Easy Peasy Fabric Pumpkins

My favorite season of the year is Autumn. I love a bit of chill in the air, the leaves changing their glorious colors, the apple cider and pumpkin pie. My only problem? Southern California doesn’t have seasons. Well, not the kind that the rest of the country has. I live in the desert, and this past week it has still been over 100° each day. The only leaves changing are the ones that are turning brown from lack of rain. So what’s a girl to do?

Fake it.

One project I’ve recently discovered is how to make fabric pumpkins. Hope Studios has an awesome tutorial, and I fashioned mine the same way she did. This is similar to the paper bag pumpkins we’ve all made, but much less messy and quite frankly, a whole lot cuter.

The only materials you need are
the following:

• toilet paper or paper towel rolls
• plastic bags
• sticks
• fabric
(I have raffia shown because I was thinking of using it for a bow but ended up not using it.)



For a full-sized roll (for smaller pumpkins, I used half a toilet-paper roll), I cut a square of fabric roughly 12 inches on each side. You could actually use less than this.


Take a toilet paper roll and wrap about 3-4 plastic bags around it. (For smaller pumpkins, you only need one or two.)


The other tutorial shows the bags just poofed up around the roll; I actually think that might be better as their pumpkins look more plump.

Now take the corners of the fabric and tuck them inside the top of the toilet paper roll.


Once all the corners are tucked in, fold in any fabric edges that may still be sticking out.


Place a stick inside the roll to make a stem (and to keep the fabric in place). If you want it to be more secure, you can glue the fabric inside the roll.


I also added a piece of a plant to make it look like it was from a vine, but you can also use leaves or anything else to dress it up.



On this pumpkin, I used rolled-up paper to make a stem.


You’ll notice I also didn’t stick to a typical pumpkin color. I like to mix it up! (Plus, I didn't have any orange until a coworker of mine saw my non-pumpkin-colored pumpkins in my cubicle and offered her supply.)




These are a fun, colorful, thrifty way to add a bit of fall decor, as well as using recycled materials in a non-traditional way. That works for me!

For other cool ideas, check out We Are THAT Family for this week's WFMW carnival.