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Who doesn’t want a Christmas Gnome on display during the holidays? According to tradition, these little fellas can help to bring peace and prosperity to your home. It’s no wonder why they have become so popular in recent years. Besides protecting your home from evil, they fit in great with Christmas decorations and help increase holiday cheer!
This little gnome measures in at 7 5/8 inches tall and 4 inches wide at his widest point. He’s perfect as an additional Christmas decoration for your home.
Of course, you’ll need a scroll saw to cut it out and you can finish it any way your heart desires. Beyond simply being a Christmas gnome, he’s also holding a sign which is meant to be a chalkboard sign. You can write your own message here and change it anytime you wish if you choose to use removable chalk.
Download The Free Pattern
To start you’ll need to download the pattern. You can download the pattern below.
Once downloaded, you’ll need to print it out on standard printer paper. Make sure it is scaled to 100% or actual size when printing.
Step 1 – Place The Gnome on Wood
The pattern calls for 1/4 inch wood. I used 1/4 inch birch plywood for mine. Once your pattern is placed onto the wood, you can commence cutting each piece out with your scroll saw.
You should have the following pieces…
- Main gnome shape
- Head (beard, nose, and hat)
- Extra nose
- Arms holding sign
- Hands
- Feet
- Base
I recommend using sticky scroll saw paper to attach the pieces to wood. This is what I use and LOVE IT! It’s easy to work with and easy to remove once you are finished. Otherwise, you can use spray adhesive or another method to attach the pattern.
Step 2 – Cut Out All The Pieces
This is the fun part! I get lost in my thoughts and find it therapeutic to sit in front of my scroll saw. You may not have the same experience but scrolling out small pieces like this is both fun and challenging. This particular gnome is quite simple and doesn’t have difficult cutout areas. Nonetheless, you’ll still need to be careful and take your time so that each piece will fit properly.
Step 3 – Fit Together & Sand
Once you have everything cut out, you’ll want to dry-fit everything together to make sure it all fits. You may need to do some trimming depending on how steady of a hand you had when scrolling. If you were careful to follow the pattern lines, your gnome should be ready to sand.
Sanding is my least favorite part of this process but it needs to be done. I would suggest final sanding it with 320 grit sandpaper. You will probably need to start with something more course (I use 180 grit) but 320 grit will give you a smooth finish in the end.
Once you are happy with how smooth your pieces are, you are ready to apply whatever finish you desire.
Step 4 – Finish
Finishing your Christmas gnome will be different depending on how you intend to finish it. If you are going to paint each piece differently as I did in my finished example, it will be best to paint each piece first before assembling them all together. On the other hand, if you intend to stain or simply add a clear finish to the gnome, you can skip to the next section and go ahead and assemble all the pieces.
This will make it easier for you to stain and put a clear coat on the entire finished piece.
We used acrylic paints to get the desired result that we wanted. You can have fun with this part and match your design to your decor in your home or wherever it will be on display. You can finish the gnome as intricate or as simple as you wish and either way, the finished product will look great.
Step 5 – Assemble
To assemble all of the pieces, you will simply need to use wood glue and align each piece where it goes and glue them down. I use Tite Bond III for all of my wood gluing needs and it works great. You don’t need a lot of glue on a piece like this since it’s just sitting around and not bearing any weight or doing any work.
If you have chosen to assemble all of the pieces first before finishing, be sure to not allow any glue to spill out of the sides so that it affects the color of your stain or clear coat. If your piece has already been painted and finished, this won’t be as much of an issue because you can simply wipe the glue off that spills out onto the finished surfaces.
Step 6 – Add a Message on the Chalkboard
For the chalkboard area, you can use chalk paint or black acrylic paint. Either will work fine on such a small piece. It’s likely that once you have something written on it, you won’t change it anyway. It’s a small area but you should be able to spell out something consistent with the Christmas message.
Here are a few ideas to consider that should be able to fit nicely in the cutout.
- Joy
- Peace
- Love
- Noel
- Cheer
- Gifts
- Greetings
- Goodwill
- Believe
- Give Thanks
If you have artistic drawing abilities, you’ll have enough room to add some other design elements. Perhaps a stencil will work well for this. If you have a Cricut, this would be a great opportunity to create a small stencil that can be filled in.
The Finished Christmas Gnome
This simple scroll saw project will give you a unique decorative item to add to your holiday theme. It’s simple to create with the free pattern provided. You’ll only need a scroll saw, wood, and a little patience. Make multiple ones with complimentary messages to display throughout your house!
In the end, you’ll have a Christmas gnome that will stand guard and protect your home while offering a holiday message for all to see. Enjoy!
