I’m ready for Fall, even though we’ve been in a heat wave that feels very summery. It’s been getting into the 90’s but we expecting “only” a high of 87 today. I made a batch of these cute little Yarn Pumpkins at the free weekly Craft Gym at Once Around. They had directions from the parenting site Make and Takes which has lots of kids craft projects and recipes. Make and Takes made Yarn Apples first but I think the project is more suited to pumpkins.
They are very simple to make and look pretty adorable in little groups.
I brought some to work and put them on the counter by our Department Administrative Assistant, Monica, and she said people were commenting on them all day long.
Supplies needed:
- Yarn
- Pipe cleaners
- Scissors
- A little scrap of cardboard is helpful but I usually just use my fingers
Cut your pipe cleaner into two pieces, about 2/5ths and 3/5ths. I used tan in this picture but green for the stem in some other pictures.
Now take your yarn and start wrapping it around the piece of cardboard or around your fingers. Don’t wrap your fingers too tight!
My big hand with my fingers spread out like this made a pumpkin similar in size to a grapefruit. Wrap at least 100 times around – for smaller pumpkins or if your yard is pretty chunky you can do less. My smallest pumpkins were between 80 and 100 and wrapped around two fingers, spread out a bit.
Once you finish wrapping, take the shorter piece of pipe cleaner and put it under the yarn then bring the two ends together and twist very tightly.
Trim the ends. If the wire in the pipe cleaner is poking out, mush the pumpkin down on the table to press the ends flat.
Take your second, longer piece of pipe cleaner and put it through the opposite side of the yarn, twisting it tight. This is the top of the pumpkin and the ends of the pipe clear make the stem. After twisting close to the yarn, I fold one end of the pipe cleaner than wrap the other end around it.
Now you just need to foof it out! Bang it on the table a few times, get your fingers into it and squish the yarn around until you are happy with the shape. I think it looks more pumpkin-like if it is a little flat, not completely round and spherical.
If you use the cardboard, the steps are the same.
Wrap the yarn around the cardboard.
Put pipe cleaner under the yarn and twist the ends tightly together. Folding the cardboard makes this a bit easier.
Trim the ends of the pipe cleaner on the bottom and put the second piece of pipe cleaner through the yard and twist tightly for the step at the top.
After twisting pipe cleaner for the top of your pumpkin, bend one end down and wrap the other end around it to form the stem.
Now just fluff it and foof it and play with it until you’re satisfied with the shape.
Here’s a mix of yarn pumpkins and real mini-pumpkins together.
I like how it looks with pumpkins made from different yarns, especially the plushy, soft chenille yarn they had at Once Around (the green one in the photo, above). It was great going to the Craft Gym because everyone was sharing the various yarns around the table which meant more variety without having to buy all the different yarns.
I made a few using two colors by adding orange or green yarn on top of white. Several people in our craft class made pumpkins by twisting two strands of yarn from different skeins at the same time, but I didn’t try that.
This is wavy white yarn wrapped around the cardboard with a bit of green wrapped on top, before the pipe cleaner step. The finished pumpkin is in the top photo.
After I took some pictures at my mom’s house, I decided to add a bit of curly “vines” to some of the little pumpkins. I unraveled a strand of green yard and using single ply, I wet it and wrapped it around the handle of paint brush. A chopstick or pencil would also work.
Using a heat tool, I dried the yarn while it was still wrapped around the paint brush. I experimented a bit, trying hairspray, hair gel and mat medium but found that just using water and heat was effective. If you don’t have a heat tool, a blow dryer should also work. You can easily loosen the curl to look more like a vine.
Drape a strand or two of curled yarn around the stem of your pumpkins if you want to take the extra step.
Now I’ve got some cute fall decor, maybe fall weather isn’t too far behind
Thanks for the visit.
dianne faw 