Decorative Paper Pumpkins

These cute little pumpkins are so easy and versatile – they can be in any color or shape, tall and thin to big and round! Gather up your fall colored card stock paper, and a few sticks from the yard and you’ll be ready to make pumpkins! Add the pumpkins to your centerpiece, on the fireplace mantel, in the kitchen, or – my personal favorite – tie on a cute little name tag and use them as place cards!

 

Materials:

• paper pumpkin template {DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE PDF HERE}
• card stock paper
• stick (from the yard)
• hot glue
• scissors
• optional: twine, ribbon, wire,decorative name card

 

Directions:

Download and cut out the pumpkin pattern.  I’m using a rustic orange color of card stock, but choose a color that works for you.  Trace 8 pumpkin shapes and 1 center piece.  Fold each pumpkin shape in half.

For the center of the pumpkin find a stick the size and shape for the stem.  I curled wire (6″) around a paint brush to add with the stem.  Take the center piece of pumpkin pattern and roll it (you could use a pencil or paint brush), not to small.  Now slide your stick (stem) and curly wire in center and hot glue (the stick (stem) should not stick out to bottom of center).

Let’s glue…run hot glue down the folded edge of pumpkin shape, lining up the straight part of the pumpkin shape with bottom of center piece (see picture).  You want the pumpkin to sit flat on bottom, so each time you glue make sure it’s lining up straight.

I think it is easier if the first 4 shapes are glued across from each other in a X pattern (see picture).

Now glue the other 4 shapes in between. And you made a paper pumpkin!  You can add ribbon or twine to the stem.

Now that you have seen the basic shape, it’s easy to change to size and shape to make paper pumpkin patch of different pumpkins!  (Remember when you change the size, make the center to fit also.)

Have fun and get creative, cut your pumpkin shape with decorative edge scissors (I used Ripple) or give the kids the card stock paper to paint or draw on before you cut.

To make paper pumpkin into a place card, I punched a 2” decorative circle for each person’s name and tied it on with twine…so cute!