Make a Leprechaun Gnome Buddy

Top O' the Morning to ya!  It's Maureen with you on this St. Patrick's Day!  I happened to "catch" this cute little leprechaun character in the act of being, you know, CUTE.  And I thought I'd share him with you today.

I cannot resist the gnome characters from Clear Scraps - they are addicting to decorate for every season!  This one is a pretty fast project, because I'm using card stock colors as my base.  The item I'm using is the Medium Wood Gnome #2 and he is as cute as can be.  He also is a nice size for a display while still being able to store him easily in a box.

First, I've traced his beard in a red-orange card stock and cut it out.  I do more tracing of the wood pieces for the hat, pants, hands and nose - in green and peach papers, respectively.   His shoes were easy to cut - I covered that area with 2 die cut ovals.

Then, using some brown inks, I've stenciled beard lines in random spots with the 5x9 Wave Strips Stencil.  I've used this stencil a lot - it is great to get a realistic look for hair, beards, etc.  I've also dusted the edges of the beard and glued it to the wood piece.

Next I added the buckle on his hat - to make this easy, simply cut a strip about 2" thick of paper (mine is black glitter) and then trim off the ends with a detail scissors.  The buckle comes together by taking 2 different square die cuts to yellow paper, cutting out the middle with the smaller square and gluing it on.

My leprechaun needed something in his hands - so I added a cup of coffee, of course!  He is holding the Coffee Cup Mini Shaker, decorated with layers of papers traced out and glued on the top layer.  The shaker is filled with brown, orange and yellow shaker bits.

After adding the coffee cup, I did add a couple white details to the nose and hands for dimension.  If you decide you want your display outside, I recommend adhering your card stock papers with modge podge and then finishing with a sealant.

He is now sitting inside near my front entryway, keeping an eye on all his gold!  Golden coffee, that is.  Hee hee!

I hope this project encourages you to go 'green' this holiday.  Take care and we'll see you next time!

Maureen