DIY Designer Pumpkins for a Holiday Table

We have all seen this lovely velvet pumpkins! 

 I really didn't want to pay $40 for one, 

and since I wanted a bunch of them, I decided to make my own.

I have seen them at HomeGoods for less than $10, but not in the colors I wanted.

So....here is how I made my velvet pumpkins.

There are lots of tutorials on the web about making these cute pumpkins, 

my tutorial is not entirely original, it's just what I found worked best.  

I knew I wanted purple velvet....and after looking at the fabric store and coming

up empty handed, I went straight to the local Salvation Army Thrift shop.

Tons of clothing on racks in every conceivable color, I found designer velvet

clothing from the likes of Talbots and Ann Taylor! 

So I guess I will call these my Designer Pumpkins.

This setting is a dry run for a Harvest dinner party, or even Thanksgiving.

I thought that these charming pumpkins would look pretty at each place

setting.  The purple color would look great with my purple transferware.

The list of essential pumpkin making ingredients are shown above.  

Velvet Fabric ( I got mine from a large clothing thrift shop, but look online or in fabric shops).

Pumpkin Stems (Found mine at a farmstand. Ask if you can harvest stems from their rotten pile!)
Another idea is to use wine corks for stems or driftwood or sticks from the yard.

Rice, Fiberfill Stuffing, Button Thread (heavier and stronger than normal thread) and glue gun.

Cut circles for the pumpkin body. 

The finished size will be half the size of your circle.

 I used a bowl to cut my fabric out of the sweatshirt I found at the thrift shop. 

 Leave your perfection tendencies to the side, your circle just has to be cut, but not perfect!

 Then double a length of thread about 20" long and knot the end. 

Next do the running stitch around the edge of the circle.  

A running stitch is just the basic up and down kind of close together.

 Pull it tightly as you go, gathering the circle. 

 Nearing the end, leave an opening for the filling. 

Do not cut the needle and thread off yet.  You will need to stitch it shut after filling.

 For a ten inch circle, I got a 5" pumpkin.

 I poured roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup of rice into the pumpkin.

Then I topped the rice with fiberfill and pulled the opening close and stitched it shut. 

 Grab the glue gun and zap a blob of glue onto the bottom of the stem and position

 it over the opening and press down for about two minutes, giving it time to dry and attach. 

Tiny or large, the tutorial is the same. 

 Bear in mind that the stem should

be in proportion to the body of the pumpkin.  

I am even making some tiny acorns in the same purple velvet!  

And remember my toile chair?

I made some out of the chair fabric and one out of green gingham for our living room.

It is going to be the holidays before we know it!  My mailbox is filling up with

holiday mags, and there is one special edition magazine in the supermarkets right 

now that I just picked up by Better Homes and Gardens.  I will freely admit I 

bought it because my pal Matthew Mead has a huge how to create WREATHS feature

inside.....but when I got it home and read it from cover to cover I thought to myself,

this is one of the BEST holiday mags I have read in awhile!!! So jsut passing that 

tidbit along incase you want some great holiday decorating inspiration.

There are crafts and how-tos, but also lots of GORGEOUS homes all decked out!

In the meantime I will be happily working on my table decor as well as the entire room to pull together a festive Thanksgiving table....and then it will be onto Christmas!