Book Crafts: Mini Bookish Pumpkin

 

 

Mini Bookish Pumpkins

 

 

 

As we're in October, I wanted to make something with a Halloween theme for my Book Crafts feature. And what says Halloween more than pumpkins?

 

To make the mini bookish pumpkins, you will need:

 

Page Proof Pages

Orange card

Green card

2 Split pins

Scissors

Double-sided tape (or glue)

Hole punch

Orange Sharpie pens (optional)

 

 

Cut rectangle strips out of your page proof, making sure they're the same size

 

The length and width of the strips determines how your pumpkin will look at the end. I experimented and liked the dinky little pumpkin, which I made used short, wide strips

 

You may have to adjust the number of strips needed, depending on the size of your strips, plus how you want the pumpkin to look - if you want gaps between the strips, use less or if you want a more closed pumpkin, you'll need more strips to fill the gaps. I found that 6 strips were best for the look I wanted

 

If you like, you can edge the strips with colour - I used three different orange shades of Sharpie pens but you can use felt tips (but test they don't make the print run first), ink or pencil crayon

 

 

Using double-sided tape or glue (allow drying time if using glue), stick the strips onto orange card and cut out

 

I experimented using just the page proof paper but it was too flimsy so the card makes the strips sturdier

 

 

Punch holes in each end of the strips and put to one side for the moment

 

 

Draw a set of leaves on a piece of green card and cut out. Punch a hole in the middle

 

Using the same card, cut out a thin strip and curl by winding around a pencil. Stick the twirly strip on the back of the leaf, making sure you don't cover the hole

 

 

Gather the strips and the leaf and thread them onto a split pin, one at each end

 

I found that the split pins I used were too long and had to trim them with scissors. Next time I'd use brads (smaller split pins used for crafts)

 

 

Bend the strips between your fingers and thumb

 

Note: it won't really start to change shape until the next step

 

 

Turn the strips, one at a time to create the rounded shape. This part can be quite fiddly, especially as the card makes the strips thicker and less easy to move, but when I used just the paper, it was really fragile

 

Continue to move the strips around, spacing them evenly until you have a sphere

 

 

Re-twirl the green strip if you need to - and then you're done!

 

 

 

Click here to see all Book Crafts