Make This Gorgeous Sunflower Gnome Pattern for Summer in Minutes!

Instructions

1. Start by making your beard. Cut a large rectangle of faux fur more than adequate for your beard by turning the fur over and cutting only the fabric with the craft. Lay out the fur on an old towel or some other material you don't mind getting dyed. Mix 1 tsp of each color dye with 1 tbsp of water. Using your finger or a dowel, separate the fur into 3 horizontal sections. With the paintbrush, paint each second one of the colors, then blend them together, creating the ombre shift from yellow, orange and brown (created by the orange and purple leaching together). Set the faux fur aside to dry overnight - do not rinse.
2. Make your gnome nose and hands by combining a portion of light brown and white polymer clay until you have the color you want. Roll a quarter-sized portion of this clay into a neat ball. This is the nose. Set aside. Roll two nickel-sized portions of this clay into two neat balls. These are the hands. Bake the nose and hands per the clay package's directions. Allow them to cool fully.
3. Trace and cut out the gnome body shape, hat shape, two arm shapes, and bottom circle shape from the brown felt, per the Cozy Gnome Pattern. Cut out 10-15 petal shapes from the yellow felt and one stem shape from the green felt, per the Sunflower Hat Pattern. Alternatively, you can use your Cricut to do this (that's what I did).
4. Fold the gnome body shape in half and run a hem along the open side with your sewing machine. Be sure to leave the small portion open on the side seam, as directed in the pattern. Attach the bottom circle shape by hemming it in place then turn the body of the gnome right side out.
5. Fill the gnome body with the Poly-Beads. Tuck a small portion of Poly-Fill into the top of the gnome body to fill out the cone shape of the head, tuck the floral wire inside, curving both ends to keep them from poking through, and sew the body closed.
6. Fold the hat piece in half then hem along the seam, leaving about 1 1/2 inches un-hemmed. Do not turn the hat right side out.
7. Comb out your dyed faux fur rectangle. Trim the faux fur into a long beard shape you like by turning the prepared/dyed fur over and cutting only the fabric with the craft knife. Hot glue the beard to the body.
8. Hot glue the nose in place about 1-inch below the top of the beard. Place the brown hat liner on top of the gnome's head, tucking it down over the top of the nose, with the seam of the hat in the front of the gnome, with the flaps aligned on either side of the nose.
9. Hot glue the back of the hat down to the back of the gnome. Hot glue the two flaps back on either side of the nose so they do not cover it.
10. Fold the arm shapes in half and hem them in a long tube, then turn them right side out. I also stuffed a bit of Poly-Fill inside each arm to give it a little bulk since the cotton doesn't have much body. Slip each arm up into the hat on the side and hot glue it in place. Hot glue the hands in place on the ends of the arms.
11. To make the sunflower petals, cut a piece of floral wire about 4-6 inches long, then hot glue this piece of floral wire to the center of a petal, pinching the petal shapes around the wire to give the petal some body. Repeat with all of the petals. Trim several of the petals to be shorter and some longer, to add variety.
12. Beginning on either side of the nose, working with your longest petals, hot glue the flat end of a petal with the wire side facing toward the gnome, onto the brown hat shape. Do not cover the nose, but work around it, creating the wrinkled look around the nose, kind of parting the petals with the nose. Continue working all the way around and up the gnome's hat, covering the brown felt completely with the petals, overlapping and overlaying each end of each petal. When you reach the top 1-inch of the brown felt hat, trim the petals that overlap there to match the shape of the hat.
13. Hot glue a length of floral wire in the center of the stem shape, wrapping the skinny curved portion of the felt stem around the wire as you go. Wrap the larger rectangular portion of the stem shape around the top of the hat, covering the ends of the petals. Trim the end of the stem shape where they overlap then hot glue the stem in place on the top of the hat securely. Twist the wire inside the stem into a pleasing curl. Cut a length of green felt about 1/4-inch wide by 8-inches long. Twist this onto itself to make a rippling shape, then wrap it around the join between the stem and the petals, covering the transition.
14. Add a bit of hot glue to the top of each low top sneaker, placing them side by side, then setting the gnome on top, so the sneakers peek out from under the beard.
15. Place the faux sunflowers into the little basket, bend the gnome's arm to hold the basket and bend the other arm up to be glued to the stick to create a walking stick. Then display!