3d Paper Christmas Gnomes

You know we love a Gnome Craft or two! Already my daughter has made a fabulous little crochet gnome and I had a go at upcycling Christmas jumpers to make some “no knit” gnomes too. Now, I thought I would give paper a go.. as paper is SO accessible. So come on.. join me and make these lovely 3d Paper Christmas Gnomes (with templates!). Part of our Paper Christmas Crafts and Christmas Printables collections.

Those eagled eyed among, you will recognise these as part of my “paper cone gnome” set. I made some of these cuties before – as shelf sitter gnomes with legs for Halloween. And now it is time to get in the festive mood!

Paper gnomes are super cute, super easy to make and look great! I love that they are based on the “paper cone” shape, so if you are making these in class, they are a super fun extension to looking at 3d maths shapes! A lovely little creative addition to your lesson plans. The paper cone, also means, that you COULD make these a gnome party hats – because – WHY NOT!!!!!

Anyway, I digress! Let’s get onto the paper gnome for Christmas DIY!

Paper Christmas Gnome Shelf Sitters – Supplies

I waffle a lot in this list of craft supplies needed to make these adorable gnomes.. but it is simple: you need PAPER!!!! And that is more or less it:

• Paper card stock or construction paper in desired colors – for each gnome you need half a sheet of paper for the body and half a sheet of paper for the hat – especially if you cut carefully. If you cut carefully, you can get two bodies out of one sheet of paper. Then you will need some paper scraps of you want to add extras!
• White printer paper to cut your templates. But the shapes are very basic – and you can use a plate to trace your own – just read my instructions
• Alternatively: urse our paper gnome coloring page and just use one sheet of white paper and some markers to color it in!
• Scissors
• Glue stick (no hot glue gun needed! Extra safe for the kids to make)
• Black pen (for embellishments)

DIY Cone Christmas Gnome / printable shelf gnome: I have decided to make the basic paper gnome cone shapes available for FREE! Woohoo. Though as mentioned, you can draw your own using a plate or similar. However, the Christmas accessories AND the paper cone coloring page, are part of the set available in my teachers pay teachers store or Gumroad. So if you either want to “buy me a coffee” to say thank you for the craft or want the additional printable sheets – you can head over to the store. But in the meantime, the basics are of course available for free!

Paper Cone Gnome Coloring Page

I just quicly wanted to highlight the very simple 3d Paper Gnome Coloring Page. This is designed for those of you who want to have a go, but either don’t have time to cute as many shapes (not that you need to cut THAT much out) or don’t have as many construction paper colors.

This would be ideal with markers or coloring pencils or even water colors! Though if using the latter, I recommend printing on light card stock to avoid “curling” of your Gnome Shelf Sitter. This is available as part of the bundle on sale in Teachers Pay Teachers.

How to make a paper gnome for Christmas

Check out the video tutorial on autoplay for the step by step paper cone gnome assembly! You will see how easy these are to make! Please note – the video tutorial is our HALLOWEEN Gnome design. But the process is EXACTLY the same for our Christmas gnome. You simply have to switch out the colours!

As you know, we have made a few Gnome Crafts before – they are SO CUTE and surprisingly easy as the shapes to make a nordic gnome are quite basic. You basically need a tubby body, a beard, a nose and a hat of sorts.

Cut your basic gnome shapes in Christmas colors

If you cut carefully, you can make two gnome bodies out of one sheet of paper. I cut my shapes for three gnomes in one go, to save a little time.

MAKE YOUR OWN DIY Cone Gnome Template: If you are making your own template, find a large circle to trace (serving plate?) and cut out just over a quarter. You will then need to add a little tab for gluing). The gnome hat is basically the same just a smaller circle with the same angle in the cut. The beard you may have to sketch a couple of times, but experiment, I know you can do it. The nose is an oval, the legs or long socks are rectangles.. then sketch some simple shoes!

Here we are assembling our super duper cute paper Christmas gnome. In this example we made a simple red stripey hat gnome! You will see that all you need is red and white paper. For our Christmas Tree Gnome, we cut out two green templates and then decorate it.

Decorate your gnome’s accessories. My only “top tip”, is to try and match your legs up, if you are adding stripes of any kind. Just so they look neater. But to honest, I don’t think it matters!

The beard was decorated using a grey marker pen. Super simple! I am sure a pencil would work too. Of course you leave the beard white! I just think a grey beard gives the Christmas gnome some texture and depth.

Roll up the cones. Then unroll and add glue to the tab for sticking.

It can be a TINY bit fiddly – but don’t worry, the back doesn’t have to be too neat. Your self sitter gnome, will always be looking foward, so no one can see the back.

Glue both the gnome’s hat cone and the body cone. (I like to stick the tab on the inside of the cone, if sticking it to the outside is easier, please do that!).

Add glue to the top of the gnome’s beard and stick inside the gnome’s hat. I made the beard quite generous, so you can adjust it. Just make sure it isn’t “too long” for the gnome’s black body. So check before securing it.

Add a little glue to the back of the beard…

…and pop over the gnome’s body cone. You don’t need a lot of glue, just enough to secure it. Glue the gnome’s nose in place…

… the basic 3d paper gnome is finished! To be honest, if you ONLY made this, you still have the most adorable Christmas Gnome Decor! But alas.. we will add the dangly legs. First by gluing the shoes/ boots on the bottom of our feet. And now you will have a Gnome with legs to sit on a shelf.

Next, glue the legs to the inside of the cone. Try and position them evenly and not too far apart.

Having said that, I quite like these gnomes without the legs too! ha. It is so hard to decide.. but you can always blue tak the legs on and then use them both ways. But I digress… as to the Christmas accessories:

If you wish you can now add gnome Christmas accessories such as this mini Christmas tree here. Or how about a little gingerbread man, candy can or Christmas gift? It is really an opportunity for you to play and experiment.

The Christmas accessory is loosely stuck to the side of the paper gnome cone, so that it stands a little and contributes to the overall 3d Gnome craft feel!

Don’t forget we do also have the coloring page gnome – I love folding the hat over a little, give it that floppy gnome’s hat look!

Isn’t this the cutest little holiday decor?! I am SOO excited for these!! So much fun!! It is amazing what you can make with paper crafting, don’t you think? These make great DIY Christmas gnomes for those of us that struggle with sewing or crochet gnomes! Now all you need to do is find the perfect little gnome place for these guys to sit on.

And in case you missed them – here is the same template used to decorate some Halloween Paper Gnomes!

LOVE Gnome Crafts? Fear not, I have a fantastic selection of Gnome DIYs coming your way.. watch this space.

In the meantime, I leave you with our Fall Gnome Bookmark and our Pop Up Gnome Greeting Cards – you can so easily switch out their colours to make them Christmas Gnome Bookmarks and Christmas Gnome Pop Ups.. right?!

Fall Gnome Bookmarks are so cute!

Thanksgiving Pop Up Gnome Greeting Cards – so fun!

Remember if you do make any of our gnome crafts this holiday season, do share them on instagram and be sure to tag me! I would LOVE To see your adorable gnomes.

More Paper Christmas Crafts – find more lovely Christmas decor here!

More Gnome Crafts to explore here: