Make these easy yarn pumpkins to display around your home for fall!
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Summer is over and odds are, you have a couple pool noodles lying around. Rather than throw them away, you can cut them up and use them as forms for some easy yarn pumpkins! The best part about these pumpkins is that you can completely customize them to match the colors that you decorate with. And if that changes from year to year, you know you didn’t spend a bunch of money on these cute yarn pumpkins.
These yarn pumpkins come together so easily. My 9 year old daughter made a couple without any help from me and I’m sure even my 7 year old could have made one (if he’d had the desire to). I whipped up all four of these in about 2 hours from start to finish. Just put on a show or movie and get to work!
Supplies Needed to Make Yarn Pumpkins
- Pool Noodle
- Scissors (make sure they are sharp)
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Yarn (in desired colors)
- Felt
- Wooden dowels (If you don’t want to buy an entire dowel or aren’t able to cut it down to size, look into these precut wooden dowels. They do have some texture rather than being smooth like I used, but would still be a great option!)
- Green pipe cleaners (optional)
- Large eye blunt end needle
Before we get started, let me answer a couple of questions you might have about the yarn.
How much yarn will I need per pumpkin?
This is a tricky question because your pumpkins are going to be different than mine. Not only that but the yarn you choose will also have an impact on how much yarn each pumpkin needs. The thicker the yarn, the less you’ll need. The thinner the yarn, the more you’ll need.
What kind of yarn should I use?
This is also completely up to you. I recommend choosing yarns that have different textures. This will create variety and be more visually interesting that using the same yarn type for each pumpkin. I would caution against using yarn that is too thick or plush because you will run into a problem trying to get it through the middle of the pumpkin as you get closer to the end.
How do I know when I’ve used enough yarn?
Because you’re using pool noodles that likely come in bright, non-fall colors, you will need to use enough yarn that you don’t see the color of the pool noodle underneath. This might mean that you layer your yarn. Another option is to push the yarn very close together so there aren’t any gaps.
Okay, hopefully that helps, but if you have more questions, please feel free to comment below or email me (sunshineandmunchkins@gmail.com). Now, let’s get started!
How to Make Yarn Pumpkins
First, cut down your pool noodle into varying lengths. This will give you variety in the heights of your finishing pumpkins. To cut the pool noodle, you can use a basic kitchen knife or some scissors. My pumpkins range from 2″ to 3″ high but you can definitely make them shorter or taller than that.
Next, use your scissors to trim the edges of the pool noodle. Just keep cutting until you create a rounded shape on both the top and bottom of your foam piece.
Once you have your pumpkin forms ready, apply some hot glue on the inside of one of the pumpkins and stick the end of your yarn to it. I found it helpful to use the large needle to press the yarn into the glue so I didn’t risk getting burned.
From here, I suggest unwinding a length of yarn from the skein so you can wrap the pumpkin using shorter lengths. You can always tie the ends together if what you pull isn’t enough to cover the pumpkin. You can get an idea for how much yarn I started with in the picture below.
Now here’s the part where the large needle comes in handy. The needle I used is about 2 3/4″ long with a blunt end and a big eye. Depending on the thickness of your yarn, you can either thread the yarn through the eye and tie a knot or knot it around the eye. (If you do the second option, just know that as you have more yarn in the middle of the pumpkin form, the yarn might slide off.)
Once you have your needle and yarn ready, it’s time to wrap the pumpkin form! Push the yarn close together every few rows. This will help you get a better idea of how much yarn you’ll need and will save you time so you’re not trying to scoot it all together when you think you’re at the end. Keep going until the form is covered up and looks the way you want.
When you are done wrapping, use more hot glue to attach the end of the yarn inside the form.
Now you need to choose a “top” and “bottom” of your pumpkin. Once you have that, you will need to cut a piece of felt into a circle. Make sure it is large enough to completely cover the hole then glue it on. The felt serves two purposes: to cover the hole and to give the pumpkin a flatter surface to sit on.
From here, you can add a stem, using a wooden dowel that’s been cut down. You will want to make it long enough to be able to stick it down into the center of the pumpkin–probably 2-2 1/2″ long. I used two different sized dowels for variety. Just squeeze some glue down into the hole and push the dowel in until you like how much is poking out. Another option would be to stain the dowels beforehand. One of my favorite stains is Provincial from Minwax. (And if staining makes you nervous, check out this post I did on how to stain wood.)
This next step is optional. If you want to add “vines”, use a green pipe cleaner and twist it around the dowel “stem” a couple times. Wrap the ends around a pencil or pen to get a corkscrew look. I like the look of having some pumpkins with “vines” and some without so I only added pipe cleaners to a couple of my pumpkins.
And that’s it! Now you have some darling little pumpkins to display around your home. These would work great anywhere: tiered trays, mantle display, shelves, as part of a centerpiece or a tablescape. Basically anywhere you want to add a touch of fall. (These yarn pumpkins would also be fun to make for Halloween decor.)
Who knew that pool noodles would make such great decor?
