Start by taking a tomato cage and flipping it upside down so it is resting on the round base. Use a little bit of duct tape to combine all of the top points so they stay together.

Then collect your tree branches. I have a gigantic pine tree that needed to be trimmed down, so I cut some branches off of that tree, but you could really use any type of evergreen tree.

The best way I found to attach the branches was to lay the cage on it's side on top of a tree branch and attach the branch to the cage with some twine. Tie your branch to the cage with the cut end towards the top of the cage so that your gnome will look more full on the bottom.

Continue to tie on branches all the way around your tomato cage until he is nice and full or he looks like you want him. If you need to, trim down your branches a bit more. You want the area on top to be nice and thin so that your hat will slide on smoothly. This is also the time to trim up your branches on the bottom so that they are just resting on the ground.

Then you will need to pull your Santa hat on. Pull it down as far as you can get it to go. Next you will need to add a nose. I used a plastic kids toy baseball wrapped in some material to hide the lines, but you could use anything you have on hand that will resemble a nose. I've seen people use a potato as a nose, but living in the woods, his nose would be gone in a few days! LOL

Then he's ready to sit on your porch and welcome all of your guests this holiday season. Isn't he adorable? He can be a Christmas gnome, a Santa gnome, a winter gnome - any type of gnome you want by the accessories you give him!

Want more fun DIY's? Head on over to my blog to see more of my holiday ideas.