DIY Gnome Trophy for a Game of Gnomes
To make the Game of Gnomes work, we needed to create a fun trophy for not a lot of cash. It needed to be fun and engaging, just enough to be desirable and funny but not anything that would devastate our soul if it got lost, broken or stolen. So here’s what we did.
Supplies:
- A gnome
- A plastic flowerpot
- Spray paint
- Hot glue gun
Total Cost of Gnome Trophy: $20.00
Total Time to Make Gnome Trophy: A couple of hours if you include time for the paint to dry
Finding a Gnome
To begin making our trophy, we started by purchasing a gnome. I knew we needed a smaller gnome that was plastic but not a garden gnome because I didn’t want it to be easy to break. The first gnome I bought turned out to be really, really small.
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So you’ll definitely want to pay attention to the size description, which I did not. It’s okay though, The Teen loves the gnome and it now sits on her desk in her bedroom.
The gnome we ended up using we stumbled across at a random store. It is solar powered and waves, which makes it incredibly fun. It also has a base on the bottom which made it easier to turn into a trophy. You’ll just want to find a gnome that you find amusing. A word of caution, some gnomes are really expensive – even the small or mini ones – and this will be the most expensive part of your trophy. The gnome we purchased is listed on Amazon for around $16.00, but we bought it at a store for around $10.00.
Painting Your Gnome
We chose to spray paint our gnome silver or chrome colored to make it look more like a trophy. Some people might choose gold. Our original thinking was that we were going to make a play on words with Chrome Gnome, but that kind of fizzled out. You can keep your gnome in its original state if you would like, but we definitely liked painting it and giving it a trophy look.
Turning Your Plant Pot into a Trophy Base
We selected a black plant pot, again using plastic to avoid breaking. We purchased ours at Lowe’s for about $4.00. We debated whether or not to spray paint it chrome as well, but decided to keep it black. The Mr. did, however, paint chrome flames on it to give it a little bit of flair.
Putting It all Together
After everything was completely dry, I just hot glued the chrome gnome (I really wanted to say it just once!) on the upside down plant pot. It’s an epic trophy. And highly coveted!!!
Filed under: DIY
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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Big fan of the blog, but in general not a fan of posts where people use their children’s photos and stories in blog posts, no matter their age. Our kids’ stories are theirs to tell, not ours to profit from in any way.
These are my kids and I have their permission to post them. We have had discussions over the years of what we are comfortable with and we will continue to do so. Thank you for your comment and your concern, but I have my children’s permission in this case.
Karen
Thank you for your response. I would only say that the consent or permission of a minor to things that a parent wants to do is fraught, because of the psychological needs of the child to please the parents. Many children go along or say “Okay!” to parental requests for that reason. I am sure you have heard some stories like that in your own library. There was a fantastic Op Ed about this in the New York Times this weekend called, “The Real Cost of Tweeting About My Kids,” by a University of Chicago philosophy professor named Agnes Caillard. It is well worth reading, including the comments. For me and a growing number of adults, kids’ stories are theirs to tell.
Again, I am a big fan of this blog.
My kids have told me no many times to many things and I honor that. When they have changed their minds about things that they have previously consented to, I have taken it down. I am aware that these conversations are happening in the large culture and they are happening in my own home. This is where we currently feel comfortable, that may change in the future. We talk frequently and openly about privacy, boundaries, etc. I do think they are important conversations to be having and we’re all just figuring out how to live life with social media and the Internet.