DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com

Easy DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath

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This Fall Gnome Wreath is not only the cutest thing ever, but it’s also a super easy DIY that only costs about $12 to make!

If you asked me back at the tail end of 2019, I would have told you that one was definitely enough.

In December of that year, we made our first gnomes.

DIY Christmas Gnomes

And had you asked, I would have told you that was the end of it.

One and done, baby. Made ’em once and gno’more.

Of course, I also would have told you that we would continue living in Connecticut and that life would carry on much as it had for the past several thousand years.

Thus we answer yet again the age-old question: what do I know?

If you answered, nuthin‘ – congratulations! You win a golden peanut!

DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com

Fast forward through Georgia to Florida and four more gnome projects, and there’s gnome end in sight. Just as we became known early on for our Halloween projects, we’re now getting known (or would it be gnown?) for our gnomes.

The best part is our gnomes are ICE ICE, baby – Inexpensive, Cute and Easy. What more could you possibly want from a gnome? Breakfast in bed and whispered sweet nothings? Well, we’re working on that, but for now, would you settle for one that hangs on your door and looks like late afternoon sunlight?

Good, let’s get gnoming!

dollar tree tinsel hat

DIY Fall Gnome Wreath SUPPLIES LIST

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DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com

DIY Fall Gnome Wreath VIDEO TUTORIAL

You may want to watch our short video below for an overview of this easy fall gnome wreath before you read the detailed step-by-step tutorial.

We love to see our craft projects out in the wild! If you try this seasonal craft project, take a picture and post it on Instagram, be sure to tag us @TheNavagePatch!

How to Make a Fall Gnome Wreath, Part 1: Beard

Step 1 – Unravel the tinsel hat

Honestly, if you want to be Lazy Bananas about this step, feel free to skip it. The tinsel will be completely covered by your gnome hat in the end. I removed the tinsel because it was easier to thread the zip ties through a clean hat frame. Feel free to leave it though!

man unraveling tinsel from a dollar tree hat

Oh, and if you’re wondering why the Christmas tinsel hat and not something more autumn-esque like a witch hat, well, it was supposed to be made from a witch hat, but I couldn’t find the ones we bought last year. Thank god my babes found this one in a tub of Christmas stuff, otherwise Yours Truly would have been in the dog house!

Step 2 – Pick your picks

Okay so what are these? Picks? Stems? Sprays? Sprigs? Bouquets? Bunches? Shopping for this stuff is like talking to an Eskimos about snow – there are semantic subtleties I just don’t get!

man holing dollar tree floral picks

Anyway, pick about 8 – that’s the number we used, and I think it’s a mighty fine number. Note that Dollar Tree carries these in oak leaves, maple leaves, grape leaves and unidentified leaves, so have fun shopping!

Step 3 – Get a rough idea of the arrangement

I arranged the leaf beard without securing any of the florals to the hat frame. When I was happy with the beard, I carefully picked up the arrangement and moved it aside, making sure I kept the shape. Turning back to my work area, I flipped the hat form over so the back of it was facing up.

tinsel hat form

Step 4 – Arrange and zip-tie the florals to the hat form

Starting with the top-most florals in my beard arrangement, I picked one at a time, flipped it over (remember, the hat form is now flipped), and put it in its place. For this particular floral, I had bent the leaves out as shown in the picture below. It helped fill out the upper part of our gnome wreath beard.

making a fall gnome wreath

I used small zip ties to secure the florals to the hat form – 2 for each pick.

man holding a zip tie
man making a dollar tree fall gnome wreath

I then trimmed the zip ties with scissors.

man trimming zip ties

This is the last time I’ll show the zip-tie and trim pics. From here on out, the pics will show the placement of the florals, and since I know we have the best and smartest readers out there (ugh, so much better than the weirdos who read that other blog), I can rest easy knowing (gnowing?) you’re still with me and filling in the blanks.

I put the next pick in the middle, filling out the uppermost part of the beard/mustache.

man making a dollar tree fall gnome wreath

Another pick in the middle – this one a slightly different shade to give some color variation.

man making a dollar tree fall gnome wreath

Then a red/orange on the left…

man making a dollar tree fall gnome wreath

…and one mirrored on the right.

man making a dollar tree fall gnome wreath

I added two sprigs of white to give my little gnomish fellow a distinguished and erudite look.

placing floral picks on a hat frame
placing floral picks on a hat frame

I put the final floral pick in the middle, lower than the others. This helped to round out the classic gnome-shape for the beard.

placing floral picks on a hat frame

My fall gnome wreath beard was finished. Now it was time to make my fine little fellow a fitting hat.

How to Make a Fall Gnome Wreath, Part 2: Hat

Step 1 – Flip

Flip the gnome wreath back over so he’s facing up. Take this opportunity to fluff the beard and adjust the leaves to fill in any bald spots. To be on the safe side, you can buy an extra floral pick and use individual leaves or leaf pairs to fill in any glaring gaps, should you find any. The leaves come in pairs, joined at the stem, and I used two pairs from an extra pick to fill in two spots near the top. Not necessary, but it can be done, if you’re a perfectionist.

fall gnome wreath beard

Step 2 – Cut the hat material

You can use any material you like for the hat, but we like the look of an old sweater. As we were looking through our gnome-making tub…yes, we have a tub full of gnome-making supplies, don’t you?? Anyway, as we were pawing through that tub, my babes found the same sweater (minus the right arm) that I used for my favorite of the Christmas gnomes that I made back in 2019 – the one pictured at the beginning of this post.

old blue sweater

We agreed that the soft blue would be the perfect complement to the fiery oranges and dusty reds in the beard.

I cut off the left arm, starting about halfway down the torso and carrying up to the neck (yeesh, this is starting to sound like a horror movie!).

man cutting a sweater to make a gnome hat
man cutting a sweater to make a gnome hat

Next, I cut the remains of the right arm in the same manner.

man cutting a sweater to make a gnome hat

Step 3 – Make the brim

To make the brim of the gnome wreath hat, I folded up the bottom of the sweater once…

man making a hat for a fall gnome wreath

…then I folded it over again.

man making a hat for a fall gnome wreath

I then ran hot glue under the fold and pressed the brim into place.

man making a hat for a fall gnome wreath
man making a hat for a fall gnome wreath

Step 4 – Attach the hat to the beard

I positioned the hat where I wanted it to be.

man making a fall gnome wreath

Then I folded it back, exposing the frame underneath. I ran hot glue all over the frame.

man making a fall gnome wreath

And then I pressed the sweater back into place.

man making a fall gnome wreath

After letting the hot glue cool for a few seconds, I carefully flipped the gnome wreath over so I could secure the back of the hat.

Starting with the corners, I put some hot glue on the frame and folded the excess sweater material over on it. At no point of gluing the sweater to the frame did i pull the material tight. Loosey-goosey is the name of the game.

man gluing a sweater hat on a fall gnome wreath
man gluing a sweater hat on a fall gnome wreath

I repeated this on the other side.

Next, I ran hot glue up the entire side of the hat frame and folded the material over.

man gluing a sweater hat on a fall gnome wreath
man gluing a sweater hat on a fall gnome wreath

Ditto the other side, then I put some glue up top and folded the flaps over.

man gluing a sweater hat on a fall gnome wreath
man gluing a sweater hat on a fall gnome wreath

Then I went back and reinforced any areas where the sweater was not glued down.

man gluing a sweater hat on a fall gnome wreath

Step 5 – Tie off the hat

I used a small rubber band to tie off the hat, but you can use string or even a zip tie.

man holding a small rubber band
man making a wreath gnome

Step 6 – Add a nose

We’re big fans of using wood hemispheres for gnome noses, but you could use anything spherical or hemispherical: a 1/2 ping pong ball, a 1/2 foam ball or even a foam pumpkin. Totally up to you and what you think looks good!

man holding a wood hemisphere

To attach the nose, I just glopped on a bunch of hot glue

man attaching a nose to a fall gnome wreath

…and then stuck that sucker in place.

man attaching a nose to a fall gnome wreath

To prevent the hat from riding up from the nose, I added a dab of glue to keep it in place.

man attaching a nose to a fall gnome wreath
man attaching a nose to a fall gnome wreath

Step 7 – Embellish

I used the berries and pumpkin from some other Dollar Tree flower picks we had on hand to embellish the hat. You can use anything you think looks good.

adding embellishment to a gnome hat
adding embellishment to a gnome hat

And with that, my fall gnome wreath was finished and ready to hang. Before we get to the beauty shots, don’t forget to check out our other gnome tutorials!

Okay, now let’s have a look at our fall gnome wreath!

DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com

He looks fantastic in our newly-refreshed side entrance!

DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com
DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com

What do you think of our gnomish lad? Let us know in the comments!

DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com
DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com
DIY Dollar Tree Fall Gnome Wreath - TheNavagePatch.com





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25 Comments

  1. Greg did you ever think about using tied fabric strips on the frame. It’s a lot more time consuming but a pretty soft look and a good way to use old clothes or fabric pieces.
    Thank you for all the great ideas…….

  2. Greg, I love the Knome Autumn door wreath. However, I can not find the hat frame. Will you direct me please. I would love to make the wreath and also the Santo and witch. Thank you for these ideas.

    1. Hi Wendy, Greg bought the hat frame from the Dollar Tree. Very soon Dollar Tree should start bringing in the tinsel witch hat frame and soon after that they’ll have the tinsel Santa hat frame. If you can’t find it this week in Dollar Tree, give it another week and they’ll start bring all of it to every store.

  3. I’ve learned several things about you Yanks over the years…

    …and one is how much y’all LOVE a wreath. Christmas, fall, Easter, summer, 4th of July, ALL wreathable. And I’ve learned so much about wreaths, like, how they don’t have to be wreath-shaped! That was the biggest shocker to me. You still call these wreaths? Imagine!

  4. Loved your gnome; the white beard streaks made me smile as it reminded me of my SO’s beard streaks although his is totally a light salt and pepper color! Wanna check for local Dollar Tree and look for witch hats to keep it simple!

  5. I LOVE gnomes!! I collect Tom Clark gnomes and have 150+ of them! I’ve made your fall gnome wreath because I also love Fall. I have just one question. Where did you get the hat-shaped form??? I ended up using a form for a standing wreath at a gravesight, with a few adjustments made by my husband, but it isn’t quite right! I also had to buy a knit hat to use because I couldn’t find a turtleneck sweater like the one you used. My daughters are 39 and 34 and they were no help!
    Thank you!
    nina

  6. I love, love, love your fall gnome wreath!! I’m going to make me one! Eeeeee I’m so excited, I never thought it would look so do-able. Thank you for the picture tutorial.

    Where do you get your wooden noses?
    Thanks,
    Lisa