3 Pumpkin Projects That Will Outlast the Season
Fall in love with these perfect pumpkins made out of materials from your local hardware store.

Nothing says fall like a bright orange pumpkin, but the real thing doesn't always last very long. This autumn, opt for an out-of-the-box pumpkin you can craft with one quick trip to the hardware store.
Long-Lasting Jack-O'-Lantern

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia
Slide a galvanized bucket into a heavy-duty trash bag. Wearing protective gloves such as nitrile, spread toilet bowl cleaner across the entire surface of the bucket, close the bag, and allow it to sit overnight. This process should add an aged look to a steel bucket. Pull the bucket from the bag and place on a surface you don’t mind getting paint on. Using black paint, paint your preferred jack-o'-lantern face on the front of the bucket. Once dry, fill with your favorite fall flowers to enjoy all season long.

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Three Wooden Pumpkins

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia
Have the hardware store precut a 4x4 into three pieces measuring 15, 11 and 7 inches. Paint the boards with orange paint and allow to dry. Once dry, lightly sand the boards to give the paint a weathered look.

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia
Use a variety of materials to add texture and depth to the top of your pumpkins. For the stems, cut several pieces of jute rope to approximately 6 inches in length. Unravel the braided rope until all the strands are separated. For the leaves, use pinking shears to cut a patterned piece of ribbon into leaf shapes. For the tendrils, wrap wired twine around a pencil until curled and cut off using wire cutters.

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia
Use hot glue to attach several of the rope pieces to the top of the boards. Twist the rope around itself and slide a short, straight piece of wired twine inside to hold the rope upright. Secure the rope to the twine using hot glue. Finish the perfect autumn look off by gluing a couple leaves and tendrils to the base of the stem.

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Perfectly Pumpkin-y Planters

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia
Remove the chains and liners from two metal hanging planters. Place the frames on a drop cloth and spray paint orange. Once dry, slide the liner back into one of the frames and fill it with potting soil and your favorite fall foliage. Once planted, slide the other planter frame over the top and attach to the first frame using wire.

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia

Cassidy Garcia
To finish off the pumpkin look, hot glue a small, broken-off stem-like stick to the top of the frame. Curl cloth stem wire around a pencil and glue around the base of the stick. Lastly, glue felt leaves around the cloth stem wire.

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