DIY Dollar Tree Lighted Mop Gnomes

These DIY Dollar Store Lighted Mop Gnomes are an inexpensive (for only 5 dollars), simple and brilliant (pun intended) take on standard mop gnomes!

America is about to have a dirty floor problem.

From Kotzebue, Alaska to Key West, Florida, there will be no escape from dust bunnies and mud tracks as the Great Mop Shortage of ’21 grips the land.

Dollar Tree will try its best to keep up with demand, but in the end, the crafters will win out over the cleaners. Already, shelves are being cleared of duster mops, as hordes of Crafty Cathies gobble them up to make mop wreaths.

The string mops have weathered this insanity thus far. While creative hands have been slap-fighting over those duster mops, no one has paid any attention to the humble and lowly string mops hanging right next to the duster mops. So while the dust bunnies have been quietly multiplying, at least the muddy footprints have been kept at bay.

Until now.

As of this moment, mopageddon is here. Go now, before it’s too late, and get your mops.

No, wait. Don’t go now! Stay here and read this post. Then drop a comment. Then run to Dollar Tree to buy all the mops.

Better yet, drive to Dollar Tree…it’s much faster than running. Running is for the birds.

Okay, look, I know what you’re thinking. Mop gnomes? He didn’t come up with that idea! I’ve seen them on Pinterest! Mopageddon indeed! Hmph!

But, madam, there’s something no one else has done with their mop gnomes…something we did.

We made them lighted mop gnomes! It’s a scientifically-proven fact that light makes everything better!

And because we prefer to pay less rather than more, we got all (well, most) of the supplies at Dollar Tree.

And because we prefer simple (stupid) over complicated, we made these lighted mop gnomes easy.

Just go on Pinterest and see how The Others make mop gnomes. You’ll see all sorts of mop-cutting and string-gluing and obscene amounts of time invested in a simple Christmas prop.

It shouldn’t have to be like that!

It doesn’t have to be like that.

Not only are these mop gnomes easy peasy chicken squeezy, but they look fan-tiddly-tastic. And did I mention each one only costs five bucks?

So let’s cut the yapping and get on with making some lighted mop gnomes!

DIY lighted mop gnomes VIDEO Tutorial

Watch our short and fun video below for an overview of our DIY light-up mop gnomes before you read the detailed step-by-step tutorial.

How to make lighted mop gnomes

Making the Dollar Store Lighted Mop Gnome Hat

These Dollar Tree cone-shaped tinsel trees are the perfect framework for gnome hats. Oh, sure, you could make the hats the old-fashioned with by cutting and gluing (or sewing!) fabric, but really, why waste your time? This is an easy solution, and the results are fantastic!

For the hat material for this particular gnome, I chose an old pair of flannel pajamas. Now before any Waste-not Wandas accuse me of ruining a perfectly good pair of pajamas for this project, I’ll gently inform you that these pajamas are nearly 10 years old, and they served me honorably and well during those long, cold Connecticut winters. But I’m Florida Man now, and I’ve put those cold-weather clothes behind me…except for the ones which might make good gnome hats – like these pajamas!

I just needed a leg, so I cut one off and saved the rest of the pajamas (pajama?) in our Gnome Supplies storage tub. Yes, we have a gnome supplies storage tub, and you should, too! It’s filled with all sorts of fabric and old pajamas and sweaters and bags of beans and Mongolian faux fur and all the goodies needed to make all kinds of gnomes!

I then slid the pajama leg onto the tinsel tree with the hem folded up.

I ran a line of hot glue along roughly 1/3 of the circumference.

Then I folded the hem under the bottom of the tree.

I repeated this two more times until I had the pajama bottom glued to the tree.

The tinsel on the tree is a little puffy, so I pulled the pajamas tight to flatten the gnome hat a little.

And then I secured the shape with a small rubber band.

Next, I put another rubber band about where I wanted the hat to end.

And then I trimmed off the excess fabric.

Making the Dollar Store Lighted Mop Gnome Body

Now for the hard part.

I’m kidding! There is no hard part! (duh)

Okay, here’s the mop head. Now you can go one of two ways with this – and I made both ways, as you can see from the final pictures – you can leave the mop as-is…

…Or you can untwist the ropes to give your gnome a fuller-looking beard.

The untwisted mop gnomes look a little better, but untwisting those mop ropes takes a bit of time…which makes it a perfect kids’ activity!

With my mop head ready to go, I grabbed the glass vase and got ready to gnome.

I flipped the mop over itself exposing the underside of the head and put a blob of hot glue on it.

Then I pressed the mop head to the center of the vase.

If you don’t have a hot glue gun, you could also do this step with super glue (I’d recommend the gel kind, but any will work).

I then flipped the mop head over the vase and tidied up the beard a bit.

Next, I put the hat on my mop gnome. There was no need to glue it – it’s a perfect fit. It’s almost like these three Dollar Tree items were fated to be joined together one day. 🤔

I parted the beard to make room for his nose. Or maybe it’s a her. Who knows with these gnomes? They’re very secretive, you know.

We like how this gold ornament looks with the white beard and blue hat. I put a little dab of glue on the stem.

Then I glued it to the inside of the hat rim. Because the ornament will want to ride up on the mop strings and stick out too much, I also put a little glue on the backside and glued it to the glass.

Though in the end I kept his hair straight, you can experiment with mustaches, if you’d like. Styled facial hair is all the rage in Gnomeland these days, you know.

Next it was time for the lights!

I simply shoved the lights up his…vase.

o_0

I used a little blob of poster putty to affix the light switch to the inside of the vase.

The moment of truth…

Let’s check them out! First in the daylight…

And now all lit up…

So what do you think of our Dollar Tree mop gnomes?

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