The first thing you'll need to do is determine your gnome's alter ego. Spend time with the gnome. Sleep with it if you have to. Look into its eyes...its soul. Look around your yard too. What type of issues are the yard inhabitants facing? Are there other-worldly invaders? Common street thugs? Neighbor's dog? This will help you determine if you need a dark vigilante type or a hulking all-powerful brute.



Additionally, you'll want to consider the physical feature of your gnome. Is it standing? Sitting? Does it have distinct features that lend itself to a specific superhero? In the case of the three gnomes I have here, there were definite characteristics that led me to choose the heroes I did. From here forward, I'll describe the steps to create a Batman, Robin, and Spiderman gnome set. These techniques can be used to make any garden hero.



Batman and Robin: One gnome is in a proud, alert stance. The other is sitting with his head resting on his hands. This gnome pair struck me as a great duo. To me, the obvious choice was the classic Dynamic Duo of Batman and Robin. But I thought I'd change it up a bit and make the standing gnome be the Boy Wonder and the sitting gnome be the Dark Knight. I thought this was more unexpected.



Spiderman: I also had a crawling gnome. As I was holding it and positioning it in different orientations, I noticed that if I held it vertically it looked like it was crawling up a wall, and the knee area had a hole in it to use as a place from which to hang it. So to me Spiderman seemed like a no-brainer. I could position the gnome so that it looked like Spiderman clinging to a wall.