Easy DIY felt pumpkins

Seeing as how it in finally October and the holidays are quickly approaching, I thought it was time to change my mantle decorations to suit the festiveness that I feel inside. Since Halloween is first up on the holiday list I decided on pumpkins! What is better than making some of your own decorations?! #keepitcheap

Supplies:

- Sheets of felt (any kind is fine)

- Embroidery needle

- Different colors of embroidery thread

- Some kind of felt glue ( I used Beacon felt glue)

- Polyester stuffing

- Scissors

The first thing that you are going to do is to cut out a circle in felt roughly the size of a basketball. I am not one for precision  on certain things and I eye balled the circle. Feel free to to trace and cut out a perfect circle in paper to use as a template. Next, you will need about an arms length of embroidery thread. Pull it through a few inches and tie a knot on the opposite end. 

Begin to weave in and out of the circle along the outer corners. Once finished pull the remanding thread so it forms a little purse like pocket.

Fill with stuffing, make sure that it is not so full that you can't pull the draw string closed. Once you are content, pull it shut and tie a knot. ( I tie the knot and then place the needle inside so that I can get the knot as close to the felt as possible. Think tying a christmas ribbon bow... if that makes any sense hahaha)

Once the knot is tied, you will be left with the beginning to your pumpkin. Double the amount of thread this time ( I usually use a close color to the felt, but this time I wanted to spice it up a little.) Pull through again a few inches and then tie a knot on the end. Push the needle through the opening and bring back to the top again. It can be kind of tricky to keep pulling the thread through and getting it in the same area as the one before. I like to say mess ups give things character so don't worry too much. You can add as many or as few as you'd like. 

For the stem of the pumpkin you will need to cut out a square of felt roughly 5x5 in. For this pumpkin I used a brownish orange color. Get your glue and put a line of glue on one of the ends and fold over. Keep folding until you reach the end and add another line of glue to  the inside to hold it together. I place this under something heavy for a little bit. If its not completely dry its okay. Cut it to the size of the stem that you would like for your pumpkin at an angle. I cut mine in half or a little more than half.

I made the stem two different ways, one with glue and one using a blanket stitch. Which ever one you choose is up to you! :)

The final step to these cute felt pumpkins is super easy. Using the felt glue fill up the inside of the pumpkin hole enough so that the stem will stay in place. Pop the stem in and let dry overnight. 

Enjoy!

I added this pumpkin to my crystal shelf to make it more festive.