How to Make Easter Gnome Earrings
How to Make Easter Gnome Earrings with a Cricut
I’ve gotten so many requests for more Gnome Earrings, which I’ve made on my blog for different holidays from faux leather, heat transfer vinyl, and my Cricut cutting machine. If you’ve missed them, be sure to check out my Christmas Gnome Earrings, my Valentine’s Day Gnome Earrings, and my St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Earrings. Joining the collection today is these adorable Easter Gnome Earrings. These little guys are holding Easter eggs and are ready for an egg hunt. Let me show you how easy and fun they are are to make!
In this tutorial, I’ll give you my step by step instructions and tell you exactly what materials I used to make this project.
You can make these Easter Gnome Earrings with the Cricut Maker, an Explore Air 2 or even the Cricut Joy!
You can also download my FREE original SVG file for this project from my Resource Library – it’s Design #171. I’ll have a link to get the library password in the Materials section below.
Ready? Let’s get started!
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Easter Gnome Earrings – Materials List
- A vinyl cutting machine. I used the Cricut Maker for this project (available at Amazon here or at Cricut.com). You can also use the Cricut Explore Air 2 or even the Cricut Joy (see this post on my blog for some specific details you’ll want to know before you cut faux leather with the Joy).
- Smooth white Faux Leather. I used this white faux leather from Amazon. Here’s another smooth white faux leather from Amazon (sometimes out of stock). The heat transfer vinyl presses better to smooth faux leather than pebbled faux leather because these gnomes are little. You can use pebbled faux leather if you want, though.
- Heat Transfer Vinyl in the Easter colors of your choice. For the gnome’s robe, I used Siser Easyweed in Lilac. For the gnome’s hat and the pink egg details, I used Siser Glitter HTV in the color Blush . The egg is Siser Easyweed in Lemon (a lighter yellow color than Yellow). For the hands and nose, I used Siser Easyweed in Light Pink, The green accents on the egg are cut from Siser Glitter HTV in Light Green.
- Cricut Strong Grip (Purple) Cutting Mat. You can buy these on Amazon here.
- Cricut Standard Grip (Green) Cutting Mat. Available on Amazon here.
- Blue painter’s tape. This will help keep your faux leather in place on your mat. This is a critical step to be sure your faux leather doesn’t move around while you’re cutting it. You can get it at the hardware store or any big box store. Amazon also has it here.
- A weeding tool. I use the weeding tool that came with my Cricut tool set from Amazon here.
- Cricut EasyPress Mat. I like the 8×10 size for making earrings.
- A small hole punch (for punching earring holes in the faux leather when the earrings are fully assembled). This is my favorite earring hole punch from Amazon.
- Earring hooks – I used these silver toned shepherd’s earring hooks from Amazon.
- Small jump rings – I used the silver toned jump rings from this assortment of 6mm size jump rings in different metal finishes from Amazon here. You could also use 5mm size jump rings. 6mm and 5mm are my favorite size jump rings for connecting earring hooks to faux leather earrings.
- Two pairs of flat nose pliers – My favorites are Wubbers brand in the “Baby” size. My everyday use pliers are the Baby Wubbers Chain Nose Pliers and the Baby Wubbers Flat Nose Pliers.
The SVG file template for these Easter Gnome earrings. It’s Design #171 in my FREE resource library. You can get the password and the link to the library instantly by filling out the form below, or the form towards the bottom of this post.
DIY Easter Gnome Earrings – PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1 – Download the SVG Cut Files
Download my free Easter Gnome Earrings SVG file (Design #171) from my Resource Library. Save the zipped folder that downloads to your computer. Then unzip the folder to access the folder’s contents. You’ll need to unzip or extract the files FIRST so you can upload the cutting file to Cricut Design Space.
STEP 2 – Upload the SVG File to Cricut Design Space
If you need help uploading a file to Cricut Design Space, click here.
This earring design will cut from one white faux leather gnome shape which will be the base of the earrings. Then the layers of heat transfer vinyl layers will be pressed on top one at a time.
During the upload process, you’ll see there are two versions of the Easter Gnome Earring design – one with pre-cut holes and one without. Choose whichever version you want to use once the gnomes are on your canvas and delete or hide the ones you won’t be cutting. You can hide layers by clicking the eye icon next to each layer you want to hide in the layers panel.
I don’t recommend resizing these gnome earrings any smaller or else the vinyl will be too tricky to weed. If you want to size them a little bigger, I suggest cutting the version without pre-cut holes and punching the holes yourself.
Once you’ve hidden the layers you don’t want to cut, click MAKE IT.
STEP 3 – Preview the Cutting Mats & Cut the Faux Leather To Size
The mat preview screens will load. The Cricut will cut one faux leather layer and five heat transfer vinyl layers, all on separate mats.
It’s not necessary to mirror the cutting mats in this project.
The light grey mat is the bottom faux leather layer that will cut from white faux leather. Make a note of the size material you’ll need to place on your mat so the gnome shapes cut completely. In this case, the faux leather you’ll need is about 2.5″ wide and 3″ tall.
Cut a piece of white faux leather to size and press the green CONTINUE button.
STEP 4 – Make Material Selections
Now you’ll select your material for the first mat, the faux leather mat.
I use the material setting Faux Leather (Paper Thin) when cutting faux leather with my Cricut. I use the standard fine point blade that comes with the Cricut Maker and the Explore Air 2.
To find this Faux Leather material setting in Cricut Design Space, click on “Browse All Materials” to search for this setting. Type “faux leather” in the search bar and click on the magnifying glass.
Note: If you’re using a Cricut Explore Air 2, turn your dial to “Custom” so you can choose Faux Leather (Paper Thin) as the material setting. If you’re using the Cricut Joy, set the machine to cut “with a mat” and then select Faux Leather (Paper Thin) as the setting. Use the green Joy sized mat.
After you’ve selected Faux Leather (Paper Thin) as your material, choose MORE from the Pressure dropdown menu:
Now it’s time to prepare the faux leather mat for cutting, but first I want to show you how to add a backing to the faux leather before you cut it if you’d like to.
OPTIONAL – Add Iron On Vinyl to the Back of the Faux Leather Before Cutting
You can add a vinyl backing to the white faux leather before cutting if you’d like. This adds some structure to the gnome earrings, makes them look more finished, and helps to keep them from curling.
The choice of what vinyl to put on the back is up to you. You can use Iron-On Vinyl, regular Heat Transfer Vinyl (Everyday Iron-on) or Glitter HTV.
NOTE: If you want to learn more about different ways to put a backing on faux leather earrings, check out my YouTube video called What To Put On The Back of Faux Leather Earrings.
To do this, cut a piece of foil iron-on (or the heat transfer vinyl of your choice) in a size that is just slightly smaller than your faux leather piece.
Using an Easy Press Mini or an Easy Press and a cover sheet (teflon sheet or parchment paper) press the foil iron on to the back of the faux leather. Lay the faux leather flat on a surface and carefully peel the cover sheet away from the foil or vinyl and let it cool. Keeping the faux leather flat helps keep the vinyl from wrinkling.
STEP 5 – Prepare Mats for Cutting
Place your cut piece of white faux leather pretty side down (foil/vinyl side up if you put foil on the back) in the top left corner of a sticky purple cutting mat. Use your blue painter’s tape all around the faux leather with blue painter’s tape. Press the material down to your mat firmly with your hands.
Be sure your white star wheels are moved off to the side of the roller bar so they don’t mark up your faux leather.
Load the prepared mat into the Cricut by lining the mat between the mat guides and then pressing the double arrows button.
The “C” Cricut button will start to flash, indicating the machine is ready to cut. Press the C button to begin the cut.
When the cut is finished, but before you unload the mat, use a sharp tool (I’m using my weeding tool) to carefully lift the edge of the earring shapes to see if they cut all the way through. If they did, then click the double arrow button to unload the mat.
If not, just press the C button again to repeat the cut.
Remove the cut earring shapes from the purple mat and set them aside.
Return to Cricut Design Space to cut the additional vinyl mats. Your material settings will vary based on the vinyl you have chosen.
I cut the Glitter HTV mats using the Glitter Vinyl setting and the “Default” cut pressure. I usually press the C button to repeat the Glitter Vinyl cuts when using Siser Glitter HTV.
I cut the regular heat transfer vinyl mats using the “Washi Sheet” setting and “More” pressure.
Cut and weed all of the vinyl layers and set aside.
STEP 6 – Press the Vinyl onto the Faux Leather
I use an Easy Press Mini (on the lowest temperature setting) to press my faux leather earrings. You can also use a regular Easy Press or even an iron, on a low setting, not steam. I recommend 275 degrees for an Easy Press.
It’s important that no matter what heat source you use, you don’t use too much heat or too much pressure. You can distort or flatten the faux leather, or cause the vinyl to bubble.
Line up the gnome’s robe layer carefully onto the faux leather shape. Cover your earring shapes with a cover sheet (teflon sheet or parchment paper) before pressing.
Gently press for 5-7 seconds, just long enough for the layer to stick down to the faux leather. Peel the cover sheet off carefully. If the vinyl lifts, carefully place the cover sheet back down and press for a few more seconds.
The next layer to press will be the gnome’s hat. First cut the egg layers apart from the hat before you press. Repeat the pressing for a few seconds, just enough to get the hat layer to stick.
Then press the hands and nose. There’s a small indentation in the hat layer – line up the nose with that indentation and the layer will align perfectly with the gnome’s body.
Then press the egg layer and finally the two egg decoration layers.
When all the layers of heat transfer vinyl are pressed onto the gnome body, press one more time. Cover with a cover sheet and press for a few seconds.
STEP 7 – Punch the Earring Holes
If you cut the Easter gnome earrings SVG with the pre-made holes, you can skip to the next step. If not, use a sharp object or a 1/16″ hole punch like this hole punch or this hole punch to make the earring holes.
Punch the hole in the top of one earring, making sure the hole isn’t too close to the edge. Then use that earring as a guide to punch a matching hole in the other earring.
Almost done! Now it’s time to attach the earring hooks.
STEP 8 – Attach the Earring Hooks
To attach the earring hooks, you’ll need small jump rings, earring hooks, and two pairs of flat nose pliers.
To connect the earring hooks, you’ll first need to turn the bottom loop on the fishhook sideways so your earrings will hang correctly.
For more details on this technique, visit my post about how to make faux leather earrings hang straight here.
With the jump ring open, slide on the faux leather earring, and then add the earring hook. Be sure the hook is facing in the right direction.
Then use the second pair of pliers again to grip both sides of the jump ring and twist the jump ring closed again.
Repeat with the second earring. That’s it!
Aren’t these Easter Gnome Earrings cute? If you do make this project, I would love to see your gnome earrings. Please share a photo of them in the comments, or tag me on Instagram: @amyromeucreative
AND if you love gnomes, you’ll want to check out these other FREE gnome earrings on my blog:
See the tutorial for Valentine’s Day Gnome Earrings here. They are Design #166 in my Free Resource Library.
See the tutorial for St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Earrings here. They are Design #124 in my Free Resource Library.
See the tutorial for my Christmas Gnome Earrings here. They are Design #154 in my Free Resource Library.
Want to see all of my Cricut earring & jewelry tutorials? CLICK HERE
WANT THE SVG FILE SO YOU MAKE THESE EASTER GNOME EARRINGS YOURSELF?
You can get it from my FREE Resource Library by filling out the form below!
Want to remember this? Post this EASTER GNOME EARRINGS project to your favorite Pinterest board!
