Pumpkin-Palooza 3

Since October is almost half over, I need to keep plugging away with my Pumpkin-Palooza series. After all, we'll want to start working on our Christmas projects pretty soon!

Today's first item turned out to be one of my favorite fall projects. It's a variegated yarn-wrapped pumpkin.

I found this yummy yarn at the Michael's Craft Store in Marquette. It's made by Loops & Threads - the same company that made the yarn I used for my fall wreath.

The style is Country Loom™ Colorburst; the color is Chocolate. It's a variegated yarn with brown, copper, gray and white.

I started with one of those orange foam pumpkins from Dollar Tree, some glue sticks and my hot glue gun - used on the lowest setting. I decided to work from the bottom up, so I simply began gluing and coiling the yarn at the center.

I worked my way out from the center - then up the sides.

I took greater care in gluing each row closely to the previous row as I did the sides and top, so the orange pumpkin didn't show through. I stopped when I reached the stem. Since these foam pumpkins have very short stems, I beefed it up a little with some cardboard attached with hot glue.

Lastly, I wrapped the new cardboard stem with some copper wire-edged ribbon I had on hand. That was it!

I love variegated yarn, but one never knows exactly where the color will change when starting a project. I was delighted when it began changing to brown about halfway up the pumpkin. This yarn has a marvelous sheen to it.

And I love the texture this style of yarn gave to my pumpkin.

I actually did the next project first. It's another yarn-wrapped pumpkin with the same yarn, but this plastic Dollar Tree pumpkin is smaller. I began by wrapping the tiny stem with my copper wire-edged ribbon. I wasn't fussy about how the stem was wrapped at first, as I would adjust it later.

My plan was to just get the ribbon on the stem and start the yarn at the top on this one.

I applied a bead of hot glue and pressed the yarn onto it - continuing around and around the plastic pumpkin - finishing this one at the bottom.

After that, I adjusted the copper wire for my stem, and it was finished.

This pumpkin didn't have a noticeable color change, but it still has a great texture.

I have one more project today. I found a plain burlap pumpkin at Dollar Tree in early September.

I just attached a faux leaf with hot glue and tied a copper ribbon to the stem.

Nothing much - just a little embellishment.

If you haven't yet tried making a yarn-wrapped pumpkin, give it a try. It's a quick and easy project, and there are so many interesting yarns available in the stores nowadays.

And I'm not finished yet. Pumpkin-Palooza 4 will be posted next week.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Woody Woodpecker

I showed you Bullwinkle last month, and now I get to show you Woody Woodpecker - the Pileated Woodpecker.

I know it's Woody and not Wanda because the stripe on his cheek is partially red. Wanda's stripe is all black. Woody is usually traveling with Wanda, but we didn't see her on this particular day.

Did you get a look at those feet?

This will help.

This Pileated Woodpecker is about 1-1/2 feet tall. Pretty impressive, huh?

And you should hear the sound of him drumming on a tree. Believe me, there's no mistaking that sound! You know it's no ordinary woodpecker! It's always fun and interesting to watch the wildlife in our backyard in the woods of the Keweenaw Peninsula. 

I'll have Pumpkin-Palooza 3 ready to go tomorrow or Saturday.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Pumpkin-Palooza 2

I have to begin by apologizing for posting so little lately. I've been busy with chores and guests, and migraines still hijack my life more often that I'd like; but I'm back today with Pumpkin-Palooza 2. As I was editing my pumpkin photos, I realized that I have far too many photos to condense into just 2 installments in this series. I think it will be 4 instead, so let's get started.

The plan for many of my pumpkin projects this year was to use different patterns and textures than I used last year. In Pumpkin-Palooza 1, I showed you a TP pumpkin made with a houndstooth fat quarter and another pumpkin made with rope. You can see those here. I'm going to begin today with one more TP pumpkin project. You should all be familiar enough with these by now that I don't have to go into a complete tutorial. Since we live in the far northwoods of Michigan's U.P. and my husband has a love of camo, I decided to do a super quick camo pumpkin.

I knew my hubby had a camo bandana/handkerchief that would be perfect for this project, so I rifled through his drawer and borrowed it. (I don't think he knows it's missing yet!) I repeated my standard process for a TP pumpkin. I wrapped 2 old dish towels (folded the long way) around a new roll of TP to fatten it up a bit. Then, I placed the roll on the center of the camo bandana and pulled up the 4 corners - tucking the ends into the top of tube. I then cut 3 lengths of rope, wrapped those around the pumpkin, and tucked the ends into the top of the tube. Lastly, I cut a longer length of rope - twisted it and doubled it a few times - and stuck that into the top of the tube for a stem.

This was a super quick and easy way to get a little touch of camo into our fall decor. The pumpkin will be deconstructed at the end of the season, and my hubby will get his camo bandana back. Ha!

Next up is a jazzed-up Dollar Tree pumpkin. I was roaming around the store recently and had tossed a few plastic pumpkins into my basket when I noticed a witch's broom. We don't celebrate Halloween, but I thought the orange metallic pompom (originally pompon) at the end of the broom could make an interesting pumpkin.

The first thing I did was pull the plastic stem out of the pumpkin, and I cut the cardboard broom handle to a shorter length for the pumpkin's new stem.

I tied a length of twine around the cardboard stem to secure it. . .

and covered it completely by wrapping it in the twine. I also shoved some twine into the open end of the tube at the top.

I then inverted the pompom (so the top of the stem was now underneath in the middle of the pompom) and used hot glue to attach the underside of the stem to the top of the pumpkin.

After the stem was secure, I turned the pumpkin right-side-up. The pompom strands were now hanging over and around the plastic pumpkin and the stem was on top. I took another piece of twine and tied it around the pompom strands at the bottom of the pumpkin.

I trimmed the strands just below the knot, turned the pumpkin right-side-up again, and used my fingers to reposition some of the strands to make sure the pompom strands completely covered the plastic pumpkin inside.

If you decide to repeat this simple project, I would suggest you begin with a small orange pumpkin instead; as some of the green on my pumpkin tries to peak through when I move it around.

This was a simple project, but I often do even less to those inexpensive pumpkins to make them a little more unique. For example, I purchased the next pumpkin at Walmart and just wrapped a little twine around the stem.

I left the stem alone on this copper pumpkin from Dollar Tree, but I used hot glue to attach 2 artificial leaves.

Lastly, here's an example of a pumpkin I purchased at Michael's with the intention of adding something to it. After playing around with a few different ideas, I decided I liked it better the way it was.

It's a simple pumpkin, but the texture is unexpected so it makes enough of a statement on its own.

This Pumpkin-Palooza series will continue soon with projects using yarn, a washcloth, and even a sock.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Also shared at:

Share Your Cup #219

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

A Longer Delay

Look for Pumpkin-Palooza 2 in the coming week, as I've obviously run out of time this week. Here's a sneak peek.

And. . . fall is here!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

A Slight Delay

We went away for our anniversary over the weekend, and we have guests in our home this week. I'll be back on Friday or Saturday with Pumpkin-Palooza 2.

2 shots I snapped on the drive home.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

11 Blessed Years

All is well in the Keweenaw.