Grow Your Online Store with DIY Garden Gnomes

If you’re interested in selling DIY online, it’s helpful to be aware of up-and-coming internet trends. Knowing (and selling) the products your customers are searching for is the easiest way to grow your online store and start making money from the comfort of your own gnome. I mean home. Can you see where this is going?

The DIY gnome. Everyone’s favorite cutesy, bearded garden dweller—no, I’m not talking about your grandpa—is set to become a hot ticket item for online sellers of DIY designs. In this guide, we’ve compiled a couple of amazing and easy DIY gnome ideas to help you stock your digital shelves and stay ahead of the competition.

DIY Designs

Move over Kim Kardashian because garden gnomes are iconic, and the staples of their look: the pointy hat, full beard, and portly body are about to break the internet all over again. Everyone recognizes a garden gnome when they see one, which makes the DIY gnome perfect for those who are new to selling online. As long as you include the key elements, you can style your DIY gnome in countless ways with countless materials.

The DIY gnome ideas below are low-cost and easy to make, but with a little creativity, you can personalize and improve upon these bases to make your perfect gnome. Don’t be afraid to use materials you have lying around the house already to maximize your profit, and, as always, try and think outside of the box to attract customers who are looking for something unique.

Sock gnome

Think of this DIY gnome as gnome-light, a DIY design that suggests without being too on the nose. This design is perfect for customers looking for cuteness without too much kitsch. It’s also incredibly easy to make and endlessly customizable, which means it’s the perfect DIY gnome for those who are new to DIY and selling online.

Images source

You’ll need: men’s ankle socks, rice, faux fur or yarn, wooden beads, felt, scissors, and hot glue.

You’ll start by making the body of your gnome using one sock and forty-eight ounces of uncooked rice. To get a gnome that’s perfectly plump, fill your sock with the rice until you’re happy with the shape and feel. Gather the top of the sock together and secure your rice by gluing the opening closed. If you’re using faux fur to make your gnome’s beard, cut out a triangle large enough to wrap around your sock, and then glue it in place with the longest side at the top. Leave a couple inches above the top of the beard to attach the nose and hat.

If you’d prefer to use yarn, which is a cheaper alternative, cut pieces at varying lengths and glue them to the front of the sock until the beard looks full. Next, take your wooden bead (3/4” is a good size to use) and glue it so that it’s half on the beard and half on the sock. Finally, to make the hat, cut a piece of your felt. The size is up to you, but the hat is often similar in height to the body. When cutting, try and cut a piece of felt into a shape like that of a baseball diamond. Once you have your felt, loosely roll your piece into a cone, and use glue to secure it. The hat should cover the end of the sock that you’ve glued together, so, for your final step, glue the cone to your gnome’s body so that no sock is visible between the hat and beard.

One great way to customize this DIY gnome design is by choosing felt that corresponds in color or pattern to the seasons or a holiday. Keep your customers coming back with Christmas gnomes, cupid gnomes, and more!

Clay pot gnome

This next fantastic DIY gnome design is perfect for those customers who want a true garden gnome. While some of the supplies to make it can have a higher initial cost than our other DIY ideas, you will be able to stretch them to make a large number of these gnomes. Since you’ll be painting this gnome, you can customize it with a variety of color choices and make your design as intricate and detailed as you’d like.

Image source

You’ll need: clay pots in three sizes (two, four, and six inches), craft paint, paintbrush, black paint pen, wooden beads, hot glue, and polyurethane (for sealing).

You’ll begin by painting your pots. Keep in mind that the pots will be flipped when the gnome is complete, with the open ends pointed down. The two smaller pots will make up the gnome’s hat, so they should be painted the same color. For the traditional gnome look, make the small pots red. Once you’re done, set the small pots aside to dry and work on painting the large one. You’ll want to start by outlining the gnome’s beard. You can paint a thin white line to mark the outline of the beard or sketch it with a pencil. Remember that the point of your beard should be at the larger, open end of your pot.

Once you’ve done that, paint the pot outside of the line blue (or any color you prefer) and fill in the beard with white paint. Once your pots have dried, you can use your paint pen to fill in details. Color in half circles on the largest pot for feet, draw on a belt or add a brim to your gnome’s hat. This is your opportunity to let your creativity shine, so use any other materials or decorations you’d like to add personality to your gnome. Give your details time to dry, and then coat your pots with a thin layer of polyurethane to protect your paint from wear.

Once that sets, you’ll assemble your gnome with hot glue. Place the largest pot on a flat surface with the closed end pointing up. Apply a layer of glue to the four-inch pot’s rim and attach it to the closed end of the six-inch pot. Repeat this step to attach the two-inch pot to the four. Wait for the glue to harden before placing your gnome outside. For the last step, glue a wooden bead to the largest pot to serve as the nose. You’ll want to place the bead in the center of the beard, just below the rim of the four-inch pot.

Once you settle on a design, you’ll be able to easily create these charming DIY gnomes that customers are sure to love. To help your online store stand out, try developing a gnomenclature and autograph your creations with individual gnome names. Check out this article for some suggestions or feel free to use my personal favorite, Gnomi Malone.

Do you sell crafts online? Create a free Ecwid store and skyrocket your revenue by selling on social media or through Google, your website, or in person.
Learn more

Sell Your DIY Designs Online

Once you’ve built your beautiful DIY gnomes, you need an online garden to put them in! Choosing an ecommerce platform can be difficult because you want to choose a site that will help you maximize your selling potential. Take some time to research the fees associated with starting a store, listing inventory, and making a sale on the platform. It’s also helpful to consider a platform’s connectivity to other sites and ability to advertise your products across the web.

Here at Ecwid, we give your gnomes the power to roam! Build your store from scratch to instantly sync and sell across social media, marketplaces, and more. Not to mention, Ecwid put free trials on trial so that you can set up your account for free and keep it for as long as you need.

In the comments below, feel free to share your favorite DIY gnome designs and ideas, or just your favorite gnome pun. We can’t wait to hear about your success in selling DIY online!

Do you sell crafts online? Create a free Ecwid store and skyrocket your revenue by selling on social media or through Google, your website, or in person.
Learn more

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