I’m a bit of a sucker for whimsical crafts that don’t involve much (like these) and these paper pumpkins perfectly fit the bill. They’re charmingly rustic, in season, and are a quick and easy option for when you’re looking for some Autumnal decor.
In mini, (just cut the strips shorter) they’d make a great Thanksgiving place setting addition, and they’d be super cute with a bowl of nuts, cranberries or candies in each one.

• 2 pieces of 12 by 12 or 6 by 6 paper in 2 different shades of orange
• Paper trimmer or craft knife and ruler
• Screw punch or small hole punch
• Twine
• 2 small brads
• Leaf template
• green paper for leaf

1. Assemble your supplies.

2. Cut 12 1-inch-wide strips from each color. Punch a hole 1/4-inch from each end of each strip. (To make sure the holes line up, punch holes in one strip and then use that strip as a template for the rest.)

2. Stack the strips, alternating colors. Tie each end of a piece of twine just below the head of a brad, leaving about 5 inches of twine between the brads. Thread one brad through the holes at one end in the stack of strips and fasten, with the head of the brad on the wrong side of the paper. Thread the other brad through the other set of holes, again from the wrong side, pulling the strips into a “U” shape. Fasten.

3. Gently fan out the paper strips from the “U” shape into a pumpkin shape. Print leaf template and trace onto crepe paper twice. Cut out two leaves and punch holes where marked. Cut a 2-inch by 3-inch piece of brown crepe paper for the stem and punch a hole in the approximate center.

4. Carefully loosen the top of the brad on the paper pumpkin and slide the two leaves and brown stem onto the brad. Refasten. Pull the sides of the brown crepe paper up and twist to make stem.

 *Pumpkins can be folded and stored by removing the bottom brad from the holes and collapsing the strips. To make a smaller pumpkin, cut 9 9-inch by 7/8-inch strips from two colors and tie 4 inches of twine between brads.

29 Oct This entry was published on October 29, 2012 at 8:33 pm and is filed under How To. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.