Puzzles, Decorating and Gnome Prep...

 Just to give you a glimpse of my life here in Alaska, these are a couple of the things that I am trying to do.  Besides the normal getting up, eating, taking care of Miles, laundry, and just living, there are some activities that are going on around the house.

I set up a card table in the living room a few weeks ago.  I had gotten a couple of jigsaw puzzles from Amazon that I thought would provide hours and hours of fun for Ron, Kate, and myself.  I thought this one would prove to be a difficult puzzle... wrong!

Rob and Kate spent several days here in the house.  Kate had doctor's appointments and tests early in the mornings, so they had come to stay here so they did not have to get up so early for these important events.  Kate really enjoyed having this puzzle up on the table.  She first got the border done and then each day they were here, she worked and worked at the puzzle so that by the time they left, it was completed.  Good thing I have another one in the wings.

I had to move one of the unopened boxes marked Christmas in order to make room for the freezer in the garage.  Surprisingly, it actually was all Christmas stuff.  The containers above, filled with battery operated fairy lights and mini Christmas balls were inside the box.  The box also contained many of my Angel Bells.  These were a DIY decoration that I had made during the last year in Parkesburg.  Two of these fragile angels arrived with only a halo bent.  The remaining ones suffered from heads and wings detached from the journey in the box.  But nothing that a glue gun cannot fix.

This is the shelf that is in the divider from the living room to the steps.  The large Pointsettas and the red velvet angel on a moon were decorations from last year here in my new home.  They went up on the shelf as I did not yet have a place for them to reside.  At the end of this holiday season, they will be removed to the storage under the steps that has finally been prepared for some minor storage.

The little wooden signs were signs that I had in various places around the Maryland summer home and the Parkesburg house.  The new additions are the three little Christmas Gnomes that I ordered from Amazon.  They are so cute and I have had them up there for a couple of weeks, but it took Rob and Kate three visits before they noticed them.

This brings me to my next project, and I will be taking you along.  I am going to be making some of my own Christmas Gnomes to place around the house to make us feel festive and make us smile when we see them.

I have been watching YouTube videos with instructions on how to make these cute little characters.  I will show you what materials you might need in today's blog and then document the step by step procedure in the next blog.  So here is all of the stuff you will need to make your own army of Gnomes.

I have placed all of my supplies on my cutting table.  I thought I was ready to go yesterday, but then I saw another video that did the hats a little differently.  I was able to put in an order to my local Joann's store for pickup this morning.  So now I am ready to start.

The basic items are socks.  You will need a white sock.  I found some men's over the calf tube socks on Amazon.  If I am frugal enough, I should be able to turn these 8 white socks into 16 bodies by stitching up the cut off section to make a new bottom out of the open tops.

The colored socks are those delightful, fuzzy sock/slipper socks that only seem to come around at Christmas.  The Christmas colors are at the top and the turquoise and blue socks are closer to the front.  These will make up the body clothing and then the knitted look caps for the Gnome.

In my first Gnomes, I will be using Poly Pellets.  I have 2 six-pound bags of pellets.  But you can use beans or rice to fill the body of the Gnomes.  It is recommended that you place those items in the freezer for a week to kill any critter eggs that might be attached to the dried food item.

You will need some sort of fake fur.  This is something that you will have a lot of choice in.  I am using a longer faux fur fabric that I ordered from my local Joann Fabric stores.  I was able to get a full yard, 58-inches wide for around $18.00 on sale with a coupon.  You only need little squares of 4+" by 5" for each beard.  I have enough to put beards on an army of Gnomes.  But I would have been spending about that same amount of money on a great deal less faux fur from Amazon.

You need some rubber bands to tie off the body and then the nose once you have the fill inside.

You will need twine or string to further tie off the body and nose as rubber bands will, in time, dry out and break.

You will need a ribbon(s).  This can add a decorative touch in many places and you will need it to attach the jingle bells to the caps.

You will need glue guns to tack down the clothing, the beards, and hats on your Gnomes.

You may need styrofoam cones.  If you want to have an elongated hat on your Gnome, a small foam cone will allow the fuzzy sock to stand up straighter as some Gnomes are known to wear them.

If you just want a normal looking "knit" cap with your sock, you will need a bit of polyfill to puff out the top and body of the hat.

Almost lost in the crowd is my blush and a brush to put a little color on the Gnome's nose.  You do not want to make it bold, just enough to make the nose seem chilled in the cold air.  If you do not want to make a nose with the sock, you could just add a small Christmas Ornament.  I like the more natural look, but it is your choice.

Jingle bells to go on the top of the hats.  Optional, you can decorate your Gnome however you see fit.

Lastly, you will need a good pair of craft scissors.  These will cut socks, string, and ribbon.

So, gather your material and then follow along with my next blog!!