I have mentioned before that we live in the forest. This past Spring while out searching for Maples to tap, I happened upon a little gift from Mother Nature. We have a lot of dead birch trees and if you are unfamiliar with birch, they decompose very, very quickly. I was crunching my way through a pile of it when I spot this little beauty and it just spoke to me.
If you know me even a little bit you would know my first thought.... GNOME HOUSE!! Does it not just look like the perfect little gnome house? It even has a window!
I brought it in and there it sat. Fast forward a month or so and Annie and I were doing an Art fair and had a booth for Mariposa Forest. I decided that our table needed a gnome house and took the inspiration to finally finish what I had intended to do when I first picked up that bit of birch bark.
All it needed was a roof. I made a resist out of cardboard that I covered in duct tape.
Next I wrapped it in wool roving, a mossy green because it seemed to fit this little home.
Then using the usually wet felting technique, I slaved away for a good 30 minutes. There are lots of “wet felting using a resist” videos out there. You can search and find one that doesn’t annoy you too much. If you haven’t tried it yet, please do, it is great summertime fun, especially with the little ones! Even just to make a picture, like we did a while back.
After it was felted, I needle felted a bit of decoration on to it and then, voila! A gnome house sure to impress even the most sophisticated gnome.
I love it. I love that it came to me in this state and that all I had to do was to put a roof on it. It makes me smile everytime I see it.
We are on a hunt for our next find. What crafty goodness has Mother Nature left you these days?
I am Jennifer. I am a wife and stay at home mother to two little boys. We are a homeschooling, co sleeping, nature loving bunch and I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures. Read more.
