A New *No Stitch* Heart Gnome Tutorial

As you all know, I love gnomes. My daughter is responsible for this love and in an effort to make her gnome play things- since you can't really find gnomes in the store- I set about learning how to make my own gnomes. 


About a year and a half ago, I stumbled upon Wee Folk Art's peg gnome tutorial. Since then I have made my own wee folk gnomes, as well as modified them to make my own versions. It seems to me once you work with two artistic mediums enough, in this case peg people and felt, the possibilities are limitless. 


When talking with my friends about my gnome crafting, a lot of them remark, "well what about the blanket stitching and embroidery... all that for one little gnome?" It is true, doing all the stitching does take more time and I do like the look, but it isn't for everyone for sure. I am all about practicality and empowering anyone to craft. If the stitches are a deterrent for you then ditch them! This makes crafting peg gnome even easier for kids as well! 


I will show you how to avoid stitching all together, except for sewing the cloak closed and sewing the hat together. Both of these are essential and easy. They're just joining stitches. If you're especially great with fabric glue then I bet you can figure out a way to avoid this as well, but alas I am not and my gnomes come out looking to gummy. 

Ok, Let's do this!! 

Step One: Go to Wee Folk Art's Blog and download their 'Waldorf peg gnome pattern' and directions. It is free. 

Step Two: Cut out all the pieces for your gnomes as directed. For a girl heart gnome cut a pink hat and body piece and a red cloak and small heart. For a boy heart gnome, cut a blue hat and body with a purple cape and heart. 

Step Three: Instead of stitching all the edges of the hats and cloaks, just don't! 

Step Four: Fabric glue the gnome body piece on. Then, once dry, glue the heart on the middle of the body. 

Step Five: Thread a needle with either blue (boy) or pink (girl) embroidery thread. Drape the cloak around the gnome's shoulders and gather stitch the cloak closed around the gnome's neck. Then if desired, to prevent the cloak from shifting, glue the back of the cloak to the gnome's body. 

Step Six: Take the gnome hat piece and turn it inside out. Stitch the open sides shut with a simple running stitch. Then turn the hat inside out. Stuff the hat with wool. 

Step Seven: Take a copious amount of fabric glue and place it inside the hat. Place the hat on your gnome's head. The gnome should have a large rim on his hat. Gently pucker the edge of the hat down onto the gnome forehead using the glue seeping out from under the hat. If you're not sure what this looks like then see the hats above. 

Then ta-ad, you should be done! Mine took me under 10 minutes per gnome. They are just as cute and as fun for the kids. Enjoy, and I hope you craft many of these gnomies too for your little ones. 

Also don't forget my current giveaway for Sarah Silks. You still have until the 23rd to enter and win a playsilk or silk streamer! 

Always, Nicole 

Hello Spring! Our Imbolc and Candlemas Celebrations

Dear Saint Bridget of the Kine

Bless these little fields of mine,

The pastures and the shady trees,

Bless the butter and the cheese,

Bless the cows with coats of silk

And the brimming pails of milk.

Bless the hedgerows, and I pray

Bless the seed beneath the clay.

Bless the hay and bless the grass,

Bless the seasons as they pass,

And heaven's blessings will prevail,

Brigid, Mary of the Gael

-From Little Acorn

So here we are, already three days into February. It seems to me that January creeped by due to illness in our house. I am quite ready for all of that to be over! We rang in February actually with Jonas getting a terrible stomach bug on Tuesday. I despise stomach bugs the most out of all illnesses. Thankfully it was short lived and he was the only one to get it. My fingers are crossed and I am determined that we shall be out of the woods with colds from here on out! 


With February came our first celebration of both Candlemas and Imbolc, or St. Brigit's Day. I really wanted to celebrate both holidays since I love all the themes of St. Brigit, Christ's presentation in the temple, and the reawakening of the earth for Spring. My children and I have been noticing the signs of Spring all around us, so doing a  joint celebration seemed fitting. 


Last night we had our co-op buddies come over for a party at our house. Deirdre was so excited to have a party. During nap time I finished up our February decorations and crafted the kids some presents to take home with them. I wanted them to all have a special votive candle to remember our time together (inspired by Wee Folk's votive but a bit different). I also finally got a seasonal tree fixed up and placed in our school room. My hope is that we can craft little ornaments for each seasonal and holiday to hang on it as the year progresses. 

Votive Directions: 
First I painted on a tissue paper heart with glue.
Then, once the heart was dry, I painted the whole votive with glue and rolled it in sugar until it was totally coated.
Then you must let it totally dry.
Once dry, seal it with Mod Podge.
Viola, you have a frosted heart votive that should last! 

Deirdre also wanted to help with the party preparations, so she decorated her playroom with her play silks. I love her and her desire to help and create.  She was so giddy about having a party, it really warmed my heart to watch her. 

I made a tasty dinner with Anya's help for us all as well as a 'sun' cake for the kids to decorate with yellow and red sprinkles. Because according to Deirdre, "It is not a real party unless there is cake"! I concur! We used this recipe. It was very tasty and I thought making fruit based cake would help tie in the idea of Spring coming- along with fresh fruits again! I am already dreaming of strawberry season. 


Then we headed outside for a candle boat race. The kids had a blast and so did I. Jonas was way more interested in playing in the water than with his boat though. Got to love him! Afterwards we ate dinner and cake. Then it was circle time by our fire. I read a story about the earth getting ready for Spring and gardening. I had little garden props for the kids to play with while they listened. They seemed to enjoy themselves and the girls really got into the book. They are ready to garden for sure! I ended by telling them the story of St. Brigit- which they also loved. Deirdre was trying to spread her cloak today over the playroom to stake out her claim to the land. Fun times were had by all. 

We ended the party with some quiet playing and crafting. We made St. Brigit crosses (as seen in the first photo on the post). I got the idea from my friend Laura's blog: Nestled Under Rainbows. Anya and I ended up doing most of the crosses but the kids sure loved playing with them. 


All in all, I loved our time together. I think they kids will remember it for some time to come. I know I will. 

Always, Nicole 

Yellow

It seems that our poor daffodils and forsythia are confused. These are the two local flowers that have always heralded the coming Spring for me. They usually do not appear until late March, but as you can see they are happy to pop up and say hello in January! Sadly this means if we get another frost, and I am sure we will, that they will die. I must say the crazy weather we've had this Winter (if you can call that) has thrown me for a loop. I'd say the past four years we have always had at least one nice snow and normal cold temperatures. Plus in the last two years we got tons of snow and very cold temperatures. Not this year I suppose. 

Our poor co-op kids have been learning about snow and Winter animals. Even they really want snow. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll take them to Wintergreen- a local ski resort about three hours away- to see the snow before our real Spring begins. 

In other news, we are sick again over here! Will it end? I do not know. This time it is Deirdre. Hopefully this will be short lived. At least my children only seem to be ill once a year (always in January) and then generally they get a mild sniffle in Autumn. I am trying to stay positive since so far they have not needed any antibiotics or the like. I'd prefer it to stay that way too. 

However because of the on and off colds we've all had, I won't be able to finish my Rhythm of the Home article in time. I am pretty disappointed by it- but what can a Mamma do? I still plan on finishing it- so maybe it will go well for next year or maybe on their blog. In the end, there isn't much more I can do. Sick kids need loving- not a Mama furiously crafting and writing to make a deadline. Next time I will take 'colds' into consideration. With the Autumn and Winter editions, I had tons of time. On the up side though, I already began a Summer article and I won a "Woolly Rounds" giveaway today :) 

Before Deirdre got sick again, we had some fun coming up with new night time "tv-free" activities. Deirdre decided she wanted to wash dishes and give her playmobil a bath. Now it is an every other evening event. She loves it, I don't mind, and she washes her and Jonas enamelware (which should not go in the dishwasher). 

I'd say it is a win-win. 

I also had a stroke of genius when it came to pops. My kids, when they were sick, loved to have pops for their throats. But they were- bless them- making a huge stained mess of their clothes even with bibs. So I thought well let's try in the tub, and it worked! The mess was contained and I was not having to do extra laundry. In the Summer we just do it outside so a mess wasn't an issue but in Winter, I think the tub idea is great. 

At any rate, I hope you all are well! Thank you for your well wishes on my last post. It means the world to me. 

Always, Nicole