DIY Christmas Gnomes from Household Items: Cute Home Decorating Ideas

Gnomes are one of the most popular Christmas decorations in Sweden. In recent years, these cute Christmas gnomes have gained all over the world. DIY Christmas Gnomes from household items are fun to make and will be a great addition to your festive decoration.

DIY Christmas Gnomes: The Necessary Materials

According to legend, the Swedish gnome Tomte is a true animal lover: in the countryside he finds shelter in the stable or dog house and watches over the animals at night. In the big city he likes to hang out in workshops where he helps out with work in the evenings. In Scandinavian countries it is believed that if you take good care of the magical creature, it will bring you luck and prosperity.

In the books, the Swedish gnomes are always depicted simply – in typical Scandinavian style. Tomte has an oversized, knitted pointed hat, a large knobby nose and a long bushy beard. That’s why the magical creature is pretty easy to recreate. The necessary materials may vary depending on what you already have at home:

• For the hat and body: a red sock with Christmas motifs or red felt fabric
• Cotton stuffing or a large cone for the body or a small jam jar
• Absorbent cotton for the beard
• A wooden bead or a pompom for the nose
• Micro LED fairy lights, battery operated
• Twine
• Scissors
• Universal glue

Also read: Homemade outdoor Christmas decorations: These DIY ideas guarantee a festive atmosphere outside!

DIY Christmas Gnomes from Socks Instructions:

First assemble the body. To do this, fill the tip of the sock with cotton stuffing and then tie the sock with a piece of twine. Cut off the excess part. Attach the wooden bead as a nose and the absorbent cotton as a beard. Fold over the top end of the remaining part of the sock and glue the other end together. Fill this Christmas hat with absorbent cotton so that it stands upright and pull it up to the gnome’s nose. Now you can decorate the pointed hat as you wish. For example, you can cut out stars and hearts from colored paper and glue them on, spray the hat with glitter spray, etc. You can also wrap the LED fairy lights around the hat so that it lights up in the evening.

Alternatively, you can make the body from pine cones or a small tea light jar. Proceed as follows:

1. DIY with pine cones: take a large pine cone and attach a wooden bead for the nose and absorbent cotton for the beard. Cut out the Christmas hat from felt. fabric. For this purpose, make a cone from the felt and glue it in place.
2. DIY with a tea light jar or small jam jar with a lid: Drape the LED fairy lights in the jar and put the lid on. Attach the nose and beard, assemble the hat, fill it and attach it.

Also read: Pine Cone Christmas Crafts with Kids: Create Beautiful Home Decorations

Christmas Decoration Ideas with The Cute Gnomes

The cute decorative figures can be used anywhere in the house and garden. Here’s how you can make your own Advent decorations with the gnomes:

• Decoration for the coffee table: Arrange the gnomes with other decorative figures on a wooden disc.
• Decoration for the children’s room: “Hide” the magical creatures made of socks in the children’s room. You can also put a magical gnome door in the children’s room and stage the magical creatures in front of it.
• Window decoration: Tie the small figures made of cones with felt hats (simply shape the felt material into a cone and glue the ends together) into a garland.
• Balcony decoration: Display gnomes made from jam jars.
• Display under the tree and replace Santa Claus with your DIY Christmas Gnomes.
• On the garden table – it is best to display the decorative figures protected from the rain, because the stuffing dries very slowly.
• Arrange on the mantelpiece with other decorative figures such as Christmas trees made from bottle brushes.
• For the house entrance: Decorate the door wreath with a gnome figure.

The cute decorative figures also make super nice gifts and souvenirs. If you have children, you can also send the homemade decorations to their grandparents. The small decorative figures made of pine cones and felt are also ideal as place cards. You can even write guests’ names on the felt hats.

DIY Christmas gnomes made of socks can be easily displayed in rustic and country house style interiors. Along with paper stars, Christmas trees made of Styrofoam cones and wool, cute wooden reindeer the gnomes make a particularly attractive arrangement. Our tip: The more colorful the elves are, the simpler the rest of the Christmas decorations should be.

A beautiful and creative decoration in Scandinavian style: Tomte has enchanted children and parents and has become an important part of the festive decorations. Be inspired by the instructions and create beautiful Christmas decorations for your home and garden. You can make these cute decorative figures with just a few household items.

Also read: Christmas outdoor decoration: DIY Gnomes from fir branches ideas that will bring magic to your home