How to Make DIY Fall Paper Flower Pumpkin Decor

As self-employed makers, my husband and I rarely get a chance to slow down and really enjoy the holidays. Starting in about the second week of November our online orders start rolling in and before we know it, it’s the evening before Christmas eve and we’re both driving around to finally start our holiday shopping and staying up through the night wrapping and labeling. While I am so grateful for our busy season, I secretly wish for a little more time and a little more cheer.

Determined not to let another holiday season slip away, I am making a concerted effort to not only take a full day off from work every week (lofty!), but also to partake in seasonal making and baking for my loved ones… starting with Thanksgiving. For this project I wanted to create something that incorporated both vibrant and traditional elements, and also something that would make a fun hostess gift. I had a lot of fun making this paper flower topped pumpkin, and I hope you enjoy!

-Lisa Rios

What to Get:

Pumpkin

Moss

Crepe Paper

Round beads (approximately 5/8 pre drilled)

Floral wire

Floral tape

Hot glue gun + glue sticks

Craft glue

Scissors

What to Do:

Step 1: Cut the stem off your pumpkin. Apply very generous amount craft glue on the top of the pumpkin. Then lay a fluffy bed of moss on top of the glue. Let dry overnight.

Step 2: Moving quickly, apply hot glue in the hole of one end of your bead, and then turn over and apply more hot glue in the other hole and place your stick about half way in. Let dry.

Step 3: Cut out a 2” round piece from crepe paper and place over the top of the bead, fold over toward the bottom and twist. You can apply a small bead of hot glue to help keep the crepe in place.

Step 4: Cut out the following pieces, making sure that the grain of the crepe is running vertical (as pictured).

8 x small petals (approx. 2”x2”)

6 x large petals (approx. 3”x3”)

1 fringe-y rectangle (approx. 1.5”x10”)

I cut these petals freehand, giving each flower a unique, organic look.

Step 5: Start shaping your flower petals by gently creating a bowl-shape in the center. Crepe paper is a lovely material to work with because it shapes pretty easily!

Step 6: Wrap the fringe around the bead and use hot glue to secure in place.

Step 7: Starting with the small petals, start gluing around the base of the bead. Make sure that you’re overlapping the petals a bit. Once you’ve attached all the small petals, repeat with the large petals. Fluff + shape petals.

Step 8: Cut your floral wire so that the stem is 6 inches long. Then fold your stem in half, with the end of the stick pointing toward the base of the flower. Then wrap the stem with floral tape.

Step 9: Place a generous dab of hot glue along the stem and stick in the moss.

Repeat steps 1-9 until you’ve created a full arrangement on the top of your pumpkin. It took me about 10 flowers, but depending on the size of your pumpkin, that number could be different.

Tips and tricks:

+ try incorporating traditional fall colors (golds, yellows, oranges) with vibrant and surprising colors.

+ to add height and interest, add twigs or leaves

+ experiment with different petal shapes and stamen centers to create completely different flowers.

+ I decided against painting my pumpkin (since I wanted the colorful crepe to steal the show) but that is also a fun option!

-Lisa Rios

About Lisa:

“If you had asked my 12-year-old self what I wanted to be when I grow up, I probably would have had a perfectly sensible answer. Like a circus trapeze artist or an outer space explorer. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would craft for a living. But fast-forward 20 years and I’m the owner of The Makery, a walk-in craft studio located in Anaheim.  In addition to teaching and organizing local creative workshops, planning craft parties and designing handmade craft kits, I also design for Whimsy and Ink, the handmade biz I share with my rad hubby. My work has been featured in Real Simple, Brides Magazine, Bust, The Huffington Post, Orange Coast Magazine, Sunset Magazine, in Etsy’s Featured Sellers series, and in my mom’s emails to Grandma.”