We are going to combine three favorite things, terracotta, Valentine’s Day, and gnomes to make something amazing – a Valentine’s Day Terracotta Gnome.
What’s that?
Gnomes aren’t one of your favorite things?
Understandable.
Oh, and you’re iffy on Valentine’s Day too?
Give me a second.
*deep breaths*
Can we all agree terracotta is amazing? Even if we don’t know if it’s one word, two words, or a hyphenated word?
Alright, here’s the deal to save this craft. We’re going to combine ONE favorite thing with two questionable things. You’re going to have to trust me that love will bloom when you feast your eyes on this Valentine’s Day Terracotta Gnome. He’s the cutest.
Let’s get started before you change your mind.
What You Need To Make a Valentine’s Day Terracotta Gnome:
small terracotta pot (mine is 4″ but use whatever size you want)
yarn (I estimate I used 1/3 of a skein)
wood heart bead (or something else heart-shaped for the nose)
craft paint (if you want to paint your wood heart bead)
ribbon and extra bead to hang your gnome
hot glue and hot glue gun
scissors
Here’s How To Make A Valentine’s Day Terracotta Gnome:
Step 1: Make a giant yarn pom pom using white, pink, or red yarn.
There are a ton of great YouTube tutorials if you haven’t made a pom pom before.
For my particular gnome that was going in a 4-inch terracotta pot, I wrapped my yarn around a book that was 5 inches wide to make my pom pom. You could use a piece of cardboard too. Wrap the yarn until you think you’ll have a big enough pom pom to fill the terracotta pot.
Don’t stress. Worst case, you can always make two pom poms and combine them.
Keep in mind if you’re using a terracotta pot that is a different size from mine, then you’ll adjust your amount of yarn accordingly. These 2.5-inch mini terracotta pots would look so cute as gnomes and would make for a fun group craft project.
Once your pom pom is complete, set it aside while you work on step 2.
Step 2: Add a hanging loop.
If your terracotta pot does not have a drain hole, find another pot. We’re going to use that drain hole to hang the Valentine’s Day Terracotta Gnome.
You’ll need 9 – 10 inches of ribbon or cording to create a hanging loop. The visible part of my hanging loop rises 2.5 inches above the top of the gnome. You can make your hanging loop whatever size your heart desires.
If your cord or ribbon is thick enough that you can fold it in half and then double or triple knot the ends so that it won’t pull out of the top of the drainage hole, do that. It’s easiest.
Otherwise, you can do as I did and add a bead (a metal washer would work too) that is bigger than the opening of your drainage hole to the ends of your ribbon or cord. Then knot the beaded ends together. The bead(s) should then catch around the drainage hole allowing your hanging loop to suspend your gnome.
Once you’ve tested that it works, meaning the pot stays on the hanging loop when you hold it up, then secure the hanging loop in place by adding a big glob of hot glue on the inside of the terracotta pot where the bead or washer is going to catch. This will keep your hanging loop from falling inside the pot.
I didn’t take pictures of this step or any step in this process because I didn’t plan on writing about it. Then I decided it was too cute not to write about, so here’s how the top of my gnome looks after the hanging loop has been secured. You can kind of see my wood bead through the drain hole.
Step 3: Secure the pom pom to the terracotta pot.
Run a generous bead of hot glue around the inside perimeter of your terracotta pot and then quickly press your giant pom pom inside the terracotta pot. Give the glue a minute to dry and then see if you need to add more hot glue to secure the pom pom in place.
Spoiler – I had to add more glue in a couple of places.
Step 4: Paint Your Heart Bead (The Nose) and Secure To The Gnome.
The wood heart bead is going to be the gnome’s nose. If you need to paint it, do that now and let it dry. When you’re ready to go, hot glue the wood heart bead straight onto the yarn, right below the terracotta pot as shown below.
If you don’t have a heart bead, you could also use a felt heart or maybe even a conversation candy heart.
Step 5: Trim the yarn.
If you’ve made a yarn pom pom before, then you’ll know the yarn needs to be trimmed a little with scissors to even it out. I also tried to trim the yarn so that it curved up on the sides a little.
I found that it’s easiest to wait until the end to do this step so that you can trim it while the gnome is hanging and the yarn shakes out to its natural position.
That’s it! Now you can hang your Valentine’s Day Terracotta Gnome and enjoy it for as long as you want.
I love how adorable and whimsical this craft looks. It’s a good reminder not to take life, crafting, or overly commercialized holidays too seriously.
What do you think of my Valentine’s Day Terracotta Gnome? I’d love to know. You can always comment on this blog post, email us here, or reach out via Instagram or Facebook.
Happy crafting!
P.S. I originally learned about using terracotta pots to make gnomes from the blog One Little Project. They used mini terracotta pots to make the cutest gnome ornaments for Christmas. You can check out their tutorial here.
Thank you for reading today’s blog post! Here are some other blog posts you will love reading.
LEGO Valentine’s Day Cards – Free Printable
DIY Heart Embroidered Sweatshirt
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