Easy Halloween Paper Gnome with Legs

It is gnome crafts ahoy here at Red Ted Art HQ. I just LOVE them.. my daughter has even made me a Crochet Gnome for Christmas! So excited (I am not allowed to have it yet.. but I have seen it!). But before Christmas, we have HALLOWEEN! So we have made some Halloween Paper Gnomes with Legs!! Also known as “Shelf Sitter Gnomes“! And they are so cute!! AND they come with a FREE template.

shelf sitter gnome craft — DIY Shelf Sitter Gnomes are so so easy to make and aren’t they adorable? Making Halloween gnomes since Sept 2022.

So if you fancy having a go at making a 3d Paper Gnome Cone, keep on reading. Grab the free DIY Gnome Template. Cut out your basic shapes and make yourself a gnome with legs to sit on a shelf this Halloween!

paper gnome halloween — I thinkmy favourite is the Bat Gnome!! I love the colours and there is something about the bat wings that makes him SO CUTE!

So don’t worry about going to the dollar store for some Halloween gnomes. Follow this DIY gnome tutorial and make your own. Such great holiday decor to make yourself and it will only cost you pennies. AND, it is eco friendly too. What more can you want! The kids will love mkaing these too! So cute.

coloring page 3d gnome craft — For those of you with less resources available, the “coloring gnome cone” is adorable too!

NOTE: I will be making these again as Christmas Paper Gnomes sitting on shelves! So please do come back again (and fellow bloggers: if you choose to make these on instagram or your blogs as Christmas gnomes.. please don’t forget to give Red Ted Art a shout out and link back! Woohoo!).

Now.. let’s learn how to make a sitting gnome from paper for Halloween!

Halloween Paper Gnome Shelf Sitters – Supplies

3d paper gnome halloween accessories — Though I gave my paper gnomes legs to dangle, you could make them without too!

Paper card stock or construction paper in desired colors – for each gnome you need half a sheet of black paper and half a sheet of “colored paper” – especially if you cut carefully. So to make all three I used two sheets of A4 in black, and then orange, green and purple sheets of A5 and a little white paper for the bird. Paper scraps of you want to add extras – e.g. the yellow moon was a last minute addition of mine!
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
Scissors
Glue stick (no hot glue gun needed! Extra safe for the kids to make)
Black pen (for embellishments)

DIY Cone Gnome printable shelf gnome: I have decided to make the basic paper gnome cone shapes available for FREE (enter $0 at check out)! Woohoo. Though as mentioned, you can draw your own using a plate or similar. However, the Halloween accessories AND the paper cone coloring page, are part of the set available in my teachers pay teachers store or in my Gumroad store. The basics are of course available for free (enter $0 at check out)!

Paper Cone Gnome Coloring Page

3d coloring page gnome cone — Make this 3d coloring page gnome!

I just quickly 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 Halloween

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!

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

cut out the gnome shapes — If you are careful, you can cut more than one shape out at a time

If you cut carefully, you can make two gnome bodies out of one sheet of paper. I cut my shapes for two 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 had 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 experiement, I know you can do it. The nose is an oval, the legs or long socks are rectangles.. then sketch some simple shoes!

cut the gnome body & hat — You can make your DIY Cone Gnome Template

Here we are assembling our cauldron gnome, complete with green spider hat and orange shelf sitter stockings!

decorate with pens — Use a black pen to add details to your gnome parts

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 gret marker pen. Super simple! I am sure a pencil would work too. Of course if making a 3d Paper Gnome shelf sitter for other seasons, you leave the beard white! I just think a grey beard is particularly fun for a Halloween gnome. I had great fun drawing the little spiders too! Super simple design, but looks effective don’t you think?

glue the cone body hat — The cone shape really is simple and works so well for this gnome tutorial

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 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 Halloween 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.

If you wish you can now add gnome Halloween accessories such as this cauldron here. Or a paper pumpkin, the gnome bat wings (my favourite!!) or mini bat and moon to the hat. It is really an opportunity for you to play and experiment. For the cauldron, I decided to cut out some bubbles and stick them on too.

The Halloween 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!

I am SOO excited for these!! And can’t wait to make a Christmas set for you too!! SO FUN!!!!!

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: