This DIY Floating Leaves Cage Pumpkin was born out of motivation to decorate the DIY Lamppost I created at Halloween time. I created it to be changeable with the seasons and holidays and needed something for our season of thanksgiving.
Bright, festive, and cheery was the goal after the spooky porch for Halloween.
This was created specifically to attach to my lamppost but you could create a base for it and use it as a table centerpiece really easily. I offer some suggestions on doing that at the end of the tutorial.
(Short YouTube video tutorial here on my Lovensthelife Channel.)
Ok…..Let’s Create!
Supplies List
- 2 Pumpkin Wreath Forms (Dollar Tree)
- Package of Faux Leaves
- Fishing Line
- Twine
- Sewing Needle
- Scissors
- Scotch Tape
- Tacky or Elmer’s Glue
- Burlap Leaf
- If creating a base (I didn’t need one) see my Base Idea
Instructions
First up is adding the floating leaves. I love the fall colors and the mix of them all together and these bright faux leaves were perfect for brightening up the front porch. Anyone else get tired of gluing? Currently over it so I knew I didn’t want to glue the leaves to the form. I considered creating a floral arrangement inside with floral foam but with the wind around here they would get taken far far far away. The only saving grace for the Halloween skull floral arrangement I made here was it got wrapped in the spider webs and held in the general area. Since the spider webs are gone until next year I needed another solution. I wanted them in the center of the two pumpkin forms suspended as if they were magically placed there. This is my attempt at creating that.
Adding the Leaves
So I gathered the leaves, one of the pumpkin forms, some fishing line, scissors, and a sewing needle and then cozied up on the couch for some sewing. Of course I stacked them by color first.
- Cut a length of fishing line the distance from the top of the pumpkin to the bottom and add about 6 inches extra for knotting at the end or poor measuring skills in my case. You will need 7 of these, some will be a little shorter so if you want to save fishing line you can account for that.
- Starting with one of the cut pieces of fishing line, fold it in half.
- Thread the two end pieces through your needle.
- Run your threaded needle through it’s loop around the end securing it to the frame where you wish to start. I started at the bottom left and worked up.
- Begin threading your leaves on the fishing line. I did them all in a line but I think it would look cool to do them in varied directions as well.
- Repeat and add as many leaves as you would like.
- When you have the amount of leaves on it that you would like, knot it at the other end of the form. Fishing line has a tendency to come undone so I knotted it multiple times. I may have gotten carried away. Trim excess about an inch from the knot.
- Repeat until you have your seven strands threaded and secured to the form on both ends.
As you can see in the photo above the two on the ends were not staying taught as they didn’t have a straight end area to tie to. My solution was tape.
- Tape the ends that are not staying as you would like them. I just used scotch tape. It is mostly to hold it just until you cover it. I taped both ends of the two very end strands and the knotted ends of the other strands.
Putting the Pumpkin Forms Together
Initially I was going to tie the two frames together with twine but taping it ended up being way easier. I taped it together around the stem and on the sides and top. Again this is just a way to hold it until I could cover it.
Wrapping it with Twine
Next I began wrapping. I just took a piece of twine about my wing span long and folded it in half. After attaching it to the form the same way I had done the fishing line I started wrapping.
When I got to the end of a set of strands I knotted it, cut off excess, and taped down the remainder. Then I started again with another folded strand. Starting where I had left off covering the area I had taped first.
Getting close to half way there. This was the most time consuming portion of the project.
I covered the outer edge of the pumpkin shape leaving the dividing areas metal. At the very end instead of using tape I used a little Tacky Glue to glue down the ends.
You could wrap the the entire thing but it will take a LONG time and after doing the outer edge I really liked the way it looked. The twine around the outer edge gives it a more finished look as well as really outlines the pumpkin shape but doesn’t completely remove the cage look.
Finishing Touches
With the extra leaves I made fishing line garland with the plan to wrap the lamppost pole with it.
Then I added a burlap leaf by twisting it on with the attached wire.
Lastly I tied it to the lamppost pole with fishing line.
Base IDEA
I didn’t create a base for it as I was using it on my lamppost and would just tie it on with fishing line. However, you could easily make a base for it by creating a stand for it. Here are a couple of suggestions for doing that. Take a strip of wood roughly two inches wide and close to the length of the base and add any paint or stain you might like. Using a staple gun and staples or a hammer and u nails attach the wire pumpkin base to the would piece. You could also use four small wooden blocks and place one on each side of the frame on each side of the pumpkin and glue the frame between them with super glue.
Done.
I didn’t end up using the garland on the lamppost at all. Next year I will work on adding more fall decor to the porch.
Your Turn to Create
I would love to hear if you gain inspiration from this post and make your very own DIY Floating Leaves Cage Pumpkin
