Pine Cone and Felt Gnome Christmas Ornament

There is a special kind of magic that radiates from a handmade felt Christmas Ornament… it is like the effort and love that went into making it is shining forth from it’s own heart.

Making ornaments has become a Christmas tradition in our home and I treasure the time I spend with my children as we create together. When I was 21, I spent a Christmas in an Austrian home. They had such a beautiful Christmas tree, decorated from top to bottom with handmade ornaments. There was an ornament I remember on that tree that was even more beautiful than all the rest. It was a pine cone gnome… quite the sweetest thing I had ever seen. My children and I have made one just as I remember it and each time I look at him, memories of that wintry white Christmas in Austria come flooding back.

I’d love to share my DIY tutorial with you so that you can make one for your home too.

Tutorial :: DIY Pine Cone Gnome Christmas Ornament.

Materials and Tools required to make our Pine Cone Gnome Ornament

• A small pine cone for his body (foraged from nature)
• One white,  1- inch, felt ball for his head (found at craft stores or on Etsy.com. A 1- inch wooden ball will work just as well)
• One red, half-an-inch, felt ball for his pom pom on his hat
• Two white, half-an-inch, felt balls for his hands
• A piece of green wool felt for his hat and scarf (found at craft stores or on Etsy.com or you can use a felted sweater)
• Green thread and a needle
• A tiny button for his scarf (found at craft stores)
• Glue (a hot glue gun works the best but any glue will work with a little added patience)

We will make the sweet little hat first. Cut the green wool felt into a triangle. Each side of the triangle should be about 3 inches long.

With your needle and thread, sew two sides of the triangle together. When the two sides are sewn together, flip the little hat inside-out to hide the thread.

To finish off his hat, take the red felt ball that will become his pom pom. Before we stick it onto the green felt hat, we want to make a thread loop from it so that our little gnome can hang on the tree.  With your needle and thread, pass the thread up through the center of the red ball and again down through the center, knotting it where the two loose ends of thread meet and leaving a hanging loop at the top. Add a bit of glue to the bottom end of the red pom pom and stick it onto his green hat.

Add a bit of glue to the inside of his green felt hat and stick it onto the larger 1-inch white felt ball that is his head.

Use your glue to stick the head onto the base of the pine cone. Your gnome has a body!

He needs a scarf. Cut a narrow length in the shape of a scarf from the scraps of the green wool felt left over from his hat, about 5 inches long, and drape it cozily around his neck. Dab a little glue in the spot where the two ends of the scarf cross over at the front of your gnome (or you can sew it together).

My son Teddy held it tightly in place while the glue dried.

We glued the tiny button right in the middle of the scarf. Then, we glued the two small white felt balls on the sides of the pine cone for his hands and there he is… the cutest little Austrian pine cone gnome for your Christmas tree. He is sure to delight!

He is sure to delight!

I have put together a kit, available in The Magic Onions Shop, that will come with EVERYTHING you need to complete this project.

If you aren’t the crafting type but want to purchase a Christmas ornament similar to this little gnome, please visit The Magic Onions Shop.

Looking for more crafting ideas? You can find awesome needle felting directions on my Needle Felting Tutorials page, including this gorgeous felted acorn garland.

Here are some of my other fall and Christmas crafts.

And here are all of my crafting tutorials.

Happy crafting,

Blessings and magic,

Donni