My mother was born on Christmas Day, which is why her name is Carol. But to hear her tell it, that wasn’t necessarily a great thing—at least for her.

She was the youngest of four in a German/Puerto Rican family, and the only girl. But it was as if only Christmas came on December 25. My mom’s birthday wasn’t really celebrated until she got married in 1958.

My father was Jewish, but he loved Christmas. He also insisted that my mom was to be honored on the day she was born. He decreed that presents for her birthday should be wrapped in birthday paper, not Christmas wrap, and that she should choose a special meal for Christmas Eve—which, to this day, is Chinese food.

“He’d also hang five dollars in an envelope on the tree for me,” she remembers today. (Adjusted for inflation, that would be worth slightly less than $50 as of this writing.)

We would also put up the tree on Christmas Eve, which my dad loved, even though they would battle every year about how, exactly, to handle the tinsel.

Mom wanted to lay it on, while Dad wanted all of us to throw it. Dad usually won—at least temporarily.

“I’d always redo it when he wasn’t looking,” my mother says now.

Among our most important decorations were two cloth elves, kind of like the Elf on the Shelf ornaments of today. These two characters were the objects of constant mischief. You never knew when someone was going to reposition them, hide them, or put strange objects in their hands. This tradition goes on to this day in my mother’s house.

Which is why this month’s project is a cute holiday gnome made out of fondant. It’s in honor of one of my mom’s favorite birthday traditions, plus it obviously has a connection to the holidays. According to my husband—who knows and cares about such things—an alchemist and philosopher called Paracelsus came up with the concept of gnomes in the early 1500s during the German Renaissance. In Paracelsus’ view, gnomes were small people and “earth-dwellers.”

The Christmas connection comes from Scandinavia, where gnomes—like Santa Claus here—bring gifts to good children on Christmas Eve. Gnomes and elves weren’t considered to be related until the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, where gnomes became a type of elf. Go figure.

Whatever the case may be, there’s no denying that this will be a fun project. As always, feel free to be creative and shape/color your holiday gnome whichever way you would like.

Oh, and don’t forget to throw some tinsel at the tree!

Kim M. Simons is an artist, food artist and cake artist. She has appeared on dozens of Food Network episodes, and was on the winning team for both “Cake Wars: Star Wars” (2016) and “Holiday Wars” (2019). Kim is available to teach classes. Visit her website at www.cakesbykimsimons.com.

Shape the body, head and hat out of Rice Krispie treats.

Roll out green fondant, cut with utility knife, and cover the body.

Roll some fondant (your choice of color) into a ball and add to the face as a nose.

Roll out and cut some more green fondant. Cover the hat.

Make arms out of fondant. Attach to body. Make hands out of fondant. Attach to arms.

Roll out strips of fondant for beard. Attach with cake tool.

Roll out balls of fondant for boots and attach to body.

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1. Shape the body, head and hat out of Rice Krispie treats.
2. Roll out green fondant, cut with utility knife, and cover the body.
3. Roll some fondant (your choice of color) into a ball and add to the face as a nose.
4. Roll out and cut some more green fondant. Cover the hat.
5. Make arms out of fondant. Attach to body.
6. Make hands out of fondant. Attach to arms.
7. Roll out strips of fondant for beard. Attach with cake tool.
8. Roll out balls of fondant for boots. Attach to body.