Got Candy Halloween Gnomie

How many trick or treaters do you get each Halloween?  If you're like our house, we get several dozen throughout the night.  I thought I'd decorate a special gnome to keep me company this year out on the front porch as the kids stop by.  He's so darn "sweet," don't you think?? Hee hee!

So I'm starting this project with the Medium Gnome #2 because the hat looks a bit like a witch's pointy hat.  I have to say I love this size gnome because it can stand up against a wall on the floor or be added to a shelf too.  And of course, the decorating ideas are endless!  Actually that's always the hardest part - narrowing down how I want to dress up these Clear Scraps gnomes!

I began by base-coating the hat in orange acrylic paint and the arms and nose in a coral pink.  I like to sand down the pieces after the first coat of paint, then add a second coat after. 

The beard is painted in a light gray and the shoes on the gnome are done in black acrylic paint.  All items need to dry thoroughly and you can add a second coat as needed.

I really liked this Halloween patterned stripe paper I had in my stash, and thought they would look great as pants for my gnome, so I traced the backside of the paper with a pencil then cut it out a bit smaller than what I traced.  This is glued to the bottom base piece of the gnome, and trimmed on the edges where there was any overlap.

Now I wanted my gnome to look like he was holding a classic pumpkin bucket so I took the smaller of the two Jack O' Lantern Chipboard Embellishments, and trimmed off the stem.  This was painted in a couple coats of the same orange acrylic paint. 

I then took some black card stock and traced it into an oval.  I also had some black and white twine, so I trimmed a small piece of this and glued it to the back of the jack o'lantern.  Then I glued the card stock over it.  Set this piece aside to dry.

Detailing is one of my favorite parts of a painting project!  It may seem intimidating, but the interesting thing is that it is quite easy and adds such a professional finish to a project.  To detail the hat, start by taking a thin paintbrush and some black paint and follow the edge of the hat around at about 18" away from the edge.  Every so often, make an indent as if the hat is "folding."

Next, follow along on some of the edges with a thicker paintbrush and some light gray paint.  These strokes are added in several spots around the outline, but don't have to be added everywhere.  

Finally add a thinner line of white to some of the edges.  And now you have highlights!

You will do the same with the jack o'lantern - and if you don't trust yourself with a paintbrush, you can use a permanent black marker instead.  If you don't like how something looks, don't worry!  Paint over the shape and start again.

My gnome's beard is painted with dark gray and white highlights.  Here I've added some die cut letters to spell CANDY on the edge of his beard, and I speckled them with some paint colors first.  The word "got" is simply a permanent marker and my handwriting!

To add the pumpkin bucket, glue the twine down on top of the gnome's beard, and then his hands over it.  Do the same with the nose and a hat embellishment.  I've added a die cut web to his hat for some wicked "flair!"

I love this little guy - his bucket hangs loose and swings just a bit, which is like a little pumpkin-secret!  

Feel free to give this project a try to dress up your patio this season - and see the supply list below for items you'll need.  Now I'm off to find some peanut butter cups for my candy dish!

Maureen

Additional supplies:  orange/black/gray/white acrylic paint, black permanent marker, black and patterned paper, spider web shape or die cut, twine