Here are the instructions for our January Adult Take-n-Make Craft for anyone who wants to follow along with their own supplies!
Supplies: (41) 13-inch pieces of yarn, 1 toilet paper tube, (14) 13-inch white cotton cords (or any color you want the beard to be), (1) 19-inch white cotton cord (same color as beard), tape, a 2-inch metal ring, a wooden nose bead (we used 20mm wooden craft half-balls, but a regular wood bead can work too), hot glue, scissors, a ruler
Instructions:
First, you will need to cut (41) 13-inch pieces of yarn. The easiest way to do this is to measure one piece with your ruler and then after you cut it, use it as a guide for the rest. Just line it up and cut. Then will cut (14) 13-inch cotton cords, and one 19 inch cotton cord. Set all the cotton cords aside. Right now we will be working only with the yarn. Once you have those you will begin to make the gnome’s hat. take your toilet paper tube and cut a piece off the end, roughly 1.5-2 inches thick. Then put a layer of tape around it so that it doesn’t break.
You will be putting the yarn onto the tube with a lark’s head knot. To do that, set the tube on its side. Fold one of the pieces of yarn in half, then hold it under the tube. One side will have the loop and the other will have the two ends. Bring the loop up above the tube and feed the ends through. Pull tight, and squish them together as you go. Repeat this for 40 pieces of yarn. Refer to the pictures.
You will take the tails of yarn and gather them up, holding them straight. Take your last piece of yarn and tie them off, creating the hat. You may tie this piece of yarn around a few times then knot and cut excess ends. Then cut the ends off the gathered yarn, creating the pom-pom. You may have to do some trim work to make them even.
Next, you will lark’s head knot the 14 cotton cords onto the metal ring. (You will fold each cord in half, pull the looped end up through the ring, bring the ends of the cord through the loop and pull tight. Repeat for all 14 cords.) This will be the gnome’s beard. After you have all 14 cords on the ring, be sure to spend a moment tightening the knots and pushing them down so the top ¼ of the ring is left bare. I added a dab of hot glue to either side to prevent the cords from creeping up the ring. Take your 19-inch cord and lark’s head knot it at the very top of your gnome. I also hot glued this knot so it was stable.
Now we need to add the hat to the gnome! To do this, you are going to tape your two ends of the top lark’s head knotted (19-inch cord) together with scotch tape (to use as a needle). You will very gently push the ends up through the hat so they come out the top of the head. Pull them through gently, hanging on to the tied part of the pom-pom so it stays secure. Then shift the hat down so it is on top of the metal ring. Be sure you pull that long cord all the way through so your hat is snug against the ring.
It will seem like the ring is too big for your hat. That is okay, just gently crease the edges of the toilet paper tube so it flattens, and hot glue it to the ring. You may have to squeeze the hat shut with your fingers for a few seconds to let the glue dry. Glue your wood bead against the knots on the lower center of the ring. This is the nose. Then just tie that top cord above the hat into a knot so you can hang it. Lastly, trim the beard however you would like. Your gnome is complete!
