Furry Bearded XL Gnome

Hello Clear Scrap friends!  I'm back with a home decor project that will easily take you all the way through the holidays.  As soon as I saw the XL Wood Gnome, I knew he had to have a spot next to my home fireplace.  With the Clear Scraps collection of wood shapes, I can change the items on the hat for any season too.  I'm so excited to make items for his hat later on to switch out with each holiday.  I'm even more excited that my gnome will have a "real" fur beard too!

I started by picking a plaid paper for the gnome hat that would go with my decor all year round.  I've traced the gnome hat on the paper, cut it out, then applied a layer of decoupage on the back.  With this size area, I took a squeegee and pushed it over the paper from the inside out to remove bubbles.  Then, I applied a coat of decoupage on top and let it dry.

Next on the base of the gnome I've cut out a layer of the same plaid paper, slit the middles with a knife and applied it with a coat of decoupage also.  The other layer is painted in black acrylic paint, sanded, then coated again.  Once both layers are dry, I've glued the pieces shut with a wood glue.  For both the hat and the base, I've also sanded the edges down to give them a worn look and to take off any excess paper edges.

Then it was time to start laying down the fur beard.  I had the cutest leopard fur ribbon from several seasons ago and decided this mountain-gnome was going to be a rustic (yet stylish) kind of guy.  Ha!

Because the ribbon has an edge, I laid out pieces of the ribbon across the wood beard piece first, tucking the edges under as I went.  I started from the top right edge and used hot glue to lay down pieces in a striped pattern.  When I got to the middle of the beard, I trimmed an oval where the nose was going to go and continued to glue. 

After all the pieces were secured, I flipped the beard over and trimmed the fur down around the beard shape.  Any remaining edges were tucked in and glued down.  I love the look of this so much, I may try it with my white fur ribbon next!!

Now for the gnome "jeans."  This is an acrylic blue paint, but I took some drops of water to it so it would look a bit more 'washed' in areas.  Feel free to take a second coat if you prefer more coverage on the wood!  Then, I coated a paintbrush lightly with white paint, and brushed a lot of it off on a paper towel.  This "dry brushing" technique allows you to add light streaks of white in areas.  I made several rainbow shaped arcs where the jeans would drape around the shoes.

Once this is dry, I added some stitch lines with a fine brush dipped in white paint, and added a dotted line around both pockets as well as a crease to the pants.  Once the pants were dry, I painted his feet black, then was able to glue the beard and hat on to the gnome.  I used both hot glue and a wood glue for stability.

The nose and hands are painted in a light peach.  It also needed a backing so it wouldn't get lost in that big beard of his!  I cut an oval out of sturdy foam board, and glued it to the middle.  Then, added the wood nose on top.  My gnome won't be holding anything, so I glued his hands as if he were stroking that furry beard of his!  So cute!

For my final touch...I am using the apple shape from the Fall Wood Collection of shapes, and I intend on preparing the other shapes for a future project too.  This shape I wanted to look different than the red plaid hat, so I've sanded it, then coated it in a black chalkboard paint.  What a great way to add a Fall message or personalization to your project! 

Once dry, I glued velcro pieces to the back of the apple and also to the hat.  Now I can switch out pieces when I'm ready for a new look!  In fact, here's a picture of a tan flower I had at home too.

Right now, my mountain gnome is sitting up front greeting all my visitors.  If you decide to put your project outside, don't forget to do a final acrylic coat to protect it from the elements.  I love this project SO much!  I can't wait to try other ones with other shapes and colors.  Check out all the options, and the various gnome shapes and sizes on Clear Scraps website.  You will likely fall in love, just like I did! 

Until next time,

Maureen

Additional supplies used:  wood glue, hot glue and gun, acrylic paint in black, peach, white and blue, decoupage, fur ribbon, chalkboard paint, acrylic sealer, small piece of foam board.