We're Nerdy & We Gnome It

Well, howdy.

That week kinda zoomed by. 

Reading and responding to all your comments, DMs, and e-mails has taken up most of my "work" time, and the rest has been a nice slow pace of resting and recuperating. THANK YOU to the 700+ who commented or messaged, and the thousands more I know were here in spirit. It's always awe-inspiring when this family comes together, seeing how many of us are out here fighting the same battles. Plus Mr. Rogers told us anything mentionable is manageable, and I know these conversations are helping others find the courage to speak up. So thank you.

Anyhoo, often my best self-care is taking time to be ridiculous, so happily John & I got to host a little craft night last week and do just that. This was our second craft night with friends in the past month, and even sitting across the room from each other in masks is such a help, seriously. After actual medicine, being with people you love is the best medicine.

So what ridiculous things were we making? WELL. Lemme show you:

Sock gnomes!!

That was our first batch from 2 weeks ago, made with friends Dennis & Bonnie, who we hadn't been around in over a year.

If you follow my Stories on IG or FB then you've seen some of these little guys under our Valentine Tree:



Plus this one stood in for scale when my friend Arielle made me a Galentines' cake:



Then there's my new exercise coach:

I know it doesn't look much like a rabbit, but it made us laugh.

These gnomes are so fun and easy to make - and we still had so many supplies left over - that we scheduled a second night last week with two more friends, and made another batch:




As you can see, things got increasingly ridiculous as the night went on. (If you recognize the helmet one then I'm sorry, but you have to be our friend now.)

In fact, John and I were so inspired that we decided to keep this nerdy gnome train going, CHOO CHOO.

It's been a blast brainstorming how to represent different fandoms by gnome, and John has TRULY outdone himself by tackling the most complicated ones. We're still in the process of making more, but here's our collection so far:


Look at them. LOOK AT THEEEEEEM. Omigosh.

 I've already been asked for a tutorial, but all you really need to know is this:

1) Fill a sock with a handful of rocks or glass gems (for weight, so it won't fall over) and then polyfill stuffing:

2) Tie off the top with thread or a twist tie, then cut off the top of the sock. (Save it to make arms later, if you want any.)

3) Once you have your sock potato, hot-glue on fur or yarn for the beard, stick another sock on top for the hat, and add a nose. BOOM. You've got a basic sock gnome.



All our noses are ping-pong balls cut in half and covered with stretched pantyhose, but you can also use wooden beads, if you prefer a smaller schnoz.

Those are the basics, now let me give you the specifics on our nerdy gnomes.

First, for my Hufflepuff gnomies:



 Everything except the fur & pin is from Dollar Tree: I used a Dollar Tree t-shirt for the hat, the bottom half of a plastic Easter egg for the flower pot, a ping-pong ball covered with pantyhose for the nose, and the frog came in a pack of 3.

This one isn't quite done; I think I'm going to add arms so he can hold the plant.

Next John made the Black Knight from Monty Python:

... because of course he did. Ha!

This one is made from a black sock, craft foam for the helmet, fur for the beard, and my favorite: red velvet ribbon for the "blood."

The ribbons are hard to arrange, but I did manage to raise his blood pressure with this one:

"It's only a flesh wound."

This is SO ridiculous, I can't even. And it brings me such joy.

Next up, I think you'll agree Worf is the stand out star:

John did everything, right down to hand-stitching the forehead wrinkles!


I'm in awe of how John jumps in and just STARTS on projects like this. I'm the type who overthinks for an hour before deciding it's too hard and giving up before I even begin. (Just me?)

No special materials here, just a brown sock, half a ping-pong ball, black fur, yellow t-shirt fabric, and ribbon. Oh, and John cut the insignia out of silver Cricut vinyl.

 Leia is by far the funniest (we were howling when John first turned her around), so I think she's going to be the crowd favorite:

Kind of an Obi Wan/ Leia mashup vibe going on, bahahaaa.

John glued brown yarn around two halves of a ping-pong ball to make the buns, then glued more yarn to the sock for the top of her head. (He stitched a white line down the center to make her hair part.) White fur for the beard, and a scrap of fabric to make the robe.

She also has a metallic silver ribbon for a belt, but it barely shows.

C'mon. How can you look at this and not giggle?

Finally there's Doctor Gnome, who I think is my favorite because he's so stinkin' CUTE:



Apparently I like my gnomes looking more like Cousin Itt than little bearded men, ha. He really does look like Cousin Itt, too, because this particular fur is so unbelievably soft I wrapped it all the way around. Now I just want to pet him all day.

To make the fez I cut up an empty pasta box, hot-glued it together, then covered it in craft felt. I doubled up the felt to make the bow-tie, too, and hot-glued it directly to the fur.

Next I tormented Eva with him, since she wouldn't stop laying on all my supplies:

Tormenting your pets is an essential step in any craft, of course, so don't skip this one.

That's our line-up so far, but just you wait. JUST YOU WAIT.

In fact, here's a sneak peek at John's next character, see if you can guess who:

I think she needs arms. ::head tilt::  Right? Maybe with a Flotsam/Jetsam boa draped over them?

I wish we'd had a black knit glove to use for the tentacles; as it was John sewed this from a sock, which is why she only has four. Still hilarious and super cute, though.

Next on my list is Spock, because OF COURSE, then one wearing a Mickey ears hat, then maybe a Luna Lovegood wearing her glasses? After that I'm drawing a blank, though, so help me brainstorm more characters. Who else would you make, and how? Ideally we want characters with distinctive head wear or accessories, but throw any ideas at me, this is the fun part.

Better yet, go make some of your own sock gnomes this week! I bet a lot of you already have everything you need in your craft stash, and I would LOVE to see what you come up with.

*****

If you're looking for more fun stuff, click over to my Craft Page! John just updated it with my newest stuff, and would you believe there are now over two hundred DIYs there for you to browse?! Wowza. I should start re-visiting some of the super old stuff, see how many you remember.