Gnome Couple

Inspired by the peg doll swap over at We Bloom Here 

I was overcome with the urge to create some sweet new peg dolls.

If you've been a fan of our page, you'll know that I have this "thing" for

gnomes and toadstools.

(it drives my tween crazy!!!)

So…here is my Gnome couple…and the DIY instructions if you should feel so inspired

to make your own.

You will need:

wooden "peg" doll forms

watercolour paint & black acrylic

paintbrush

toothpick

wool felt

scissors

embroidery floss

glue 

To begin get out your peg doll forms.  

I get mine from Stockade.

Using your watercolour paint, paint on a wash of colour…

don't feel limited by what I did…use your imagination.

Cut out your bits and pieces from wool felt

*I cannot stress how lovely wool felt is to work with…it's well worth buying

For the lady gnome we did a hat, belt and apron

For the dude gnome we did a hat, beard and belt

If you are stumped or don't feel capable of winging these patterns yourself head over to

 Wee Folk Art

they have patterns for every type of gnome imaginable, (for FREE)

For the lady gnome we made little braids out of embroidery floss.  

I took 9 strands and cut them to size…glued them to the top of her head, 

then braided them and tied them off with red embroidery floss.

Glue on their hats, beard...

Now this is where you use your imagination…

using a chain stitch I stitched a little heart on the apron, and stitched the belt as well.

Then using our glue gun we glued it all in place.

Using a toothpick or very small brush make two small dots of black for eyes…

and I put a touch of beeswax blush on the lady gnome…just because.

Oh my…these two fit right in here at the Gnomestead!!

I'll be making a few more sets for the peg doll swap…so excited!!!!

"Gnome" is where the heart is!

Valentine's day is around the corner...time to bring out the love inspired crafts!  Last night I decided to make some little Valentine gnomes!  So so simple.  Using the Wee Folk Art gnome pattern, and some red and pink wool felt, I simply embellished, sewing a little heart onto their body. 

Of course they need some toadstools to dine on...using wooden hearts for plates, and then wooden plugs, (found at home depot), I painted wee little toadstools...just perfect for a romantic gnome feast!

This was a quick and easy craft to whip up for the kids...a sweet little addition to the nature table, or playscape!

And...here's a bonus...I just discovered this song the other day...if you're a gnome enthusiast like me, it'll make you smile.
David Bowie's "the laughing gnome"

here's a version with the words...so you can see the clever little things the gnomes are saying!

enjoy!

xo maureen

Advent Sticks...

Many years ago while perusing the internet for great Advent ideas, I came across the "Advent Stick".  I don't remember the original source, but the idea was to gather friends and gifts and create an advent stick together.  I put the idea out there and gathered up some of my crafty friends, (some folks have dropped out and some have stayed.).   This will be our 4th year we're still crafting these sticks together.  It is a tradition that we all love and that our children look forward to.  Every year you smile as these treasures come out of the Christmas box, and some are just so much fun they stay out year round!

Each friend crafts 5 items times 5 people.  We always give people an "out" if life gets too busy...up to 2 items can be store bought, or a food treat.  Here are my contributions for this year...it's a little "set" of Christmas gnomes gathering around a fire.   I got the great idea for the fire pit from woman wife momma.  The gnomes were made using the pattern from Wee Folk Art.

Here's a close up of the back of their capes...I simply cut out some holly leaves and berries and glue gunned them on...I must say, they do look rather festive!

We were supposed to put our sticks together last night, but hailing ice pellets got in the way of our fun.  My friend over at Wabi Sabi Wanderings posted a picture of last years stick, (we were hoping to do a rainbow stick this year, but may just have to settle for getting the darn thing together.

Other participating friends are

the Knitty Gritty Homestead, Embracing the Now, and of course my lovely co-blogger Shanti!

This is another fabulous way to get your crafting community to come together in the JOY of creativity!

Now off to gather the other folks contributions and get this stick together!  Hope to post some pictures of the finished product after the weekend!

xo maureen

ps...don't forget about our fabulous giveaway!  You can win a lovely little gnome house with gnome and a peacock blue playsilk.  The giveaway closes on Tuesday Nov 30th.  You can enter once daily.  Please just tell us what your favourite item in our shop is.  We're also offering 15% off of everything in our store until December 8th.  Just type in the discount code "toadstool"!

Good luck to all who enter.  

A Family of Twig Gnomes!!!!

I LOVE simple crafts that have a great end result!  Here's a quick and simple way to make some twig gnomes of your own.  The inspiration comes from "The Gnome Craft Book" by Thomas and Petra Berger.

We started by going out and cutting some fallen branches from our yard.  We found a thick branch and then a thinner one.  Cut them into various lengths, (on an angle), and then sanded them, so that they'd have a little space for a  "face" in front.

I used a small electric sander, which was super fast!

Then, paint some little faces on them...(they're starting to come to life now!!)

Next cut out their hats out of felt...this is how we did ours, you'll have to play around with the width, (depends on the width of your twigs)...basically you want something you can just glue up the back, (and the little arch in the front is so there is room for your gnomes face to be seen!).

So...glue the roving to the front of your twig...to make a beard and a bit of hair...then wrap the hat around and glue up the back...I used a hot glue gun for this part.

And there you have it...a little family of gnomes!

My kids were so excited to find these little enchanting toys this morning, they were immediately scooped up and off on an adventure! 

Happy gnome making!

xox maureen

My sweet little gnome...

I finally got around to sewing up a gnome hat for Matilda.  The pattern comes from "Bend the Rules Sewing" by Amy Karol...if you haven't seen the book, it is full of great, colourful, fun sewing projects, (and for the novice sewer, the instructions are clear and easy to follow)!!  I used 100% wool felt for this project, (I do find that wool felt generally holds up better over time...but heck...use whatever you darn well please!!)

Here is the full on front view of the hat...it's a little big on her, but she just LOVES it!!!

And here's the view from the side...with a little flower embellishment!!

It took very little time to whip this up...about an hour tops.  And if you're wondering how in the world I found the time to do this...well, here's my confession...I locked myself and the kids upstairs, and they played while I sewed my heart out, (our upstairs is open concept...three quarters bedroom/playroom and one quarter mommy's craft nook!!).  Gotta love it when you can fit in a random act of sewing while the kids happily play!!

Hope you all enjoy a weekend bursting with creativity!!!!

maureen xo

Our First Fabulous Giveaway..help us give our Rainbow Gnomes a new home!!!

You could win these Rainbow Gnomes!!!!

Happy Monday from the Toadstool!

 

So, welcome to our first fabulous giveaway!  Remember those Rainbow Gnomes I made for Ruby's birthday?  Well, I made two sets of them, so we could have our first giveaway!  The rules are as follows...everyone can enter once...just leave a comment, and a way to get in contact with you if you win, however...if you are an officious "Follower" of our blog, you can enter every day for the next week...one entry per day, just leave your comments under this post...one separate comment for each entry,  (if you join our blog in the next week, you can enter every day from the day you become a follower, remember one comment equals one entry)!  And for our facebook friends, you can enter daily as well,  but you need to leave your comments here, and not on our Facebook page!   Feel free to mention our giveaway on any kindred blogs out there...we'd be truly grateful!!    We'll announce the winner on Monday June 14th...one week from today!  (we'll also ship them to anywhere in this wonderful world of ours)!!!  Good luck to everyone who enters...help our gnomes find a fabulous new home!!!

In the spirit of giving stuff away!!!

maureen xo