Pinecone Gnome

Really, can you believe how many things a person can make with pinecones? This is like my 10th thing and there are lots and lots more I could do! But fear not - I'm almost done (even I'm a little over the pinecone thing, you guys must be tired and rolling your eyes by now LOL!)... ;)

Today it's this little gnome - these Scandinavian-inspired gnomes have popped up everywhere - I see them in just about every store I go in, including the grocery store! Very popular is the little stuffed fat ones that you can prop on a shelf or something, but I've seen all kinds - they all have the big hat and nose sticking out in common tho. So that's what I've made using a pinecone as the body - these would be cute as tree ornaments or package toppers, or just prop him up somewhere.

All you need is a pinecone, wood ball for the head, small wood ball for the nose (or a big round bead), felt for the hat, fuzzy material for the hat brim, some sort of fluffy material for the beard (think pillow stuffing, fleece, yarn, cotton ball), hot glue, and a needle and thread to sew up the hat (I bet you could just glue the hat if you don't want to sew it!).

I made the hat just like I did for the elves (click here for that post and better directions); cut a tall skinny triangle from whatever color felt you want (make sure it's wide enough to fit over the larger wood ball once you've sewn the triangle into the hat), sew up the sides to create an upside-down cone shape and hot glue onto the wood ball for his head. Add a small strip of fuzzy material around the base of the hat, covering about 1/2 of the ball. Hot glue a small wood ball on for the nose - note, I didn't have a small enough wood ball so I used a round bead instead. Glue the head in place on the top of a pinecone, you might need to snip out some of the center of the pinecone to give the head a solid place to sit. Glue on a wad of pillow stuffing or a cotton ball (or some other fluffy material) for the big beard. If you want to hang him, sew on a piece of embroidery thread or light twine to the tip of his hat.

inspiration for this project found here