Decorate Up a Halloween Pumpkin for Fall!
Fall is coming fast! That means it's time to start thinking about falling leaves, and all things pumpkin spice. Since we don't get too many traditional signs of fall outside here in Florida, I decided to bring some inside by decorating myself a Halloween pumpkin with some fall leaves and a bit of embellishment "pumpkin spice".
[Disclosure: This site participates in the Amazon.com affiliate program. Some links in this article are affiliate links that pay a commission to this site when a purchase is made, but it will not affect the price you pay. Some products were provided to me as part of my professional relationships with Cricut and Buttons Galore, but this project is not a sponsored post.]
Halloween Pumpkin
Supplies:
Pumpkin
"Happy Fall" cut file by JGoode Designs (in Cricut Design Space using Cricut Access)
28 Lilac Lane "Toasted Graham" embellishment bottle (Sb.com)
Hot Glue Gun
Assortment of Silk Leaves
This project will work on a real or plastic halloween pumpkin. I chose a plastic pumpkin so that I can use it the entire Halloween and Thanksgiving season this year and reuse it in future years.
To start my fall pumpkin, I opened Cricut Design Space on my iPad. I could have done this on my computer of course but I just love the Cricut Design Space interface on the iPad so I use it most of the time.
I selected a cut file called "Happy Fall" by JGoode Designs (the fabulous Jen Goode). The design comes with a leaf in it, which I hid since I was going to add my own silk ones. I sized the design at about 4" wide to fit my pumpkin, but the size that will work for you will depend on the size of your pumpkin.
Cricut Design Space iPad Screen Capture
I chose a gold shade that worked with my leaves from the Cricut Metallic Vinyl Sampler and cut my design from the vinyl. Using transfer tape, I pressed the design into place on the pumpkin. It's hard to get it pushed entirely down into place on a surface like the pumpkin. I found the scraper from my Cricut Explore tool set helped a lot. The vinyl has some "give" in it, and the scraper helped smooth and push it down into all of the crevices so it is adhered perfectly.
Next, I started adhering the leaves with my hot glue gun. I started with the ones on each end, and then filled in the two in the middle. I layered as I went, tucking them underneath each other where necessary.
Halloween Pumpkin close-up
The final step was to add on the embellishments from the 28 Lilac Lane "toasted graham" bottle to add a bit of bling to my pumpkin! I started with the large buttons. I chose brown because it gives the impression of acorns or fall nuts. It also reminds me of spices - like pumpkin spice! Then on the button closest to the title, I added a bit extra pop with small beads, a pearl, and a sequin.
Halloween Pumpkin decorated with vinyl and leaves | by Nancy Nally for CraftCritique.com
This quick and easy project only took me a few minutes, and used practically no tools besides my Cricut machine. I look forward to enjoying this halloween pumpkin as part of our autumn home decor for years to come!
