How to make a Christmas gnome from fuzzy socks

I can be crafty and creative sometimes, but nowhere near the skill level of my daughter. She’s sketched family portraits worthy of their place on the mantle, sewn her own clothes and backpacks and created masterpieces with the hot glue gun that most Pinterest moms would envy. In fact, I would go as far as to say, most of my crafting skills I got from Vayda.

Incidentally, her latest creations blew my mind — fuzzy Christmas gnomes. However, I can’t give her all the credit for these little guys. She learned how to make these adorable little lumps with her dads, who are big influences on her inner artist.

When she made it home last night, I was greeted with a handmade Christmas decoration and a bag of leftover supplies so she could teach me how it’s done. It’s pretty simple, even if you’re not very crafty and they are cute enough to give as last-minute or on-a-budget Christmas gifts.

Supplies (for each gnome)

• 1 solid-colored black, grey, brown, white or cream crew sock
• 1 fuzzy sock
• 4 rubber bands
• 1 plastic grocery bag
• 1 lb of rice
• An old mop head, scrap pieces of fuzzy or furry fabric or twine
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Directions

1. Pour the rice into the solid colored sock.
2. Twist the open end of the sock, so that it’s sealed off on top of the rice. Tie it off with one of the rubber bands. Trim the sock just above the rubber band.
3. Next, you’re going to form the nose by digging your fingers into the rice and pulling it away from the body of your gnome. When you are satisfied with the size of your nose take a rubber band and tie it off.
4. Pull the fuzzy sock up over your gnome, so that it fits inside.
5. Cut a small slit in the fuzzy sock, just big enough to fit around your gnome’s nose.
6. Trim off the top of the fuzzy sock and tie it off at the top with a rubber band.
7. Make a beard using pieces of rope trimmed from an old mop head, cut out of scrap pieces of fuzzy or furry fabric or by cutting pieces of twine. Once you have your fabric, twine or rope ready, glue your materials down under and around the nose to make a beard.
8. Using the piece you trimmed off of the solid-colored crew sock, you’re going to make your gnome a hat. Trim the cut edge of the sock so that it’s even all the way across and then tie it off with the last rubber band. You could make cuts in the excess fabric beyond the rubber band to make it look more decorative or glue on a cotton ball or bell. On the open end, fold the end up to form a cuff and glue it down all the way around. You can also glue cotton balls down over the cuff if you’d like to dress it up more. Your hat is finished.
9. The last step is attaching your hat to your gnome. First, you want to crumble up the plastic grocery bag in the shape you want your hat — short and round or tall and skinny. Then stuff your hat with the bag. Finally, glue the hat to your gnome so that the bottom edge of the hat is stretched across your gnome’s face just above its nose.

Tips: When you pick out the socks you’re using you may want to plan the crew sock used for the bottom layer and the fuzzy sock used for the top layer, so they are coordinated. You can also choose to use different materials to make the hat out of if you have wire, old toilet paper or paper towel rolls and scrap fabric. There’s no right or wrong way to make a Christmas gnome. Enjoy!