Gnome for the Holidays

Ever wonder why Gnome for the Holidays are so popular? Well, the Christmas gnome became popular when L. Frank Baum (writer of The Wizard of Oz) featured gnomes in his book “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus“. written in 1902. According to the book, the gnomes are in charge of watching over the rocks and their king is part of the Council of Immortals. They also created the sleigh bells for Santa Claus’ reindeer. (source: Wikipedia) In 1985, book was adapted into a stop motion animated television special and then in 2000, Universal Studios released a film.

Since I love the idea of little gnomes, I created a 3D Christmas gnome that I could display on my holiday table! I want to share this little guy with you. Scroll down to see full instructions for Gnome for the Holidays!

Supplies needed for gnomes for the holidays

Instructions for 3D Gnome for the Holidays

Here is a short video on how to upload the design and take it apart
in Design Space so you can cut on the Mats.

Take your time with this guy! He has a lot of layers. Assemble the back first.

Use the Bigger foam dots towards the bottom so the Gnome will stand better. Take a look at each photo to see how it was put together. Please note that I changed the design so the cap and the body were adjoined to form a stronger core body (see above black shape)

This is the way you will layer the back. In the back, the Hair is the cutouts from the front Beard.
Align them at the top so they look like hair and not a beard. This will go under the Cap.

Then assemble the beard. Leave the nose for last.

Assemble the Cap and the fur ball as shown on top of the black body.

Attach the cap to the front beard.

Attach the noses to the front of the beard and the cap.

Attach the front of the boot layer by layer on top of the beard as you go.

Sandwich the beard in between the boots as shown. Cut off any tips of beard that protrude.

Attach the last boot with the toe tip on top!

Bend the back layer and crease as shown so the you can attach it to the front and the back to create a gap.

Bend and attach the two strips to the front and back of the boots to provide a flat surface for the Gnome to stand.

Add the candy cane and gloves as shown below.

There you have it! This is the front of the standing 3D Gnome.

Here is the back of the big guy! He stands a whopping 20 inches high, but you can make him any size you like!

Here is the side view so you can see how the black body at the bottom is attached and the two strips are attached to front and back.

If you don’t want to make it 3D Standing, just don’t cut and assemble the back pieces. Use the extra set of boots included in the file if you like. Assemble and place in a Shadow Box!

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