EASY UPCYCLED PUMPKIN

• Orange and green spray paint ... check. 
• Floral wire ... check. 
• Sticks, no problem...lots after Hurricane Irene ... check, check and, triple check! 
• Glue gun ... check.  
• Dryer vent hose ... check.  Wait, what?!?  Dryer vent hose you say?

What has all of this got to do with Fall crafting?  Well, put them together and you get the cutest and easiest little pumpkin ever, that's what.  Look at these!

This project caught my eye last year but I ran out of time to make it - the Fall decorating season was over and the Christmas crafting season had begun.  As usual, too many projects, too little time!!  Anyway, here I am a full year later and I actually remembered to give this a try (wonders never cease)!   I found the project in a book called The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts, published by Leisure Arts.

To make one pumpkin you will need 20-25" of dryer vent hose - I bought some at my local hardware store since my husband frowned at the idea of my cutting into the vent hose attached to my dryer.  Go figure!    Measure the hose when it is extended fully and then cut.  Form it into a circle, matching the ends and glue to secure.  Tip:  I found that the longer length was better because I was more easily able to stretch it into the circle.  Another Tip:  I held the hose and glued it myself but it would be easier to maneuver if you had a helper to either hold the vent or apply the glue.  Yet another Tip:  I stretched a rubber band around it to secure the shape while the glue dried.

Spray the body orange and, when dry, spray a bit of green at the top.  (Spray a 6" long stick green while you are at it or, if you prefer you can leave the stick natural.)

Curl a 16" piece of wire around a pencil....

Slide pencil out...

And you have a completed curlicue!  Wrap the straight end around the base of the stick/stem.  Apply some glue to one end of the stick/stem and insert it into the opening in the center of the top of the pumpkin.

I made the "leaves" by knotting a 12" piece of ribbon at the base of the stem and trimming it into a leaf shape.

That's all there is to it!  When my husband came home from work he was surprised at how effective the pair of these pumpkins were.  He didn't even double-check to make sure our dryer hose was intact.

Crafty Tips:  If you hope to use these outside make sure you use a spray paint that is appropriate for outdoors.  Also, they are somewhat light and might blow away (can you imagine what someone might think if pumpkins were flying by them in the wind!! funny) so one thought I had would be to insert something weighty before you glue the ends together.