Supplies:
- Round glass/fishbowl. I bought mine from Dollar Tree. They have two different sizes. Any size will work.
- Twine/jute cord
- Wired jute cord
- Hot glue and glue gun
- String of lights. I used fairy light that are battery operated with copper wire. Orange or other colored light would also look nice.
- A leaf or two
- Sunflower from Dollar Tree.
- lighter
- scissors
I started off by flipping my glass fishbowl over and removing the sticker on the bottom. This will be the top of our pumpkin. I applied a little bit of hot glue to the center of the top of my pumpkin (the bottom of the glass bowl) and placed the end of my jute cord/twine down. I then wrapped my jute cord around my glass bowl and applied more hot glue when I reached the end of the jute cord I just glued down. I continued to wrap and glue my jute cord around my pumpkin until I was satisfied. I wrapped my jute cord completely around my glass bowl 4 times. Feel free to apply more hot glue as needed. I glued my jute cord directly to my glass bowl around the edges so I would not have to keep adjusting it.
I then took my jute cord and wrapped it around to make a stem at the top of my pumpkin. You can make this as big or small as you would like. You could even try to curve your stem. I gradually made my stem a little smaller as I wrapped it around itself, then cut off the extra and tucked the end of my jute cord inside the top of my stem. I applied hot glue throughout as I wrapped my jute cord to form my stem.
The next step is to push your lights through the bottom of our pumpkin (the opening in your glass bowl). I left my battery pack outside so it is easier to get to and turn on and off. I also used my fingers to spread my wire lights out, so they are not all bunched up in one section of my pumpkin.
If you do not like the little strings that come off the jute twine, then you can take a lighter and burn them off. Do not worry the twine will burn and go out. It will not burn off any of the extra strands of hot glue however.
The last step is to add your decorative touches. I hot glued one leaf coming off my stem. I also hot glued a small sunflower to my stem. Lastly I made a little twisty stem and hot glued it to my stem. To make the twisty stem I used wired jute cord. I then tightly wrapped my wired jute cord around a pencil (you could also use your finger). I then pulled the wired jute cord off of my pencil and carefully pulled it (uncoiled it) till I was happy with the look of it. The wire allows it to keep it shape.
If you want to add more color to your pumpkin, then you can brush on a little paint to the stem. You could also paint the inside or outside of your glass bowl if you would like to add a lot more color to your pumpkin. However, the lights inside will not show through much if you paint your glass bowl unless you do a different type of paint and technique that makes the painted glass more transparent. If you paint the outside of the glass bowl, then you will have a more matt affect, and the paint could chip off if you do not seal it. If you paint the inside of the glass bowl, then you will keep the glossy affect from the glass and your paint will be more protected from scratches, but you could still seal it.
This pumpkin turned out even cuter than I thought it would. Pumpkins are so fun and easy, and you can get pretty crafty and creative with them. You can turn just about any roundish item into a pumpkin, you just have to add a stem to it. I think adding your personal touches, like I did with the sunflower, is what really makes a piece. This would not look as cute if I did not add the sunflower, leaf, and twisty stem. These little touches really make this little pumpkin. What are some other things you have made a pumpkin out of?
