Kids Craft: Homemade Pumpkin Garland

I was a busy bee this weekend and came up with two Halloween crafts for you all! This second one is a little bit more complicated but still not very difficult. I hope you'll give it a try!

Pumpkin Garland

This project will keep your kids busy for a while making their own mini jack-o-lanterns but they'll need your help with the hooks and overall garland making!

Supplies needed:

• Styrofoam balls, I got a pack of 12 for $3.79 at Hobby Lobby. They're small and perfect for the project!
• Paintbrushes and paint: I used orange, black, and metallic silver. If you have multiple kids on this project, feel free to involve more styrofoam balls or have them all be pumpkins! My plan was to have alternating jack-o-lanterns and silver balls.
• Little jewelry pins, found in the jewelry aisle at Hobby Lobby. Check out the later photos for a better image of them. $1.99 for the pack, and I didn't use them all.
• Wire bending tools
• Cord for your garland, and make sure it can fit through the loops on the jewelry pins. I just picked an affordable black one.
• Egg carton (not pictured, but it's nice to have it)
• LOTS of newspapers

Step 1

Pre-step 1: Put newspaper down everywhere. Cover the working surface and perhaps the floor. I dropped these enough while I was painting them so I imagine that kids will too.

My best practice for painting these is to paint one half at a time and set the dry half down on the egg carton dividers. The paint dries fairly quickly, but these balls roll away so fast that this is the best way to keep them still and not end up with a spotty paint job.

Paint them all with your base color, whether they're all orange or you involve other colors (purple would be good too!). I did at least two coats to get a nice solid color of the orange, while the metallic silver looked nice on the first coat.

Step 2

Next, paint the faces on your little jack-o-lanterns! Look up ideas on the internet if you need some inspiration :)

Step 3

The following step involves some adult help. After the styrofoam balls are decorated and dry, you need to put the hooks into them. First, line them up along the seam, and make sure that you put them at the "top" of your jack-o-lanterns. Second, carefully press them through the ball until the wire is poking out the bottom.

Third, use the wire bending tools to curl the bottom of the wire into a loop so it can't retract back through the ball. The fourth step image depicts a repainting done because the wire might push out a fragment of styrofoam.

Step 4

Yay, now all of your little balls have the wire hooks in them! This step involves deciding the amount of string you want between each ball, as well as the amount on the end. I decided on 7" at the end, so I would have enough to tape or knot, and then about 4" between each ball, which meant my piece of thread should be 58" long.

Step 5

Thread the styrofoam balls onto your string, one at a time, and tie a simple knot over each metal loop so the balls don't slide around. Remember your spacing measurements! Keep in mind that threading the jack-o-lanterns with the faces going the same direction will make this project a lot easier for you when you go to hang it up.

Final

A custom jack-o-lantern garland for enjoying in your home. Thanks for reading!

Final product photo again!