Wood Peg Gnome Doll DIY (Easy Christmas Craft)
Who doesn’t love a cute Christmas craft that is worthy of being used in your Christmas decor year after year? These fun little wood peg gnome Christmas dolls will definitely make the cut. If you are wondering if they are easy to make, keep reading!
Wood peg Christmas gnome dolls are a fast and easy Christmas craft that can be completed in 8 simple steps in about 30 minutes or less from start to finish. They can be customized in any color you love for the holiday season.
Get more Christmas diy and craft ideas here.
Materials needed for wood peg Christmas gnome doll
- wood peg doll body
- felt
- faux fur for beard
- Craft bead or other pony bead for nose (I used some my daughter had in her bracelet making kits)
- Wire ribbon for hat
- Small wire or trash bag tie (optional)
- hot glue gun and glue
- scissors
• Learn to how to make a sock gnome or Christmas gnome with arms!
• Prefer to buy a premade gnome? I got you!
1. Cut felt and hot glue around wooden body
Very little of the doll’s body will be visible as the gnome’s beard will cover it. So, it is not necessary to worry about measuring exact measurements.
I simply held the wooden doll on a piece of felt and ensured I had enough to wrap all the way around the body with just a tiny bit extra to overlap.
It should be a big enough piece of felt to extend from the bottom of the wood peg all the way to the “neck” portion of the wood peg.
Use hot glue along the bottom edge, being careful not to burn yourself.
Secure the felt vertically with hot glue, along the back side of the gnome doll. Then add glue to the base as you wrap the felt around the wooden peg.
Once you’ve made it all the way around, secure the edges into place with hot glue.
2. If preferred, paint the doll body vs using felt
As I mentioned above, very little of the gnome body will be visible after gluing the hat and beard into place.
You can use acrylic paint for the body vs felt. If you are making these wood peg dolls for Christmas, green or red would be very pretty choices to paint the body.
When using paint, just apply paint from the “neck” portion of the wood peg down. That is the only portion that might possibly be visible in the end.
3. Glue bead nose to wood peg head
If you have a preteen or young teenage daughter in your home, chances are good you have some pony beads you can use as the nose. My daughter has a TON of these that she occasionally uses to make bracelets and other jewelry.
Grab whatever color of bead you prefer. I found a wooden bead, nude color bead, and a black bead for my gnome dolls.
The hole will not show once you attach the beard and hat, so no worries there! Just ensure the hole is facing up/down as shown in this picture.
Glue the bead to the doll head (in the center) and hold for a few seconds to ensure it is nice and secure.
4. Cut beard in triangle shape
I use the term “triangle” quite loosely. As you see below, my triangle is more curved at the bottom.
The most important thing to remember when cutting the beard from the faux fur fabric is to avoid cutting the beard hair as much as possible. Using a razor blade on the back side of the fabric is one way to avoid cutting the fur.
No one wants a clean cut beard on a gnome!
When cutting the beard, the length of the hair should be from approximately the middle of the wooden head to the ground when the peg is standing up.
Once again, a precise measurement is not needed , but that is a consideration you’ll need to remember.
5. Hot glue beard to wooden peg
I find it best to add a tiny bit of hot glue along the top of the backside of the beard (see below).
Then, starting with the center of the beard tucked just under the nose, secure it all the way around the wood peg doll head.
6. Cut out hat in shape of triangle
The wire ribbon I used for this project was 3 1/2 inches wide. For the size of these cute Nordic gnome dolls, this was pretty perfect for the height of hat.
Just as I wasn’t terribly precise with cutting the beard, the same was true with the hat. If you are a perfectionist, just take a quick peek so you get the idea;-)
When you glue it together in the end, you will never see the imperfections!
I ensured the rim of the hat was wide enough to wrap around the head with just a bit of overlap.
The wire in the ribbon made hat shape nicely around the doll head. But, keep in mind, you could easily use a regular piece of fabric or felt for the hat. It doesn’t need to be a wire ribbon.
7. Glue wire to inside of hat to allow shaping
If you want to ability to shape and bend your little Scandinavian gnome doll’s hat, putting wire in the hat will do the trick.
You could use bread ties or trash bag ties as I did. This actually worked really well.
Put a thin line of hot glue along the trash bag tie/wire and secure it to the center of the inside of the hat, holding in place several seconds.
8. Attach hat to wooden doll head with hot glue
Put a dot of hot glue on the center of the hat rim (on the inside of the hat). Hold this on the top of the gnome’s nose for a few seconds to secure, then add hot glue around the rest of the head to attach the hat.
Once the hat is attached to the head of the doll, use hot glue to finish gluing the hat all the way to the tip.
Tips to create wood peg gnome dolls with varied looks
- Use different ribbon or fabric colors for the hats.
- Vary the color of faux fur for beards.
- Change up the color of nose by varying the bead color.
- Add embellishments such as a craft pom pom ball to the top of the hats with glue.
- Braid the beards.
- Shape the beard around the bead to make the gnome doll look like he has a mustache.
Related Christmas Crafts
- Christmas Advent Calendars
- Wood Slice Gnome Ornament
- Embroidery Hoop Christmas Ornament
- How to Make a Fancy Bow with Wire Ribbon
- Winter Planter Ideas
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