Assembling the Design Bundles Autumn Leaf Gnome

 
For those like me who lack the patience for video tutorials, here's a quick look at the assembly order for the Autumn Leaf Gnome from Dreaming Tree.

The burgundy base piece has score lines to help you place the first two pieces.

On the right, I have the pieces in the order they are applied, top to bottom.

The hat helps with placement, so be sure to attach that before you get too far.  And a small dowel rod really helps to curl and add dimension to the laves as you apply them.

I bought my styrofoam balls at Michaels.  Our Dollar tree only had the very porous type - Michaels had a pack with a smoother surface.

A sharp knife, or my soap cutter, may have done a better job cutting these in half.

But I used my x-acto knife all around the seam, then used the Cricut Spatula to break it the rest of the way apart.  Then a nail file to smooth the inside a bit.

One entire drawer of that large blue dresser in my craft space is full of craft paints.

And yet I never seem to have the color I want!  A little purple mixed into some "sand" made a good enough gnome nose color.

I used my weeding tool to hold the nose while I painted it, to get around the edge.