Valentine’s Gnome Suncatcher Printable Craft
So.. I cheated a little recently.. I was doing a Christmas Advent Window for my neighbourhood.. but had a window very late in the Christmas season.. so I “cheated” and decided to make some super cute Valentine’s Gnome Decorations.. teehee. Surely a Valentine’s Gnome is just a Christmas or DIY Gnome in different colours and a couple of hearts.. right? To make things easier, I created some Valentine’s Gnome Printables for you too.
Valentines Gnome Suncatchers for Preschoolers and Kids
As these gnomes are for your window, they are actually gnome suncatchers too. And for anyone who has made suncatchers before, you will know that there are different ways of making a suncatcher, depending on the age group you are working with.
You can use these with contact paper when working with preschoolers… or if working with older kids, you can be a little eco friendlier and JUST use tissue paper and black paper for the outlines! Both methods work.. and I will talk you through the process. And ooh.. you could even make these using coffee filters, as with our Apple Suncatchers. One craft and template.. lots of ways to use it!
So add some fun flair to your holiday decor with these adorable DIY gnome printables. Move over garden gnome, and make way for this gorgeous suncatcher!
Paper Gnome Decor – Craft Supplies Needed:
To make a gnome sun catcher, you will need the following.
- Our free gnome’s template
- Black paper or light card
- Tissue paper in desired colors (bigger sheets are good, but you can use torn tissue paper)
- OPTIONAL: CONTACT PAPER if working with preschoolers
This is a two page printable. Enter $0 at checkout to get this little freebie (or leave a tip if you wish! Always helpful and appreciated!).
How to make a Valentine’s Gnome Suncatcher Decoration
Making Gnome Decor Outlines
Begin by creating your black gnome outlines. I laid the white paper on two pieces of black paper and cut them out in one go.
Then I gently folded the paper in half, so I could make a cut about 1inch from the edge and cut out the inside – as neatly as possible as I wanted to use the “inside again” to make a smaller hat.
Repeat this process for the gnome’s nose and the gnome’s beard. Again, if you cut carefully, you can actually get a second smaller gnome shape from the “left overs”.
Adding Tissue Paper to Your Gnomes
As you can see from my step photos, I used the “eco friendlier” version of making this craft, that is to say, I did not use contact paper!
CONTACT PAPER FOR PRESCHOOLERS: If you do wish to use contact paper (which is fine obviously and much much easier if working with preschoolers or todders even), you have to “assemble your gnome features FIRST!”
If using contact paper – you can add one of the paper hearts cut outs to the gnome hat too! That would be so cute!
Back to my method. Add glue to the outline of your gnome.
Place on your white tissue paper. And cut out again.
Repeat for all your gnome shapes! I like how you can get a big and a little gnome from the same sheet of paper by carefully cutting!
Final Valentines Gnome Assembly
Glue the nose to the beard.
And then the hat to the beard. Make sure the black lines are lined up, so that when it hangs in the window, they don’t get in the way!
I used the black cut outs to make some hearts (and added the heart to your printable gnome template). As mentioned, you could add these hearts to the gnome’s hat if you are doing the contact paper process. I think that would be really cute too!
Securing your gnome decor to your windows
I used glue dots to attach the gnomes to my window, but to be honest a little tape (especially one that is designed to be easily removed – e.g. 3M have some wall safe tape) works great. You do somethings have to take care and give the window a good clean when taking them down again though!
As mentioned our Valentines Gnomes where actually created as our Living Advent Calendar window decor! So here you can see it “lit up” by our Christmas tree and our day, which was day 20 in the Advent Calendar! I think they double up nicely, don’t you?
If you enjoyed this DIY Gnome Decor, be sure to grab the free gnome printable and give this paper gnome sunctacher a go today!
Check out the rest of our Valentine’s Day Gnome DIY ideas here (I especially love the pop up heart gnome cards. SOOOOO CUTE!):
More fabulous Paper Valentines Crafts here:
