White and Curly Jute Stem Pumpkin Tutorial

I've been very hesitant getting into the fall spirit this year. In years past, I've been know to put up fall decor in the middle of August. It's almost October and I've yet to put a lick of it in my house. It may be because I feel cheated out of summer. May and June were both miserable months full of rain....and NOT summer weather. July was alright. August was alright. But now that I'm feeling summer, fall has decided to rear its head...and you know what follows fall......ugh. I'm not even going to say it. That's probably the biggest reason why I haven't welcomed fall, because a certain season that begins with a 'w' is right behind it....and I'm toootaally not ready for that yet.

Anyway. Well, this weekend, since it was actually the first day of fall on Friday, I decided to do at least one fall craft. In past years, I grateful accepted all the full colors of autumn, with its reds and oranges, but this year, not so much. So, I had to find ways to make neutral fall decor.

 Step one was to create these pumpkins!

 I got some fake pumpkins at the store for about a dollar each on the big ones, and five dollars for the box of eight.

 At first, I attempted to spray paint them. I sprayed one, and it looked ridiculous. I barely sprayed it, and the paint already started to run. Plus, it was really really shiny. So I decided to nix that idea and just go and paint them with some white craft paint.

 Next I took some jute and glued the end piece to the bottom of the stem with some hot glue, then started winding it upward. Every so often I found that I had to put another dab of glue to prevent gaps in the jute.

To finish it of, on the top, I put a good dab of hot glue, and then kind of circled the jute around it and left a tail of about 5 to 7 inches long.

 I then dipped that tail into some fabric stiffener and wrapped it around a pen to dry. For more loose curls you can find something bigger than a pen, or just slide the jute off the pen when its still a smidge wet, but yet hard enough to hold shape.

 I made the tighter curls by twirling the jute around the pen and not leaving any gaps between one twirl and the next, and then secured it with a clip.

Any more ideas for neutral fall decor? I can totally use it :)


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