Wood Scrap Gnomes
Wood Scrap Gnomes
Oh goodness did you ever see a more gorgeous little gnome?!
I’m not sure we need any more words to describe this little one. I’ll hop straight to the how-to as I’m sure you’re keen to learn how to make one of your own.
How to make your own wood scrap gnome
Gather your resources
Raid the stick bucket by your back door/in your car boot or head to the woods if you don’t have a bunch of suitable sticks to hand.
Body - The stick needs to be slightly wider than a grown ups pointy finger to get the best result. I’m sure you could make it smaller but it’d be super fiddly.
Head - A large-ish wooden bead
Arms - a piece of string/wire
Staff - A bendy piece of thin willow
Hat - A piece of felt or colourful cardboard
Little strong sticks slightly thicker than the drill bit to make dowels/pegs to secure them all - we used dry willow as pegs
You’ll also need
- A drill (either a power drill or hand drill works fine)
- Secateurs
- A sharp wood-craft knife, a whittling knife or a potato peeler
- Scissors and glue for the hat
- A saw to cut the pieces of wood to hand if they’re fairly chunky
How To Make:
Take your base piece and drill a little hole for where you want the body to stand.
Next take the body piece and drill a hole into both the ends. This is where the head will fit and the body will stand.
Then drill a hole straight through the body piece from one side to the other where you want the arms to sit.
Using a knife or peeler, take a little dowel/peg piece and snip it to fit both the body and into the base. Whittle it to fit into both of the drilled holes snugly. This is the tricky bit the children found took the most time, stick with it, it’s worth getting this part right.
Secure the body onto the base then using the same method attach the head.
Thread through the string (or whatever you’re using for the arms) but don’t tie until you’ve added your staff
Make a little cone shape for the head and add it to the little head (a little dab of glue might help if it doesn’t sit quite right)
Next it’s time to make a staff, this could be a star, a stick or something more exciting. Use your imagination and see what you come up with.
Drill a hole for the staff to sit in and lastly tie the arms around it to hold on.
Hurrah! You’re done! I’d love to see your version of this, tag #athomewithkith to show me
