Now it’s time to cut out a beard from the fur. To get the width of the beard, take the number you used above to figure the width of the hat (mine was 35) and divide it by 5 (that gave me 7). For the beard height, measure how tall your pumpkin is and use half of that. My pumpkin was 10 inches tall so half was five. Flip the fur over, and on the back of it trace a beard shape, using your width and height measurements (mine was 7 inches wide and 5 inches tall).
Gnome Pumpkin Decorating Idea
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In today’s post: Learn how to turn a pumpkin into a gnome! This is an easy no-carve pumpkin decorating idea that doesn’t require any sewing.
Today’s project is a fun no-carve decorating idea for your Halloween pumpkins. You’ll make a gnome hat out of fleece and attach a beard and nose to the hat. Then you can place the hat right on top of a pumpkin to transform it into a gnome.
Supplies
Here’s what you’ll need to decorate a pumpkin as a gnome:
- Pumpkin: I used a real pumpkin, but you can use a fake one if you’d like.
- Fleece fabric: You’ll want to get half a yard of fleece, which will be enough to make the hat and give you some extra to use as stuffing inside the hat to keep it standing up. If you are purchasing fleece at Jo-Ann, Blizzard fleece is the cheapest option and it works great here.
- Styrofoam ball: You’ll need one ball to make the gnome’s nose. The balls I used are 2.3 inches in diameter and were purchased at Jo-Ann.
- Tan socks or pantyhose: You’ll use these to cover the nose, so look for thin socks or pantyhose. The ones I used are from Dollar Tree.
- Faux fur: you’ll need approximately 8×8 inches of faux fur. Check the box below the photo for information on where you can get faux fur.
You will also need a hot glue gun and a small sharp knife.
Where to Buy Faux Fur
Here are two options for purchasing faux fur:
- Jo-Ann Fabrics (or other fabric stores) will carry faux fur on a bolt that’s 60 inches wide. The type I used is a long white fur, but you can use a different color if you prefer. A quarter yard of faux fur will be a piece that’s 9 inches by 60 inches. That’s going to be a LOT of faux fur, which you can save and use for other projects. This is a great idea if you like making gnomes. Faux fur at Jo-Ann is expensive; it runs about $50 a yard, or $13 for a quarter yard, so try to use a 50% off coupon to make it about $6.50.
- Another option is to order squares of faux fur from Amazon. I ordered this fur which gives you four 10×10 inch pieces of fur for around seven/eight dollars. It comes packed tight so right out of the package it looks wrinkled and terrible. All you have to do is blow it with a hair dryer on both sides for a minute or so and the wrinkles fall out. I think this is slightly nicer/longer fur than what I bought at Jo-Ann.
How to make a Dollar Tree witch pumpkin gnome
Start by painting the black canvas with white paint. You want to keep a light hand so the black from the canvas shows through just a little.
Let the white paint dry, then distress the surface with a sanding sponge to get the lines from the frame to show through.
Next, paint the witches hat black and stain the bottom portion of the acorn with brown paint. To stain, use a wet wipe to apply the paint to the acorn and use a clean wet wipe to remove the excess.
Once the brown paint is dry, brush the white paint over the brown in a downward motion. This is making the beard for your gnome!
Next, I painted the little pumpkin with orange paint. I used a small bit of brown paint and a baby wipe to smudge the detail onto the pumpkin.
Allow the paint to dry on each piece and then distress each of then. The next thing I did was paint the polka dots onto the witches hat.
I painted the little half wood bead with yellow paint to be my gnome’s nose. Now, all you have to do, is glue the pieces onto the painted canvas to build your gnome!
Lastly, I did use a baby wipe to add a little bit of black paint back onto the frame of the canvas to bring it out more.
I hope you enjoyed this Dollar Tree Witch Pumpkin Gnome as much as I did and decide to make one for yourself! I would love to see how yours turns out!
Watch the DIY tutorial
I recorded how to make this adorable Dollar Tree Witch Pumpkin Gnome during a LIVE video on my Facebook page.
If you want to see the DIY process, craft along, or just join in on the fun conversations you can watch the DIY tutorial replay video on Facebook!
For this project, I will be using these items but you can substitute where you want.
“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
- Dollar Tree Wood Pumpkin ornament
- Dollar Tree Wood Witch Hat ornament
- Half wood Bead
- Dollar Tree Wood Acorn ornament
- Dollar Tree Black Stretched Canvas
- White Paint
- DecoArt Spiced Pumpkin
- Apple Barrel Jet Black
- Apple Barrel Bright Yellow
- DecoArt Desert Cactus
- Glue Gun
- Heat gun
You should totally join my FREE Facebook group called On A Budget Crafts! It is a judgment-free community for DIY crafters to show off their projects and ideas.
