Inexpensive Fall Decor

For the longest time we really haven’t been able to have any “fancy” decorations. The kids were just too fascinated with them and because of that they never lasted long. This year now that we have a table that doesn’t need to be folded up and put away to save space, I thought it was time to add a little something nice for fall. I new I needed it to be something simple, could last for a whole season (2-3 months) and something that I would not be upset about if it did get ruined. I also came to the conclusion that the kiddos needed to help create it so they could have some ownership in it and then they would, hopefully, be careful with it. And so far…

… it has worked perfectly! I have a little extra color in the house. We were able to use things that we already had on hand (except the leaves) and the kids have been so careful with it! I love how it turned out!

What You Need:

• Paper
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaners or wire
• Wooden skewers/sticks, pencils or something similar (optional)
• Crepe paper
• Leaves (mine are fake)
• Vase (if you have a shorter one, you may not need the sticks)
• Styrofoam (optional)
• Stapler

Directions:

Step 1: Create the paper flowers using this How To Make Paper Roses tutorial (video demo). They are really simple to make.

Step 2: Create your Pumpkins. This is a similar process to the Valentines Day Hearts we made the last couple of years, just on a smaller scale.

• Cut out mini sized pumpkins and fold in half. These are about 2.5 inches tall and 8-10 were used per pumpkin wheel. We had a stencil, which helped the kiddos trace them, but these were simple enough we could have created our own, if we needed to.

• Make a small pile of 8-10 pumpkins and staple them all together on the fold close to the top. Then weave the pipe cleaner around it (see first 2 pictures below). Make sure to leave a few inches on top for your curl. Staple the pumpkins again on the fold again, aim near the the bottom half (the pipe cleaner should be weaved between the 2 staples). A third staple is optional. Curl the top.

• Spread out the sections of pumpkin. It may take a little bending back and forth of each page to get the look you want.

Step 3: Wrap all your pumpkins and roses “stems” (the pipe cleaner) around a skinny stick. This will help them stick out of the vase, if needed.

Step 4: Put it all together in a vase or basket! A little square of Styrofoam is helpful if you want more control over how the flowers and pumpkins come out of the vase. If using a clear vase, you can stuff the vase and cover the Styrofoam with some tissue paper to hide the sticks and such. I added some fake fall leaves to help fill in the gaps. For Halloween we are adding some paper bats or witches hats. AND don’t forget to let the kiddos help stick them in, too!

I think it would absolutely cute with some Pumpkin Candy Corns in it, but I do not trust that  any of us would be able to leave it alone!

ENJOY!!!