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10/15/2011

Yarn Ball Pumpkin Tutorial

Last week, I guest-posted a tutorial for yarn-ball pumpkins over at The Southern Institute.  Jenny has a wonderful blog, and every Monday she hosts a link party that you should visit!  If you missed my post, let me share with you today the full how-to for this project!

Yarn Ball Pumpkins

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Time: One hour for the project, 1-2 days drying time

Supplies:

  • Yarn in an appropriate pumpkin color
  • Scissors
  • Craft Glue (I used Elmer’s for fabric & paper crafts)
  • Mixing bowl
  • Balloons for your pumpkin-forms
  • Ribbon and paper scraps
  • Newspaper or plastic to protect your work area (this project gets messy!)

In a bowl (I used a plastic one I didn’t mind throwing away), mix a bottle of craft glue with a little bit of water. Don’t thin it too much – I used about 3 parts glue to one part water.

Blow up your balloon forms to the size pumpkins you want. The smaller you make your pumpkins, the sturdier they will be, so keep that in mind. Mine are about 6 and 8 inches.

Cut a length of yarn, I found that about about 2-3 feet was ideal to work with at once. Dip your yarn in your glue mixture. I found the easiest way to work with it was to saturate it, and then squeeze the excess from the yarn through my fingers as I pulled it from the bowl. This helped me catch and untangle any knots before I worked with my balloon.

Then, begin wrapping your yarn around your balloon in whatever pattern suits your liking. You will notice I am wearing gloves, but you don’t need to!  I just have an allergy, boo. 

I originally thought I would only wrap it vertically, for a most authentic pumpkin-look, but I realized about halfway through, that wasn’t going to be supported if I didn’t have intersecting strands of yarn to support my circular form. So, learn from my mistake and wrap your yarn in a random and intersecting pattern. 

Wrap all your balloons. My glue lasted for two pumpkins’ worth of yarn. So I made two. Then, let it dry.

This will take at least a day, and possibly two, depending on how much glue/water mix you used, and how thick you wrapped your yarn. Mine took about a day and a half. It’s really important for it to be all the way dry before you continue.

Then, pop the balloon inside, let it deflate, and remove it through one of the holes.

Now just tie some ribbon scraps at the top of your pumpkin to give it a leaf/stem look.

Then, to stabilize my pumpkins (since they are round, after all) I cut a strip of scrapbook paper and made it into a ring base to rest my pumpkins in.

I link to these fabulous parties!

Filed Under: Halloween, Tutorials

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I love it when you love my work! All tutorials and photos published at Happy Hour Projects are copyrighted. If you would like to feature my tutorial on your website or share it on your social media you may use one photo to feature, as long as you provide a link back to the original post.

If you feature a photo, it may not be accompanied by the project tutorial or recipe, whether in my own words as it originally appears or paraphrased by you. This also includes personal sharing on social media and Pinterest. Publishing multiple photos from a project, or including instructions with an accompanying photo are not permitted and you will be asked to remove them.

I love to share my projects, and my tutorials, recipes, and e-books are ALL free for your personal use. However, photos and ideas that are published to this site are my protected intellectual property. You may print them at home, but please do not copy or distribute them. I also allow all designs to be made and sold at fundraisers, craft fairs, etc. If you are selling a piece made from one or more of my free tutorials in your online shop, I require that you use your own, original photography, and include a link back to my website to credit me as the designer.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rosetta says

    02/07/2016 at 7:12 am

    Od jutra zaczynam odchudzanie, kto si? odchudza ze mna?
    Wyszperalam w necie dobry sposob na schudniecie, wygoglujcie sobie –
    xxally mój sukces w odchudzaniu

    Reply
  2. Amanda says

    10/29/2011 at 1:12 pm

    What a great project! :) I've featured this post on Craft Gossip here:
    http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/yarn-ball-pumpkins/

    If you would like a “featured by” button, you can grab one here:
    http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/

    Reply
  3. Kathy says

    10/28/2011 at 5:38 am

    I agree with Joy….could be good for Christmas, too. I'm going to try making them with water balloon-balloons, which are smaller. Should make some really nice Christmas ornaments!

    Reply
  4. Jennifer says

    10/26/2011 at 4:21 am

    So cute!
    Thanks for linking up to Show & Share!

    Reply
  5. Joy Burkhart says

    10/25/2011 at 1:37 am

    Great idea! These could be used for Christmas, too, just different colored yarn. Thanks for posting. I'm going to pin this for future reference!
    xoxo
    Joy

    Reply
  6. Debby says

    10/23/2011 at 11:41 pm

    So cute! Just might give this a try. thanks:)

    Reply
  7. Jamie says

    10/23/2011 at 6:54 pm

    Just wanted to let you know that I featured your project this past friday on the very first edition of “You Sew Rock Me Fridays” @ Sew Rockin'. Awesome job…I look forward to see what you come up with next!

    http://www.sewrockin.com/2011/10/21/you-sew-rock-me-fridays-1/

    Jamie

    Reply
  8. Jami says

    10/23/2011 at 1:49 pm

    Super cute pumpkins! What a fun craft with the kids! So glad you linked up to the Tuesday To Do Party!
    Smiles!
    Jami
    http://www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com

    Reply
  9. Liberty says

    10/22/2011 at 1:49 am

    These turned out absolutely beautiful! I'm a new follower and look forward to keeping up with your creativity. :)

    xxoo,
    Liberty
    libertyoriginal.blogspot.com

    Reply
  10. shopannies says

    10/22/2011 at 12:02 am

    these are super cute and I love how they are made I think it is so cool come see what I shared at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

    Reply
  11. Rachel says

    10/21/2011 at 7:47 pm

    What a great idea. I remember making Easter eggs using this process as a kid, but I'd forgotten all about it.
    Rachel
    adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com

    Reply
  12. Kadie says

    10/18/2011 at 3:19 pm

    So cute! The kiddos and I will have to give it a try! They will LOVE it.

    Reply
  13. Lisa says

    10/18/2011 at 2:22 pm

    Very cute! What a fun idea!

    Reply
  14. Lauren says

    10/15/2011 at 6:36 pm

    As I was making my daughter's halloween costume I came to realize the mass amounts of yarn I have. Perhaps this will be something to use them for? Hmmm.

    Reply
  15. Terry says

    10/15/2011 at 4:13 pm

    I really like these and also like that you could do them in different ways for different holidays. Soooo pretty.

    Reply
  16. Anna says

    10/15/2011 at 4:04 pm

    Cute! I'm making all yarn ornaments for our Christmas tree this year. Good to know that the dry time is slow.

    Do you mind if I direct my readers to your tutorial on the no-reply commenter issue? I need to get a post up on this soon since I've been getting so many of them lately.

    Reply
  17. S. Yissele Gallo says

    10/15/2011 at 11:36 am

    Hi! I like your blog! I'm following your blog & facebook! I hope your visit! Have a Great Weekend!

    Namaste!
    http://mamiholisticaygenial.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  18. Kelly says

    10/15/2011 at 11:35 am

    cool! i like yours a lot- they are super cute

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 15 Educational Pumpkin Activities - Homeschool Hideout says:
    09/13/2018 at 2:28 pm

    […] only a balloon, yarn and some glue you can create an adorable fall decoration with the kids. This simple tutorial walks you step by step through the process. Make several and hang them from the ceiling. The kids […]

    Reply
  2. Woven Yarn Basket says:
    09/23/2013 at 2:21 pm

    […] yarn projects.  After ruling out all the kid crafts, and I’ve already done a tutorial on yarn balls, I finally hit on an Etsy shop that sells these woven baskets and I loved the look of the baskets. […]

    Reply

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Hello, and welcome! I'm Adrianne, an artist, author, designer, and blogger in mid Michigan. I work from home, chase my two kids, and this once-city-girl is learning how to care for chickens and adjusting to life out in the country. I have a compulsion for daily creativity... sometimes it's jewelry-making, paper crafting, metal stamping, mixing and baking, or giving new life to recycled items. But with 2 young kids, time is short! My goal here at Happy Hour Projects is to share projects and tips that you can do in an hour or less. The ideas you find here are designed to add a little creativity in your day, no matter how much (or how little) time you have!

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