Olive Juice Studio

I think I must be ready for fall because I certainly have punkins on my brain the past few days (especially this evening!)…  I have a couple more pumpkin projects I whipped up just in mere minutes this evening as I was sitting here examining the toilet paper pumpkin I posted earlier.  I got to thinking how addicting those things are to make because they’re so much fun to make, there’s no cutting, sewing or gluing necessary.they’re super duper quick and just too stinkin’ cute to have only one….so when my husband started hollering, “honey, uhhh…where’s all the toilet paper?  There’s none in any of the bathrooms and why do we have 12 pumpkins lined up where the toilet paper used to be instead?  And WHY are there pumpkins in all of the  toilet paper holders “….. He knows I’m craft obsessed like no other BUT who would ever want to admit to doing something so corny?!  Sheesh!  So I just shrugged my shoulders and said I had no idea how that happened and then starting shucking the other 12 under the table as fast as I could….  I figured I better find myself a new addiction or should I say a new victim…to “pumpkinize”" (another new word you saw first here on OJS *wink*)! So, I did just that.  I started looking at the case(s) of pumpkins I had decorated earlier and realized I could come up with a more realistic looking one by adding some filler….so I began to play.  I grabbed a bag of fiberfill for one pumpkin and some dry rice and plastic shopping bags for another and started on my next pumpkin adventure….

The tutorial below is based on the darker orange pumpkin on the far left.  These same steps also  apply to the black and white checked pumpkin – you just need a larger piece of fabric, more filler and a paper towel tube.

 Ingredients:

1 empty toilet paper tube for the smaller orange size pumpkin OR 1 empty paper towel tube for the black and white pumpkin

enough fabric to wrap around the filler and tuck far enough into the tube

dry rice

fiber fill, old socks, crumpled newspaper, shopping  bags, rice, etc..to fill the pumpkin

Pumpkin or cinnamon scented dry potpourri ( I used the kind in the paper envelope satchets but any dry brand will work.  Another idea is to use Carpet Fresh but I don’t think the scent would last as long.)

cheese cloth or an old nylon to put the potpourri in

a stick to use for the stem

green fabric scraps or ribbon for the stem

2 green fabric coated floral stems

Directions:

1.  Lay out the fabric so the pattern is face down on the table. Then, stand a toilet paper tube directly in the center of the fabric and start adding small handfuls of dry rice for weight and fiberfill to build the body of the pumpkin. (Sorry for all the wrinkles.  I had already put the pumpkin together but then decided to take it apart to get photos for a tutorial! )

2. Next, start pulling the fabric up and tucking the fabric ends into the center of the tube. 

3. Keep forming the pumpkin, adding additional fiber fill if needed or removing some  if it’s too stuffed.  Continue pushing the fabric ends into the tube.

4.  Once all the fabric is tucked in the tube and the pumpkin is formed into your desired shape, add the bundle of fragrance to the tube. (I forgot to take a picture of this step but all I did was add fragrance pellets in a piece of cheesecloth and then tied it with a rubber band.)  By adding it here you can easily remove it to add a new scentor refresh as needed.  Next, place the stick into the tube for the stem.  This also helps hold the fabric in place.

5. Grab your scrap of green fabric  and fold in half pushing the center down into the tube.  Arrange to form leaves.

6.  Wrap the green floral stems (or chenille stems) around a pen to form spirals.  Stretch out slightly and tuck one end of each down in the tube. 

Aren’t  these just the cutest darn punkins you’ve ever seen??  Now, I want you to imagine doing this very same technique with a gift wrap paper tube and a large piece of fabric or a sheet.  Can you just imagine how adorable that would look with a pile of funky patterned pumpkins sitting in a corner all grouped together?!  The best part of this whole project is that you can easily take them apart to store and then rebuild them again next year!  The fabric can be washed, changed and the fragrance refreshed whenever needed. 

I’m off to go find something else to turn into a punkin….kids, ya better look out because your mama has lost it!  *grin*

Olive me some funky punkins, don’t you?

xKim

P.S.  If you make any of these PLEASE share! 

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Tags: Crafts for Kids, Fall crafts, No Sew Pumpkin Craft

This entry was posted on Monday, September 20th, 2010 at 11:38 PM and is filed under Fall Projects, Funky, Halloween, Halloween Projects, OLIVE KIDS!, Olive Juice Studio, Olive Juice Studio Inspirations(Gallery), Project Tutorials/Instructions, Random Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.