Blooming Flower Pumpkin Decoration Tutorial

I am SO into pumpkins this fall.  And all the pretty red, gold and orange flowers of the season too.  The more ways to decorate with them the better!  I had a simple idea for mixing the two and decided to give it a go this week.  My Blooming Flower Pumpkin: 



This simple project turns a basic craft foam pumpkin into a beautiful bursting blossom that adds some extra decorative color to the harvest pumpkin crate I did a few years back:



It's a fun way to bring more texture & a little something different (that is quick & easy to make too).  I added my pumpkin to my fall front porch decor. And unlike the real flowers & pumpkins, that have to be tossed out in a few short weeks, this can be enjoyed year after year:

It's especially good when you're short on time to craft, like I am, but still want to make a little something for the season:

Materials:

- Craft pumpkin

- Silk flower bunches with small, medium & large blooms

- Hot glue gun

I got several bunches of large and small silk sunflowers & mums:

Plucked them all off their stems and fired up my trusty hot glue gun:

Starting with the biggest blooms, I glued them intermittently around the pumpkin - sticking the centers in the "seams" of the pumpkin so they'd lay flatter and gluing any petal edges that still stuck up.

Then I filled in the gaps with the mums and smaller sunflowers, trying to keep the colors & styles alternating, but leaving the bottom uncovered so the pumpkin would stand flat.  That's it!

Now my pumpkin is bursting with texture & color and can be enjoyed year after year:

Happy Fall!!

Easy Craft Pumpkin Flower Tower Table Decor

 It's October and that means pumpkin season!  My Pumpkin Flower Tower is a simple way to add some pumpkin decor that will compliment any space: put it on a mantle or console table, use as a centerpiece - it would even look cute on a bathroom shelf or counter.

I paired mine with some wine & pomegranate colored candles and my DIY'd Fall Patchwork Ribbon Sign for a little fall-themed entryway decoration.

Layering in silk flowers that compliment with your room's pre-existing colors means it's easy to work that tricky pumpkin orange into any decor.  

My kids say it's like having a beautiful cake out on display and I'm inclined to agree!

  
Materials:

- Trio of foam craft pumpkins, small, medium & large

- Silk flower bunches with small, medium & large blooms

- Charger or plate

- Hot glue gun

Remove all the blossoms from the stems and sort by size:

Remove the stems from the bottom and center pumpkins - gently twisting and then pulling removes them from most foam styles.  Or just cut them off.

Arrange the largest blossoms on the charger so that they'll peek out from under the largest pumpkin.  Add some hot glue underneath each one to hold in place.

 Add a circle of hot glue to the bottom of the largest pumpkin and set on top of the blossoms.

Hot glue the medium pumpkin to the top of the largest pumpkin and the smallest on top of that to make the full tower.

Put a circle of hot glue at the base of each flower for the middle row:

 and press them into the space between the pumpkin layers. Repeat with the top tier.

 Hot glue a few leaves from the floral stems here & there for a more natural look.

Now the tower is ready to display!

It's really helped make our foyer look fall festive and transition beautifully into the neighboring living room's wine colored walls. 

Now whenever anyone comes in, there's a happy fall look to greet them!

Tutorial Time: Easy Ribbon Waste Basket Makeover

Makeover projects are fun and satisfying.  What better feeling is there when you can take something plain and turn it into something extra lovely?  This Ribbon Waste Basket Makeover is easy and quick to do and takes just a few simple supplies. 

I transformed a basic wire waste basket...

...into a pretty vintage look container, full of color and flowers.  I can't tell if I want to use it to hold scrap fabrics or paper.  It's almost too pretty for trash!

The secret to creating a lovely basket is some beautiful ribbon.  I used a trio of vintage style crochet trimmed ribbons to trim my basket:

I made dainty bows add some extra detail along the top and dressed the sides with alternating ribbon stripes:

Here's how to make one!

Materials:
- 2yds each of crochet trimmed floral ribbon (mine are from Sugar Pink Boutique)
- Wire waste basket (from Target)
- Hot glue gun, scissors
- Embroidery floss

Start by putting two dabs of glue near the base of the basket and press one ribbon on them, centering it on the glue spots.  

Continue all the way around and once at the previous end, cut ribbon to overlap about an inch.

Add a line of hot glue along the top of the loose end and fold it inward and press over the other end.

Continue along the cross wires doing rows of ribbon, alternating colors as desired.

Take the remaining pieces of ribbon and cut into four equal strips to make the top row bows.  Add a strip of glue to one end & press both ends together.

Repeat with all strips to make the bow loops:

Tie each loop along the center with embroidery floss and snip  the tail threads:

There should be twelve bows, four of each color. 

Glue bows along the top row to finish:

Now, there's a beautiful basket, ready to decorate a craft room, bedroom or bath!

It's hard to believe it's the same basket, isn't it?

I was not financially compensated for this post.  I received ribbon from Sugar Pink Boutique, to review & use as I desired.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.   For my complete disclosure policy, click here.

Tutorial Time: DIY Floral Stretch Headbands

Lately I have been feeling super slow on progress with new projects.  Like a sloth could craft quicker than me these days.  It's a busy time of year and cleaning up has trumped a lot of "I wanna make something" time.  Luckily this how-to was fast, fun AND gave me a chance to use up some supplies collecting dust, so it's a stash-buster too!  DIY Floral Headbands.  SO worth making!!

I've seen a lot of make-yourself headbands over the years, but a lot of styles just don't work for us personally.  The versions with wider elastic bands or that use plastic headbands never really stay put or feel comfy for me or my little lady.  These totally do and match almost everything in her summer wardrobe. Plus, they look so lovely on:

I literally could not stop taking pictures of them outside!

They look like we just plucked them from the garden, which I love:

Making them is pretty easy AND cheap (in my case free, since I had all the gear in my ridiculous hoarder stash).



Materials:
- Thin elastic hairbands (can find at drugstore)
- Faux flowers & leaves
- Felt
- Hot glue gun 
- Scissors
- Optional: Cuttlebug or die-cutter

To attach everything to the elastic, I used small felt shapes.  You could just cut some plain circles or strips, but I was feeling fancy (and had this little flower shaped die), so I cut a bunch with my Cuttlebug.  

This makes them look pretty on the back side too:



I pulled some flowers off the random bunches I had:

I made sure the centers stayed intact:

I then clipped off the plastic bits at the back that stuck out so they would lay flat, adding a little hot glue to keep the layers all together:

I layered a felt piece under the hairband and then a blob of hot glue.

I put a flower on top and pressed the felt towards the flower to get everything to stick together.

I continued with more flowers to get the looks I wanted on each of them.  For one I also wove some leaf ribbon around as I added flowers for a garland look: 

They look just like some I've seen in stores, but were a lot thriftier and also had the exact color combinations I wanted to match various outfits.

These are great to wear in the usual headband ways, but also are great double wrapped around buns for easy up-do decoration:

I've got a few bands left, so I'll be making a few more.  That way I don't have to steal these from my 6 year old.  Mom's got to have pretty hair too, right?