How to Make an Adorable Holiday Gnome Using Air-dry Clay

Brighten winter decorating with this adorable holiday gnome. He’s made from air-dry clay—a medium that kids will love to create with.

Here are the supplies that you’ll need:

• Air-dry clay
• Red, blue, and yellow acrylic paints
• Liquid craft glue
• Clay extruder

The clay, extruder, and acrylic paints are available from big box craft stores and art supply stores.

Let’s make the holiday gnome:

1. Form the shapes for the gnome. His hat is a cylindrical cone. His body is a plain cylinder. His nose is a round ball with one flattened side. The hat and the body should be the same size around. You can make him whatever size you want. Mine is about as big around as a nickel. The body is 1½” tall, and the hat is 2½” tall before I added the curve to the top. Set the shapes aside to dry. Drying may take up to two days, and the pieces need to be repositioned occasionally to help with even drying.
2. The easiest way to form the beard is to use a clay extruder. But, alternatively, you can  make long, very thin, spaghetti-like strands that you group together to make a beard. I made my gnome’s beard about ½” wide at the top and much longer than I needed as he’ll get a beard trim later. Set the beard aside to dry.
3. When the pieces are dry, paint them with acrylic paints. Yellow for the nose; red for the hat; and, blue for the body. Paint the beard with liquid craft glue to strengthen is and add shine. Set aside to dry. Note: Air-dry clay is super easy to sand when it’s dry, and if you want a very smooth finish, sand the pieces with fine grit sandpaper before painting. I wanted a more rustic, handmade look, so I didn’t sand my gnome.
4. Give the beard a trim with scissors. You want it to be about as long as the body is tall.
5. Glue the pieces together in stages allowing each section to dry before adding the next piece. Start by joining the hat and body. Next, glue the beard in place. Finally, glue the nose in place.
6. Have fun decorating with your holiday gnome.