How to Create 3D Paper Pumpkins
Happy (Belated) Make-It-Monday, where I will guide you through an art or craft activity on Mondays during the Fall season! I was trying to stay on schedule with this whole Make-It-Monday thing, but ya know, life happened, and tending to my minion was my priority for the evening.
To kick things off, we're going to start with a simple activity that you can do with your little ones at home. It's a really cool activity for building on those fine motor skills, and it serves as one of the cleaner art activities requiring little clean up. What mom doesn't like good, clean fun?! It was a favorite of mine and my students' when I taught at the primary level, so I'm happy to be sharing it with you now!
First, you will need to gather the following materials:
-Orange & yellow Construction paper (or a color of your choice)
-Brown & green pipe cleaners
-Pencil or long round object (optional)
Step 1:
Cut your construction paper into 1 inch strips, vertically. You can use scissors if you're good at cutting in straight lines, but if you need some assistance, this lightweight paper cutter should do the trick! I chose to use light blue and yellow/goldenrod paper because it matches the decor in my home, but you can choose orange and yellow if you want to be more traditional.
Step 2:
Punch a hole in both ends of each strip as well as in the center. You can stack several strips at a time to ensure your holes are in the exact same spot on each strip. This is important if you want your pumpkin to be evenly rounded.
Step 3:
Pull a pipe cleaner through the center hole of at least four strips. You can alternate colors if you like (orange, yellow, orange, yellow, etc), and you can add a few more strips for a fuller pumpkin---I used six strips for my pumpkins. Make a knot on one end of the pipe cleaners so the strips don't slide off, and fan the strips out on a flat surface.
Step 4:
Start to thread the pipe cleaner through each of the holes on the end of the strips, one by one. Simply bend the first strip over and push the pipe cleaner through the hole, pushing the strip down and holding it in place before moving on to the next one. Repeat this process until the pipe cleaner has been threaded through each of the strips. Your strips should begin to bow out from one another, forming a sphere or round shape.
Step 5:
Slide the strips around to shape your pumpkin until they are all in the desired place. The fewer strips you use, the more space in between each strip you will see. If you don't want to see much space, use more strips!
Step 6:
Seal the strips in place by wrapping the loose end of the pipe cleaner around a pencil, other writing tool, or your finger in a spiral motion.
Step 7:
Remove the pencil or your finger by carefully sliding it out of the pipe cleaner, and voila! Your pumpkin is all done!
Step 8:
Repeat steps 1-7 as often as you like to make a basket full of pumpkins or to add them anywhere around the house for your fall decor!
I hope you enjoy this project! Feel free to comment below or post it to IG and tag @lovesamanthamaree to share your experience with me! See you next week for another Make-It-Monday activity!
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