Invite: Since this was a holiday party, I designed the invitations with red, green, and white as the accent colors. I purchased a design of a gnome on Etsy, and after getting permission from the designer, I used this same gnome on much of my party decorations including the invitation.
Decor: I purchased a few items for this party, but most of the amazing gnomes I borrowed from friends. For the dining table, I used two snowflake decorations I already owned as the centerpiece along with lots of gnomes. The cute MERRY gnomes were borrowed. The two gnomes on the each end of the centerpiece were wine bottle covers that I purchased from Amazon in a 4-pack and just placed these two on pint glasses.
For a place card, I used the gnome from my invitation, and just added each guest's name to the beard. Instead of napkin rings, I folded a green paper napkin into a hat to add to the place card. Easy and cute.
For my beverage and favor table, I borrowed these amazing gnomes for the table and the mantle. I love them so much, and they really added to the decorations.
The beverage and favor table.
Instead of designing wine bottle labels, I purchased these gnome bottle covers from Amazon to use. As stated above, they were a 4 pack and I only needed two for wine, so the other two created gnomes for my centerpiece.
For wine charms, I purchased these small wooden gnomes from Amazon. I was originally planning to use them as place cards, but when they arrived and were smaller than I anticipated. I decided to use them for wine charms instead. I used my Cricut to put the first initial of each guest on the beard.
Outside, I borrowed this blow-up gnome for my front yard to welcome guests to the party.
Menu: Turns out, the only gnome food ideas I found online were desserts, so I had to invent my own meal. We started with a Gnome Garden (Salad). I cut radishes to look like mushrooms. On top of the green spinach, I added garbanzo beans, feta cheese, and pecans. Guests could choose either an Italian dressing or a Balsamic Vinaigrette.
I decided to make Gnome-made giant meatballs wrapped in bacon along with mashed potatoes for the main meal. Although they don't look amazing, my attempt was to have each one look like a gnome head and beard. I made mini party hats with holiday cardstock to place on top. For this dinner, I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. I think the balls would have stayed a bit more round with beef, as the turkey was harder to shape into a ball and flattened a bit in the oven. For the nose, we just used garbanzo beans.
I made these holiday gnome cupcakes for dessert. I dipped the waffle cones in red candy melts to give it a little something. The beard, nose, and green body is gnome-made frosting.
Party Activity: At our December monthly dinners, I always like to have some sort of craft for us to do. I wanted to make it a simple one that could be done in a short amount of time, so I opted for painted wooden gnomes. Love how they came out.
My husband cut all the 2x4 pieces of wood before the event. They were around 10" tall and sanded. I couldn't find wooden circles at the craft store, so I bought brown/tan pom poms to use for the noses. For the beard, guests could choose from craft fur or a white mop. The mops are from the dollar store and each mop can make a ton of these gnomes. The craft fir can make a few gnomes, but is more expensive. Some guests made eyebrows for their gnome, some did not.
Our first finished gnome of the evening.
Love this spirited gnome my friend painted for her young daughter. She even painted the mop strands of the beard slightly.
Forgot to get a group photo at this dinner, but we had a great time together to close out our last monthly dinner for 2022.
