Gnomes

All posts tagged Gnomes

Give a Girl a Gnome Book

Posted by James on May 14, 2014
Posted in: Did Ya Know?, New Home. Tagged: , , , . 8 Comments

Can y’all believe that we are still milking posts from that baby’s birthday party a few weeks ago?

Well, we are.

We had to give little Madeleine a gift worthy of a woodland themed first birthday.

Like the Gnome Book that was my absolute favorite as a child…

The Gnome Book

I devoured every inch of this book when I was a kid, so much so that it literally fell apart,

It did.

This is my second copy,

and, as y’all can see…….my new one is a little worn well-loved too.

For more than 35 years this beautifully illustrated book has brought joy and wonder to readers of all ages.

This delightful Dutch book was first published in Holland in 1976, and translated for the English-speaking market in 1977. It was an immediate hit. (It’s a little know fact that it was Martha Stewart’s husband, Andy, who was the publisher responsible for bringing the book to American audiences.) Writer Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet perfectly document the gnome population living in Holland at the time. They cover all areas of gnome culture: architecture, education, courtship, medicine, industry, and even relationships with other mythical creatures.

I can’t emphasize enough just how much artistry went into every corner of this book. But it isn’t just the illustrations, the attention to detail in imagining this complete world of wood gnomes is absolutely heart warming.

See for yourselves……

Illustration of Typical Gnome Stregnth - 7 Times That of a Man

When I was a boy, I made an exact replica of this house out of cardboard and balsa wood scaled to the gnome Christmas ornaments we had. (Still have those ornaments, BTW)

Illustration of a Typical Gnome House

Details of a Typical Gnome House

Illustration of a Typical Gnome Diet

Illustration of Typical Gnome Craftsmanship

Illustration of a Gnome Communicating with a Boar

Order one for yourself, or someone special, today.

There’s a deluxe edition that was released in 2011 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the book….but its iconic cover has been replaced with single, laughing, pointing gnome.

I prefer the original….

Find that version here.

Yes, we realize that Madeleine is only a year old ……… and this book may be a bit advanced for her right now. But one day she will be old enough to discover this book……

…..and will no doubt, love it as much as I do.

I’m pretty sure that y’all will too.

Woodland Theme Party Details

Posted by James on April 16, 2014
Posted in: New Home, Projects. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Here are a few of the details that we did to make Madeleine’s woodland themed first birthday extra special.

For the monogram wreath:

We started with a green foam wreath shape and an “M” cut from fiberboard. Both from the craft store.

Big M on the Green Foam Ring

With a glue gun I carefully glued sheet moss pieces to the wreath form. Got these at the craft store too.

Carefully Use a Hot Glue Gun to Attach the Moss to the Wreath Form

After spraying the “M” with Design Master Holiday Red spray paint, we punched dots from self adhesive craft foam with a hole punch and just randomly covered it.

Trust me, Jamie was punching dots for days.

Use a hole punch to punch out the Dots from the Craft Foam

Poke in a couple of wired silk Monarch butterflies and you have a pretty cute wreath,

Monogram Moss Wreath with Butterflies

For the toadstools:

We started with a bag of foam ball halves, again from the craft store.

Then sprayed them, also, with Holiday Red Design Master spray paint.  Design Master is made just for crafts like this…regular spray paint with eat right through the foam. Trust me.

Design Master Holiday Red Spray Paint Collage

With more hot glue we attached the toadstool tops to the sprayed white dowels.

…and again added foam dots punched from adhesive craft foam.

Assemble the Toadstools

We made 2 sizes and simply stuck them in all the ferns to keep things looking a little “cartoon-y” and not too serious. It was a kids party after all.

Toad Stools Tucked in the Ferns

For the gnome hats:

I disassembled a plain party hat from Party City and used it as a template to trace on a sheet of red felt.

Disassemble a Hat and Use it as a Template

After cutting out the felt hat shape, I gave them a good, heavy spritz of spray adhesive. The overspray is pretty messy, and you want to go as close to the edges as possible, so lay down a drop cloth to protect all the surfaces.

Use Spray Adhesive Liberally on the Felt

I gently rolled an assembled party hat over the red felt piece pushing down firmly as I went.

Roll the Felt on a Hat

Then used a pair of scissors to trim the excess felt……or possibly  hat, whichever needed trimming more.

Use Scissors to Trim the Excess Felt

Done, and how charming are these?

Finished Felt Gnome Hats

Most of the kids would only wear their hats for a few seconds.

The Only 3 Who Would Wear the Gnome Hats

At least,

The 3 biggest kids at the party didn’t want to take them off,

(Photo bomb by the birthday girl on tambourine)

Happy Birthday Party, Everyone.