Gnome Rock Houses for a Garden

Two weeks ago a friend and I drove up to Chimney Rock, North Carolina, for the expressed purpose of looking for folk quilts. Now, the dog days of summer are not the best of times to go to Chimney Rock because of the stifling heat in the valley. A successful search, however, made the heat bearable, and we stopped for lunch in a lovely old inn situated on the banks of the Rocky Broad River.

After enjoying fresh mountain-broiled trout and what seemed like gallons of iced tea, we decided to take a stroll along the rocky banks.

I am an inverterate collector of, well, many things, and as luck would have it, I found myself picking up smooth rocks of interesting shapes and sizes, when the thought occurred to me that these would be perfect to use for gnome homes.

My friend, being very observant, joined in the search and sometime later we became aware of the sun being quite low in the sky. Oh! I do think time becomes distorted in the mountains. Remember what happened to Rip Van Winkle? Regardless of the time factor, I had a sufficient number of ideal rocks to make a gnome village for my garden.

So! Suprise the Gnomes in your garden with one house, two houses or more.

Remember, "It takes a village to raise a..." Gnome!

First, stimulate your mind's eye.

Close your eyes, and visualize those small, terribly expensive English cottages one can see in nearly any gift shop. Spend as much time as you can with the small details that make them so appealing.

Next.

In your imagination, enlarge and transpose any of the details to a rock which you have chosen, bearing in mind that none of these details are static. If one is creative these make-believe steps can, of course, be skipped.

The How To:

1. Wash the rocks and let dry. Plug any unsightly holes with wood filler or some other medium and allow to dry.

2. Collect acrylic paints in soft pastel shades (which gnomes prefer). Also have white, green, black and burnt sienna.

3. Assemble a variety of brushes, soft lead pencils, play dough or other medium and a sealer to protect painted rocks for outdoor use.

4. Divide the rock in half with a horizontal pencil line. Then pencil in a door wherever you feel a door shoud be. Pencil windows, and add dormer windows above the center line if desired.

5. Pencil in thatch roof all around to touch the horizontal line.

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