Fabric Pumpkins

I made this adorable pumpkin set last year to sell on etsy and other local garage sale sites and it was a hit.  The process to make them is not hard, but they can get a bit time consuming.  You start by picking your fabrics.  I found the black and white damask fabric and orange damask fabric at JoAnne's and the burlap I bought at Walmart.  I cut each pumpkin from a pattern I cut on sturdy card stock paper.

Burlap pumpkin: 22 inches wide by 13 inches tall

Black and white damask: 17 inches wide by 12 inches tall

Orange damask: 15.5 inches wide by 7.5 inches tall 

I cut the fabric and folded it inside out and sewed the edge of each.  Then took a needle and thread and sewed loosely around the full edge of the top and then gathered the material and knotted the thread to keep the edge closed.  I then turned the pumpkin so the right side of the fabric was out and put some dried beans at the bottom (to weight it down) and stuffed each one with pillow stuffing.  Unfortunately I didn't take pictures while I was making these.  So I hope this makes sense.  Here is a picture of some others I made using the same process.  These ones are partially finished.

After they were stuffed, I again took the needle and thread and sewed loosely around the top and then gathered in the fabric and knotted it.  I made sure the edges were tucked inside.  Once that was finished I took some twine and tied it tightly around the burlap pumpkin, to make the pumpkin shape.  I used a needle and thread for the small one and actually came right up through the middle and went around the pumpkin, each time coming up through the middle.  With the medium sized one I also used needle and thread but just started at the top, and then brought the thread down to the bottom and tightened it and went around it four times to create the lumps.  

Once they were formed I hot glued stems to the tops and decorated them with floral wire, artificial leaves and berries and etc.  I cut out circles from card board and then cut out squares of the fabric and hot glued the fabric squares to the card board circles so that it was covered with fabric on one side and then hot glued the now fabric covered card board circle to the bottoms of the pumpkins to give them a more finished look.

Here's some more that I made:

Fence post pumpkins

These rustic looking pumpkins were made using old, weathered fence posts that I painted persimmon orange and then added stems that I cut from the branches of our pear tree.   I decorated them with brown ribbon, artificial leaves, berries and real acorns. I should note that the idea of using fence posts was my sister and brother in law's idea.  They gave me these ones already cut into pumpkins and I decorated them the way I wanted them.

Window pumpkins

I started these pumpkins at a craft party that my friend had put together.  These were made from planks of wood that were cut various sizes and then they cut lines into the fronts of the wood to make them more "pumpkin" like.   I painted them at the craft party and then went home and added my own stems that were cut from branches of my pear tree.  I added the ribbons, flowers, leaves etc.  And then my husband cut me a piece of wood that fit the window sill perfectly.  I painted that piece of wood a chocolate brown and then we attached the pumpkins to it with hot glue (and eventually screwed them in with a drill to make them extra sturdy.) I decorated the area around the pumpkins with a woodsy looking moss that I purchased at hobby lobby.

Fall Blocks

I made this set of pumpkins a few years ago to sell and it was one of my best sellers.  I made them by having my husband cut the 2 by 4 planks of wood into the sizes I wanted.  I tried to make each one a different size to add more interest.  I then sanded the blocks and painted them persimmon orange (paint purchased at hobby lobby).  Once painted (and dried), I sanded the edges of the front of each block to create a border. I then cut out the letters on my cricut machine on white card stock paper.  I attached the letters by brushing the blocks with mod podge, and then brushed over the tops of the letters as well.  When the front and edges were dry I mod podged the backs as well.  I then had my husband cut me some small stems from the branches of our pear tree (branches that had been pruned off).  I hot glued the stems on top and then decorated it with a bow of sage green dyed raffia.

I made this next set using the same proccess.  Cut the wood from 2 by 4s, except these ones I had cut all the same size so I could include the border.  The letters and borders were cut using my cricut machine, and attached using mod podge.  

The last one was made using the same process but I used scrapbooking paper to cut the letters out with, again using my cricut machine. I then cut out some brown fabric and added a little bit of pillow stuffing to the tops so they would be rounded.  I hot glued the fabric around the tops and then gathered it at the tops to create the acorns stem.  I decorated them with a bow and real acorns.

Fall wooden plaques

I made these cute owl plaques last year for a crafting fair.    I bought the wooden plaques at Hobby Lobby.  These are the 7 by 9 ones.  You can buy them online at hobby lobby wood plaque  I painted the edges and backs of the plaques a burnt umber brown (paint also purchased at Hobby Lobby).  These plaques work out best if you first paint the front where the picture will be white.  I then printed the image onto fabric.  (if you iron fabric onto the shiny side of freezer paper, you can then cut it out to the size of computer paper and then print directly onto the fabric.)  

Once it was printed, I put it over the plaque with the freezer paper still attached and ran my thumb around the edges of the plaque thought the fabric and paper so I could figure out where I needed to cut so that the image would be centered right for the plaque.  Then I just cut along the edges I created.  After it was cut out to the shape of the plaque I peeled the freezer paper off of the fabric,  brushed some mod podge onto the front part of the plaque that I had previously painted white.  I smoothed it on and let it dry, and then I took a paint brush and dabbed it into a bit of the burnt umber paint and brushed from the edges onto the fabric, just on the edges to give the plaque an antique look.  When it was all finished and to my liking, I sprayed them with a sealant on both sides (drying thoroughly before turning over).

(I bought the owls clip art on Etsy at this store: peachpopsclipart   I then used my scrapbooking program (scrapbooking factory) to arrange them the way I wanted them to look when printed out.)

These ones were made using the same process.  But I found the images for these at  The Graphics Fairy  You can get tons of great free images there. 

 

These last ones were made using the same process, but I found these already cut out at a thrift store.  I painted them persimmon orange and added a stem and a bow.  I printed the image onto fabric and attached it with mod podge and then smudged a bit of black paint here and there around it and then sprayed it with sealant.  

Welcome to the blog! (And welcome Autumn porch decor ladder)

I wanted to introduce myself.  My name is Julene and I am a fall-craft-a-holic.  I just can't get enough.  It is one of my passions.  I do crafts for other seasons and occasions, but mostly it's all about the fall.  I wanted to use this blog to share my crafting ideas for others who might have a similar obsession and want to get some ideas.  I'll start out by showing you one of my favorites.

I bought the ladder from Crafty Wood Cutouts in Orem, Utah.  I stained it a rich cherry wood color and wrapped grape vines around it.  I lucked out and happened to find the leaves already painted at a thrift store.  They were part of a different craft that I tore apart so I could re-purpose these leaves.  I also found the "Welcome Autumn" sign at the same thrift store, but I had to repaint it.  I cut the letters out using my cricut machine and attached them to the sign with mod podge.

Then I went searching the internet for good fall poems and quotes.  I typed up my favorite ones and printed them out on regular computer paper that I had soaked previously in vanilla to make the paper appear aged.  I cut out some small wood pieces and and painted them a dark, burnt umber brown.  Once dry I attached my poems to the wood and finished it with a layer of mod podge.

After all of the decorations were ready I bought some small hooks that I could screw into the wood and loops to screw into the decorations and signs.  This way I can remove the decorations and use my ladder to celebrate other holidays as well.  So far I have used it for fall and Christmas.

I am happy with the way it turned out, and I love to display it each year, and properly welcome in the most wonderful time of the year.