This is a magical category, for sure! You can have so much fun with this, and there is so much flexibility when the characters are purely fictional!  If you love pieces of all of them, such as the gnome's hat, the fairy wings, the pickaxe from the dwarves, and the munchkin's honeybun hair - then make a combo character and call it your own. Nobody can debate with you about fiction, right? 

But here's some light, abbreviated background on the character roles: 

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Fairy: In the literature, there are a vast array of types of fairies, but one thing seems to ring true with all - they all have wings (unless they've been removed like Maleficient), and they are magical to some degree, whether it be that they have access to pixie dust or were born with powers of some sort.  Some will have pointed elf ears and barely look human, and some are strictly forest dwellers. 

With this said, you have many options here.

     - Dress in everyday attire and put on a set of wings.

     - Go all out with a suit or glamorous gown and, wear a crown (diamond/rhinestone or a nature one),  wings, and hold a sparkling wand as a prop. Don't forget the rhinestones on your face with glitter eyeshadow and lipstick.

    - Purchase a Tinkerbell costume  - this is easy. 

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Woodland fairy: a race of fairies that live in the woods. So, do as above, but wear a wooden crown or another headpiece that looks like you made it from your surroundings. 

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Gnome/Garden gnome: So, a garden gnome, to folklore, is a dwarf (or other small humanoid creature) that is guarding something hidden in the earth.  This one is super easy. You might even have it in your closet (besides the hat, but you can make that). Longsleeve blue shirt, black pants, black belt (thick) over the blue shirt, black boots, white beard, and red cone hat. All right - you probably or maybe have the clothing, but the hat? Unless you've dressed as a gnome, you do not. But if you get some red construction paper or felt - you can make this so easily. Get some cotton balls and make a rim around it for a cool effect.  Or, they have garden gnome costumes. The girl gnomes can also wear a red, white, and blue dress with a white apron and elf shoes. If you have striped socks - throw those on. 

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Munchkin: The land of Oz has defined these creatures. In the Wizard of Oz, the munchkins wore Victorian-esque gowns with bonnets, and the boys tended to wear shorts with suspenders and plaid shirts with big collars. They were all colorful and most of the men munchkins had hair loss problems, with a few red curls on top of their balding heads with honeybun hair on the sides.  I mean - they had to make them look different, right?  Girls had up-do hairstyles - all very proper.  Choose vibrant colors for these roles. Remember? Dorothy was in a black-and-white world until Oz - so they had to make an impact when she moved to colors - so one rule for this role - NO black, white or gray! 

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Leprechaun: In Irish folklore, a leprechaun is a solitary fairy - usually a bearded man with a cocked-to-the-side top hat.  I happen to be a biologist, and it's unlikely there were no girl leprechauns or they'd go extinct - but you don't need to be a biologist to know that, lol!  So, girl leprechauns should just dress the same or maybe wear a green dress with a top hat. I think wearing green makes the most sense with a top hat, thick black belt, and a few shamrocks either in your hair/beard if you have one, or stuck to your costume. The iconic green top hat is what will set this off as a leprechaun, in my opinion, so wear anything green with the top hat and call it a day.  

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Dwarves: In German folklore, these are small magical creatures who lived in the mountains and were skilled craftsmen and miners of Middle Earth. You've heard of the seven roommates from Snow White, so those guys were diamond miners, and all had various issues with sleepiness, allergies, anger management, and so forth. The Lord of the Rings dwarves were a bit tougher as Tolkien describes them as 'warlike,'  and they mined for mithril (it brought them wealth, as well).

So, one thing is consistent - they are on the hunt for money and love stones and jewels. It would make sense to have huge (fake) stones - diamonds, rubies, or other precious stones as props with a toy pickaxe that you've been mining with all day at work before the party.  Also, since they've been mining, throw on some smudges on your face and backs of your hands - you wouldn't be pristine clean if you came from the mines of Middle Earth or wherever. 

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