Centerpiece From Thrifted Pumpkins PLUS It’s Collapsible - REALLY!

First, I scrubbed them with hot sudsy water. I then cut off their tote handles. I wanted to cover the faux cut out facial features. I first tried using shredded paper from our home shredder and made some of my own paper-mache. I pressed it into the features and planned to then sand it smooth after it was dried completely. Well, what a complete waste of time!!! 🤯 The next morning it would not budge with any sanding. Eventually it popped out on one pumpkin and when that happened, I took it off all 3 pumpkins. PLAN B: I thought that there was some plaster of Paris in my husband’s shop. Found it and mixed up some and spread over the features. It worked much better and this is how one of the pumpkins looked after the plaster of Paris had dried and I sanded the excess off. Not perfect but much better than the paper-mache!

After sanding all three pumpkins, I chose to use some chalk paints I had here at home. I first painted them with a coat of Rustoleum primer and then used 3 different colors of chalk paint and gave each pumpkin a couple of coats for good coverage. Since I aim to make this centerpiece collapsible, I bought a styrofoam wreath form from Dollar Tree to make the bottom pumpkin more stable. I painted the wreath form a dark green and started hot gluing green leaves to mimic a pumpkin vine around the first pumpkin. I set the bottom pumpkin into the styrofoam piece and hot glued various colored leaves around the top.

I then put a bag of Dollar Tree rocks in the pumpkin bottom to weigh it down. Next came the middle pumpkin. I hot glued next to the rim a faux vine with leaves and berries I had at home. I placed them so they faced upward. I placed this pumpkin in the opening of the bottom one and leveled it and again added a bag of rocks to weigh it down. For the third one I put a bag of rocks inside first and then some floral foam. I began making a fall inspired arrangement. This is how it turned out when completed. Now when Thanksgiving has come and gone, I can now disassemble this piece and store it nicely in a smaller box without trying to find a box LARGE enough to hold it. I’m really liking it, but as with other projects of mine, I have to live with it for a couple of days to see if I need to change anything. I’m my OWN worse critic. So don’t be surprised if I make a change. About forgot to add, I put the entire piece on a glass tray to make it easier to move it when it’s completely put together on my tablecloth. If you prefer, you can make this centerpiece using only two pumpkins. The possibilities are endless.

FYI. My “Front Door Cornucopia From Tomato Cage” that I posted last year on Hometalk is already hanging on our front door again. You might want to check it out. Happy Hometalking!

Update 10.2.2021: Well, I found this fall garland in my sewing room that I forgot I had. Decided to wrap it around the base of the centerpiece and add small pumpkins I had purchased long ago and a couple of jute pumpkins that I just made. Let me know what you think. Would love for you Hometalkers to check out my other projects and see what I have done with more unusual items.