Pumpkin-Palooza 1

It's fall decorating time again! I made some simple, no-cost pumpkins last year with a scarf, a cloth napkin and a small drapery panel; but those were all deconstructed at the end of the season.

2015

I decided to switch things up a bit by using different patterns/textures for my pumpkin projects this year. I'll show you the first two projects today.

First up, another super simple T.P. pumpkin using a Waverly Fat Quarter in gray houndstooth (Pattern = WV PC HOUNDSTH STEEL). 

After ironing the fabric, I simply grabbed a roll of T.P. from the master bath linen closet and wrapped an old dish towel around it to fatten it up a bit. I placed the fattened roll in the center of my fabric and pulled up the corners of the fat quarter - carefully tucking the loose ends into the center of the roll.

Instead of using a stick from the woods for the stem as I did last year, I cut a length of jute rope I had on hand. I doubled the rope and doubled it again while twisting it, and I tucked it into the center of the roll. 

Then, I smooshed the top edge of the pumpkin in & down a bit with my hands making the shape a little less cylindrical. Done! I had everything on hand except the fat quarter (Walmart - 97¢). 

Next up is my rope pumpkin. I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I saw it somewhere on the web a while ago, and it popped up in my mind when I was creating the stem for my T.P. pumpkin. 

This rope pumpkin also took just a few minutes of my time and 3 things - an empty paper towel tube, jute twine and some jute rope. 

It would be nice if I had photos of the process, but my hands were both occupied, so no photos! I'll try to explain the process. I started by cutting a piece of twine - maybe 6 inches longer than the paper towel tube. While holding the twine parallel to the length of the tube (extending 3 inches at both the top & bottom), I wrapped rope around & around the tube - side by side in a single layer - making sure the twine stayed in place between the tube and the rope - until about 2/3's of the tube was covered in rope. 

Next, I carefully began sliding the rope off the tube while holding the two ends of the twine together. (The twine was now running through the center of the rope.) As the rope was coming off, I stopped and made my first tie with the twine (like the first step in tying a shoe). I continued to slide the rope off the tube - stopping to tighten the twine one more time. When the rope was fully off the tube, I tightened that first tie in the twine until it was snug. Then, I tied a full knot in the twine to make sure it was secure. After that, it was just a matter of shaping the rope into a pumpkin-shaped form, tucking the 2 loose ends of rope into the center of the pumpkin and sticking a short stick in the center for a stem.

There you go - 2 easy pumpkin crafts. Best thing? They can both be deconstructed at the end of the season, and you can do something completely different next year!

Look for Pumpkin-Palooza 2 next week.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Also shared at:

Share Your Cup #219