How to Make a Yarn and Sock Gnome
Learn how to make an easy yarn and sock gnome for Christmas decor in this step-by-step tutorial. It's a no-sew gnome for the holidays!
Materials
- Yarn
- Wooden Balls or Modeling Clay ½ inch or 1 centimeter balls work great.
- Paint
- Old Socks Tall socks - you will be using the tube part.
- Hot Glue Gun, Glue, and Scissors
- Twine
Instructions
- Make a yarn tassel using this method.I wrapped this thick yarn around my hand 50 times, but I could have wrapped less, (maybe 40 times) because it was so thick.For the medium-weight yarn, 50 times was a perfect number.
- By following the tassel tutorial, you'll end up with a yarn tassel like this.You don't need to tie anything around the neck of the tassel or trim it yet.
- Cut the top off an old sock.This tube will become the gnome's hat!
- Slide the sock down over the tassel, cuffed edge first.This gives the brim of the hat a clean edge.The edge of the sock you just cut will be up on the top of the hat.
- Add a dab of hot glue up inside the front edge of the hat and press it into the yarn to secure it.Repeat, gluing the back, left, and right sides of the hat to the yarn gnome beard with small dabs of hot glue.
- Make a small ball of clay for the gnome's nose, or use a wooden ball.I used air-dry modeling clay and rolled it into balls the size of marbles for the noses. They are roughly 1 centimeter or 0.5 inch in diameter.Clay works well for all different shapes of noses, like the "carrot" noses for these DIY cork snowman ornaments.
- I left some noses the original brown clay color, and I painted a few of the noses with cream craft paint.
- Hot glue the back of the nose to the gnome's yarn beard.Add a tiny bit of glue to the top of the nose, and secure the sock band to it too.
- Tie the top of the sock hat with twine, and make a bow.Trim the gnome's yarn beard if needed.Your yarn and sock gnome is finished!
- You can use different colors and types of yarn to make different beards for the gnomes.Here is a beard using cream-colored medium-weight yarn, and this time, I used a natural clay-colored nose.
Notes
- You can use any type or thickness of yarn for the gnome's beard, but I found medium-weight yarn (the cheap stuff!) worked the best!
- Don't use wooden beads for the gnome's nose because you won't be able to hide the bead's hole. Use either a solid wood ball or you can make a clay ball for a nose.
- Check thrift stores or garage sales for cute socks to repurpose into your yarn and sock gnomes. Look for thick wool socks, cute patterned socks, or anything that would make a cute hat for a DIY gnome!