a loop for hanging.

Christmas pom pom gnomes

How about decorating the Christmas tree with cute elves? Add a little humor to the holiday decorations this year and forget about the cheesy Christmas decorations, the elf on the branch will captivate every visitor.

What you will need:

• hot glue gun
• scissors
• template for making wool pom poms
• ball of wool
• white cotton and an embroidery needle
• felt in different colors
• wooden beads
• decorative cord for hanging

Method:

• First, make the pom-poms. To make them, you will need two circles of hard paper with a hole cut in the middle.
• Place the wheels on each other and wrap the wool around.
• Roll as long as possible; the more wool, the denser and prettier the pom-pom.
• When the center hole is filled with wool, leave a piece of wool-free and cut off the ball.
• Cut each wave around the circle into two halves.
• Once the paper template can be seen inside again, pull a piece of wool between the two wheels, tighten it as much as possible, and tie it tightly.
• Carefully remove the paper circles and adjust the pom-pom into the desired shape with your hands. You can cut off minor flaws.
• Make a cap from colored felt for each pom-pom.
• Cut circles from the felt, cut them into four equal quarters and make a cone-shaped cap from each.
• Glue the caps to the pom-poms using a hot melt gun and also glue the nose from the wooden beads.
• Thread a decorative string or cotton through the tip of the cap using a needle, thread another wooden bead onto it and use a knot to create an ear for hanging.

You can also see how to make a pom-pom base for a Christmas elf in the following video.

DIY Pom Pom Maker

Christmas Paper Elf

When else can children be involved in creative activities than during the holidays? Original Christmas decorations—self-made elves—will entertain both young and old. And it’s the time spent together that matters to us.

What you will need:

• colored papers in different shades
• paper glue
• scissors
• black marker
• string or thread for hanging

Method:

• Start with a teardrop base. Draw a drop and cut it out. The bigger the drop, the bigger the sprite.
• Cut out a circle for the face and glue it in the middle of the drop.
• You can draw or stick eyes and nose on the face.
• Cut out a beard from white paper and glue it to the lower edge of the face.
• It is up to you whether the elf will be finished as is or whether you will add a belt or decorations for the cap.
• If you want to hang the gnome, stick a loop on the back of the hat.

Another option is to draw the entire Christmas elf with crayons or watercolors on a paper triangle, which you then roll into a roll and glue.

Christmas Gnomes from pine branches

When else should you use conifer twigs besides at Christmas? You can make a cute elf with twigs left over, decorate a Christmas tree, or make an Advent wreath.

What you will need:

• aspen and one straight conifer branch
• flowerpot
• a wooden board, the length of which is the same as the diameter of the flower pot
• red cap
• Christmas ball
• nail
• wire
• melt gun

Method:

• Attach the branch to the middle of the board with a nail.
• Turn the flower pot upside down and push a branch through the drainage hole of the flower pot so that the flower pot sits on the board.
• Place aspen around the branch and strengthen it with wire in the upper part.
• Tighten the wire tightly to hold the twigs.
• Put a hat on the Christmas elf and glue a Christmas bauble as a nose.

Watch a simple video tutorial for a Christmas elf made of twigs.

How to make a Christmas Gnome from Pine Branches!

Christmas elf made of pine cones

You can also use pine cones to create this popular Christmas character.

You are a donut elf, and they will especially love children for whom this DIY is perfect. Start by taking them out for a walk to find as many pine cones as possible.

What you will need:

• pine cones
• felt in different colors
• Fimo clay
• melt glue gun

Method:

1. Glue a piece of Fimo clay on the bottom of each cone so that it stands nicely.
2. Make a ball of Fimo clay as a head and attach the cones on top. Make a nose in front.
3. Make a cone out of the felt and glue with a glue gun. Paste on the header.
4. Cut a scarf from the next piece, cut the ends as fringes, and glue them to the cone.
5. As with the others, you can add details, such as a beard or cap decoration, to the pinecone Christmas elf.

Gingerbread Christmas gnome

Candy is essential to Christmas, and gingerbread cookies are ideal for cutting out various shapes. Dust off your tried-and-true recipe and bake sweet gnomes with a cottage.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 7 spoons of milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 egg yolks + 1 egg yolk for spreading
• 150 g of honey
• 2 teaspoons of gingerbread spice
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, and gingerbread spice.
2. Add the liquid ingredients: softened butter, egg yolks, honey and milk. Mix everything thoroughly.
3. Put the dough in the fridge for a while.
4. Then, roll out on a floured rolling pin to approximately 0.2 in thick and cut out the gnomes.
5. If you don’t have a cutter, you can make a paper template and cut around it with a kitchen knife.
6. Stack the cut gnomes side by side on a baking sheet.
7. Bake for approx. 10 minutes at 338°F.
8. Immediately brush the baked sprites with the beaten egg yolk and leave to cool.

After cooling, decorate the Christmas elves with egg-white frosting. Beat the egg white with sugar and lemon juice until stiff. You can sprinkle the icing with sugar decorations.

If you prefer softer cookies, cut out Christmas gnomes, for example, from Line dough, or glue the finished pieces with cream filling.

A Christmas gnome is a must in any Scandinavian household during the holidays. After all, little elves in Finland, for example, supposedly help deliver Christmas presents.

As the Nordic style of living is trendy, this Christmas figurine will also help create the right festive atmosphere.