Today's project completely wasn't planned. I had just put my youngest down for her morning nap when I walked past an olive bucket which I had put two brown craft paper pumpkins in with some greenery. I thought to myself "those really would look pretty with some flowers in them!" I have a whole Pinterest board of pretty floral fall pumpkins and have always wanted to make one for myself, but of course, never got around to it... well, unexpectedly, today was the day and done completely with what I had around the house! Score. If you don't just happen to have things around your home like my craft hoarding self, this project still wont cost you much at all and is so worth it when its done! Plus, its all fake so you can keep it, store it and enjoy it year after year! No rotting pumpkins or flowers here. Okay, so here is what you will need from start to finish to complete the project;
SUPPLY LIST:
- Paper Craft Pumpkin
- Faux Eucalyptus Bunch
- Floral Greenery Stems/ Bunches (I used 3 different ones)
- Brown Moss
- Bamboo Faux Flowers
- Floral Foam
- Green Floral Wire
- Scissors
- Knife
[All supplies used were purchased at Hobby Lobby]
STEP BY STEP:
1. Start by cutting the top stem of the pumpkin off to give you a flat surface.
2. Next, take your floral foam block and cut it into a square
about the size of the center of the pumpkin.
3. You will then want to cut off the corners of the square to make it into an octagon.
4. Once your shape is cut, take a sharpie and trace around the shape onto the pumpkin.
5. Take your knife and cut into the pumpkin INSIDE of the sharpie line. You will want the hole to be slightly smaller than the foam itself so it will fit in snugly.
6. Once your hole is cut, place the floral foam inside. It should be a tight fit, which is what you want, to hold the foam in place. Apply light pressure when fitting it into the opening, leaving approx 3 inches of foam sticking out of the top of the pumpkin.
7. For my greenery, I decided to use pieces that I cut off of a larger garland, because of that, the stems themselves did not have wire in them and were just plastic. The stems were not strong enough to place in the foam itself. To fix this problem, I wrapped each stem in green floral wire, making them easier to place into the foam and bend in the direction that I wanted them to. If you end up working with greenery that has no wire in it's stems, you can easily cut approx 3 inches of floral wire and wrap it around each stem.
8. For the faux eucalyptus leaves, I wrapped wire around them as well. I took each individual leaf off of the larger stem. I wanted the leaves to stick out slightly further to add a variety in height and dimension. I used about 6 inches of wire for these, and I chose to bend the wire in half first, making a stronger stem to stick into the foam.
8. Now for the fun part! Putting it all together!
You will want to start with your long flow-y base floral first.
9. Next, Add in more of the shorter base greenery completely around the bottom of the floral foam.
10. Start filling in with the rest of your greenery and flowers, alternating where you place them. You want to have a variety throughout the arrangement.
THE FINISHED PRODUCT:
After finishing the arrangement, I still felt like it needed something extra...
So, I went ahead and finished off the base of the greenery with some brown moss.
It would have been much more beneficial to do this step first and actually hot glue it into place, but I never seem to know exactly what I want from the beginning. Plus, as I mentioned, this was kind of an on the whim project! For mine, I just shoved the clumps of moss up underneath the base greenery and it works! I've moved the arrangement a few times and it has yet to come lose.
Thank you friends for stopping by and reading! I'm hoping this tutorial inspired you to create your own pumpkin arrangement! It really was a breeze to make and took a little less than an hour and a half total. A nice little soothing craft time while the kiddos nap...
If you follow along with my Instagram, you know that last month we had to evacuate due to hurricane Irma. Unfortunately, my husband had to stay behind to work for the police department, so the girls and I loaded up and headed to South Carolina to stay with family. While there, what better thing to do when you don't know if you will have a home to go back to other than go antique shopping? Yes, I know, I am probably the only woman on this planet that would plan to buy things for her home while evacuated, but seriously, South Carolina has some of THE BEST antique shops and markets! I have been wanting a tobacco basket for a long time, but never found one anywhere near my price range. Yes, I know they are worth every penny, but this lady just doesn't have a lot of pennies to spend. When I came across this one, rough shape and all, I loved it and it cost exactly as much as the amount in my wallet (which wasn't much). Luckily we ended up did having a home to go back to after the hurricane passed and thankfully very little water damage to just a few spots. So I loaded up all of my treasures and finds and headed back to Georgia.
When deciding on how to decorate my mantle for fall, again as stated in my previous post, I wanted to stick with neutrals, simple and with a touch of rustic. The tobacco basket sure was rustic. I was able to buy the greenery all at Hobby Lobby. I used two different garlands and attached them to the tobacco basket using floral greenery wire. Added in little bits of falling greenery and eucalyptus stems. The flowers are also from Hobby Lobby in the dried flower section, but they are actually made out of bamboo! Antler pick is also a Hobby Lobby find and brings in that rustic I was wanting.
Again, more of my "evacuation treasures" included some old books that I found along the way that I love using almost everywhere in my home. I chose subtle green and neutrals for the book colors to coordinate along with the theme throughout the rest of my house.
Lastly, I added a felt ball garland from Hobby Lobby on the mantle to add just another texture interest and decided to place the tobacco basket at an angle to create a larger focal point. I really wanted to take advantage of the height of the wall and fill the space. I hope that you found this post inspiring and maybe were able to gather a few ideas for your own home!
When envisioning how I wanted to design for fall this year, I wanted to go simple, neutral, and just slightly rustic. Most of the pumpkins I have collected over time, but was able to pick up a few new neutral ones at both Michael's and Target. The greenery used was all found between Hobby Lobby and Michael's, both stores have such a great selection! I admit, I am a picky one when it comes to florals. I cant keep any plant or flower alive to save my life, which is probably why I am a floral snob when it comes to the fake stuff. I love the look of real and natural arrangements, with all of the layers and texture, but nor do I have the gift of keeping them alive or the money to continue to replenish arrangements year after year. The final result was a beautiful and simple centerpiece, finished off with a felt ball garland from Hobby Lobby and dollar spot napkins from Target. I hope this inspires you to create your own fall centerpiece and shows you that beautiful doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate, just simple & affordable.
HOW TO CREATE THE LOOK:
I will walk you step by step of how to create this look in your own home
1. Using full floral stems, lay them directly on the table or runner as is facing away from each other.
I am using two different textured floral stems that I found at Michaels.
2. Place your center pumpkin. I chose to use the largest in the center to "ground" my centerpiece.
3. Add your accent pumpkins on each side. These were both slightly smaller than the center.
4. Next, fill in with accent pumpkins on the opposite side of your centerpiece. Use a variety of coordinating colors to bring a variety to your centerpiece and to keep it looking "natural".
5. Now, for the finishing touches! Add in either a wood decor bead strand, or, I used a felt ball garland which I found at Hobby Lobby. Draping it over and around the pumpkins. This again,brings in another texture adding layers to your centerpiece.
6. Lastly, add in filler floral greenery. I like to use another floral element to fill in all of the blank spaces or spots where you might be able to see the (not so pretty) parts of the centerpiece. For this, I used faux eucalyptus found at Hobby Lobby and cut off the stems that I needed from the floral bunch.
7. Tweak it. Stand back and see if there is anything that you may want to move slightly or fill in, use your creativity and have fun with it! Then, enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Today I am sharing the produce stand that I created for my Daughter's birthday
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