Cardboard Pumpkin Crafts!

We are so excited to share the cutest cardboard pumpkin craft with you! A simple, up-cycled activity using supplies you have around the house, it is the perfect parent-child creative collaboration for the fall.

Supplies:

cardboard
marker (such as a sharpie)
orange tissue paper
brown tissue paper
yarn
liquid glue (such as Elmer’s) + a little water
small sponge brush
scissors
twine and/or magnets, used for displaying the pumpkins

Instructions:

Have your child use a bold marker to draw pumpkin outlines on cardboard. It’s totally okay if the outlines are a little wonky. In fact, having a variety of shapes adds interest, and the imperfect wobbly lines add so much charm to the finished pumpkins!
Make curved glue lines down the front of each pumpkin using liquid glue. Gently pat yarn onto the glue to make the ridges. Let the glue dry completely before proceeding to the next step.
Cut tissue paper into squares. The size ultimately depends on the pumpkins your child draws, but we cut the brown into about 3/4″ x 3/4″ squares, and the orange into 1.5″ x 1.5″ squares.
Stir up a mixture of 3 parts liquid glue and 1 part water. Dab the glue mixture onto the pumpkin drawing with a small sponge brush. Cover the glue with tissue (brown for the stem, orange for the pumpkin) and use the sponge with more of the glue + water mixture to smooth the tissue pieces onto the cardboard.
Cover the pumpkin drawing with two layers of tissue. Continuously dab the tissue with the glue+water mixture to smooth the layers. Make sure you can still see the drawing lines through the tissue to know how to cut it out.
Once the tissue layers have dried completely, cut the pumpkin out.
Flip the pumpkin over and use the glue + water mixture to apply a single layer of tissue to the back.
Once the back of the pumpkin has dried, apply glue mixture and tissue paper to the edges of the pumpkin and stem. Roll and press the sponge along the edge to flatten the tissue and make smooth edges.
Apply one or two final layers of orange tissue to the front of the pumpkin to ensure depth of color.

There you have it– the sweetest little cardboard pumpkins! Friends, what do you think?

We love this craft because it allows you a wonderful opportunity to work creatively with your child, and it also provides you with darling nostalgic keepsakes that you can display each and every fall.

The finished cardboard pumpkins are so full of character and can be used in all sorts of ways:

String several pumpkins on some twine and make a garland
Glue a magnet to the back and use it to hold photos on your refrigerator
Tuck a few into your fall decor
Tie one onto a gift (they make great gifts as well!)
Add loops to the backs and hang them like ornaments
Mount one pumpkin on a piece of card stock and frame it.

The possibilities are endless! Where else could you envision these cute little pumpkins?

Isla and I had so much fun creating a hyperlapse video of the pumpkin making process! Being our first attempt at making the video, it is clear we still have plenty to learn, but we are hooked! Most importantly, how cute are her little hands?!