How to Make a Fun Hula Hoop Pumpkin That Can Light Up
Grab some hula hoops before summer ends for this perfect fall lawn idea. Today, I'm going to show you how to make a hula hoop pumpkin for fall. The best thing about this DIY decor idea? It even lights up! Let's get started.
This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.
Tools and materials:
- Hula hoops
- Zip ties
- Scissors
- Orange spray paint
- Fairy lights
- 16 gauge wire
- Drill
1. Place the hula hoops one inside the other
Take your first two hula hoops and you're going to place them one inside the other. It's going to deform it a little bit but that's alright.
2. Zip-tie the hula hoops together
Take a zip tie and you're going to use it to join the two tops of the hula hoops. Pull it tight. Now the hula hoop is going to go a little crazy on you but that's okay.
You're going to use a second zip tie across the first one to hold the two hoops together. Make sure they crisscross because that's what's going to hold it in place.
Go ahead and use your scissors to snip off the excess zip ties.
Then turn your hula hoops over and do the same thing to the other side. That's what's going to hold everything together.
Use the zip ties, put them crisscross on each other, and make sure you pull them nice and tight. If it deforms the hula hoop a little bit, that's okay.
Cut off the excess.
3. Add a third hoop
Now it's time to add the third one in. This one can be a little tricky but go ahead and put it on the inside.
Again, using the zip ties, put them together. The hula hoops kind of want to go their own way, but use the zip ties and hold them in place. The more the better. It is ready to go.
4. Spray-paint the hoops orange
Next, we're going to take it outside and give it a nice paint job. Make sure the paint you use is good for plastic.
Now, since we're making this a yard pumpkin, we want to use a nice orange spray. This covers well and you're just going to hang it up and paint every single bit of that plastic anywhere that you have a color that you don't want.
5. Add fairy lights
Once the paint is dry, it’s time to add some fairy lights. I went ahead and got the orange ones. They're really good and easy to find online. They come with a remote and the great thing about them is they're 33ft long. Plenty to cover your pumpkin. They even have a waterproof case for the batteries.
Go ahead and zip tie the battery pack to the bottom. This way it will have some weight on the bottom when you're holding it steady.
Take the fairy lights and start wrapping them around the hula hoops. Don't wrap them too tight. You want to go up, down, and all around every one of the tubes. Once you get to the end, just use a little bit of tape to hold it in place.
6. Make the pumpkin stem
Next, I got some 16 gauge wire. This will be used for making a stem.
I pre-drilled some holes with the drill and then poked one end of the wire through. Make sure you have plenty of wire through the hole so that you can wrap it around the tube to hold it in place.
Then take the other end and pop it through a pre-drilled hole and wrap the end around the tube and shape the wire into a stem.
The last step is to add some small fairy lights around the stem. These are only about a couple of feet long; much shorter than the first strand.
Zip-tie the control to the bottom, and then wrap the lights all over around the stem, going up and down and making sure you cover all of the wire stems. If you have a little bit too much at the end, you can go ahead and start going back again. It’s going to look great.
Now it's time to take it outside. Use some wire or tent stake to hold your pumpkin down.
Hula hoop pumpkins
There you are. Once nightfall comes, use the remote to light up your pumpkin. I did an orange one and a white one and the great thing about these lights is the lights can flash and do eight different modes.
Wow, what a scene from the street. It looks amazing. I hope you enjoyed this project because I sure did.
Unique DIY fall project ideas
Comments
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Thank you for sharing! 🎃
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Soooo cool!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
How do you keep the battery pack dry?