2 x 4 (or 2 x 6) Silly Pumpkins (Single Stem Idea)

Working with wood is my current obsession (although I have a pile of copper and beads that are calling my name as well – not enough time in the day)! I just finished building a custom dining room table for a friend (I will post pics later). I am currently building a boat bookshelf for my mom and will soon be building our bathroom vanity and linen closet! I love wood and building and encourage every woman (and man) out there to at least try one building project – it is so rewarding and much easier than you think! Beats sewing any day in my book! 

Anyhow, this wood project anyone can look at and say yes I can tackle that. It is actually really hard to call a wood project because you are just making one (or 2) cuts and doing a little sanding. The wood isn’t even the focal part of it but it is a fun canvas for the kids (or you) to work on! This is a combo of two ideas (2 x 4 Pumpkins and Silly Pumpkins) that I pinned to my Halloween Pinterest board while thinking of ideas for Hornet’s 1^st grade Fall Party. I couldn’t get either idea out of my brain so I put them together and 2 x 4 Silly Pumpkins is what we have!

p.s. I have cut and sanded 25 of these for his class to make so I will be sure to add a pic of their creations after the party! (I knew saving the scraps from building our deck 5 years ago would some day come in handy).

Enjoy this single stem idea of
2 x 4 (or 2 x 6) Silly Pumpkins

The Stuff

The FUN!

2 x 4 scrap (or 2 x 6) Orange Paint White and Black paper Scissors Glue Paint brush Stick (for a stem) Raffia (yarn or ribbon) Chop saw Sander (or sand paper) Drill (w/bit the size of the stick stem)

ADULT: 1. Cut 2 x 4 (or 2 x 6) to size. Mine ranged from 6” to 12”. 2. Sand the edges. 3. Drill a hole the size of the stick in the top of the 2 x 4 for the stem. You can cut the stick if it is too long (or just break it).   KIDDOS: 4. Paint the board orange. 5. Cut out white and black for the silly pumpkin face. Check out the pic below for ideas. 6. Paint glue over the front of the face (not sure if this step is necessary but it helped all of the face pieces lay flat and look nice). 7. Put glue in stem hole and put stem in. 8. Tie raffia around the stem (I did a double knot) and then find a fun spot to display!

Now For the Pictures...

The 2 x4 Pumpkins inspiration

The Silly Face Pumpkins inspiration

Which led to the 2 x 4 Silly Pumpkins!

1. ADULT - Cut 2 x 4 (or 2 x 6) to size. Mine ranged from 6” to 12”.

2. Sand the edges.

3. Drill a hole the size of the stick in the top of the 2 x 4 for the stem.

4. KIDDOS - Paint the board orange.

5. Cut out white and black for the silly pumpkin face.

6. Paint glue over the front of the face
(not sure if this step is necessary but it
helped all of the face pieces lay flat and look nice).

7. Put glue in stem hole and put stem in.

8. Tie raffia around the stem (I did a double knot)
and then find a fun spot to display!

Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for the
2 x 4 (or 2 x 6) Silly Pumpkins
Happy Crafting
~Sara

Pumpkin Treasure Hunt (Single Stem Idea)

As you may know, I am in love with treasure/scavenger hunts! This Pumpkin Treasure Hunt is fun because you can do it with a group of kiddos or just one! The setup is easy – just print the Pumpkin Treasure Hunt page, cut out the clues, hide clues #2-5 and hide some pumpkins! The kids will have fun going on a hunt for their pumpkins before they carve or decorate them! I love this time of year!

Enjoy this single stem idea of
Pumpkin Treasure Hunt
for Seedlings and Sprouts (ages 2-10)…

Pumpkin Treasure Hunt printable HERE

More ideas on adding a little change to pumpkin decorating???…

Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for the Pumpkin Treasure Hunt!
 

Happy Halloween
~Sara

Fence Picket Pumpkin (Single Stem Idea)

As I was putting up our fall decorations I realized we needed a focal piece for our mantel! I decided I wanted to make some sort of sign. Fence pickets were on my brain but it originally was just going to be a sign with some sort of fall saying. I am very happy with the pumpkin that it evolved in to! This project is seriously very easy and will take about an hour. You get to use one of my favorite tools - a jig saw - a must have for every DIYer! Another great thing about the Fence Picket Pumpkin is it is extremely inexpensive, especially if you can find some old fence posts to re-purpose!

Enjoy this single stem idea of
Fence Picket Pumpkin

Fall {Halloween} Party (Bouquet of Ideas)

For Hornet’s Kindergarten Fall Party we had such a fun time! It was a two+ hour party so I had many indoor and outdoor activities planned. If your party is the traditional hour long time then pick and choose a couple of the activities that we did below and the kids will surely have a fabulous time!
P.S. The activities for this party would work for Kindergarten, First and Second grades (maybe even pre-school).

Enjoy the ideas for a
Fall (Halloween) Party for
(Sprouts ~ Kindergarten to First Graders)

Tissue Jack-O-Lantern Bottles

I love tissue crafts because they are simple to prep and they can be done with many ages. They also can be messy with the glue and tissue (and I like a little messy). We previously made tissue lanterns for the Fourth of July with a range of ages and they all turned out great – especially when it is dark and there is a candle in them. For the Fourth of July we used glass jars and battery candles. I wanted to do the jars for the Fall class party but I couldn’t collect enough jars for the class in the time and I also envisioned a kid dropping it on the way home and glass breaking everywhere, so we went with plastic water bottles instead which I was able to collect enough of. We then used glow sticks to light them which fit perfectly in the bottles and went well with Halloween! This was a fun center at our Fall class party but it also would be fun to do at home with your own kiddos!

Enjoy this single stem idea of
Tissue Jack-O-Lantern Bottles for
for Seedlings and Sprouts (ages 2-10)

Five Little Pumpkins

For our Halloween Party at school last year we had some fun with the classic “Five Little Pumpkins” poem! My kids and I had made up some glove puppets with pumpkins on each finger that worked perfect for reciting the poem. To start the party off I read the story Five Little Pumpkins and then the adult volunteers each had a glove pumpkin glove puppet and they helped teach the kids with the hand motions (free printable from Teaching Tiny Tots- I had a copy for each adult). The kiddos thought this was fun! I left the pumpkin glove puppets at the front of the room for the rest of the party so that kids could put them on and practice the story themselves.

The 5 Little Pumpkins did not stop there though and we did a fun craft for the pumpkins on a gate! I got the idea for the fist pumpkins from I Heart Crafty Things and we added putting them on a gate and some chalk details. 

Enjoy this single stem idea of Five Little Pumpkins for
for Sprouts (ages 5-10)

Perfect Letter P (Alphabet Wall)

We had fun with the letter P! It is great because you can do pumpkins or penguins or both! The boys and I enjoy pumpkins because we always grow a few different varieties and they are so cool to watch grow. It is interesting to see them flower and be pollinated and then you watch a tiny little ball form into amazing pumpkins. We have had a good time using the seeds as well.

Penguins are just plain old cute! There are some great books about penguins and they always look adorable in craft and art projects! Have fun with the letter P!

For the rest of the Alphabet, go HERE!

Enjoy this
Perfect P
for (Seedlings ~ preschool age)...

What we did for the Perfect Letter P...

Pumpkin Pot (Single Stem Post)

Before you get rid of any pumpkins you didn’t carve this year make a Pumpkin Pot! It will take you only a few minutes and it is a great learning experience!

Enjoy this Single Stem idea from Growing in Pre K
of a Pumpkin Pot for
Sprouts and Seedlings (toddler/preschool and elementary age)...

The Stuff	The FUN!
Pumpkin Knife Soil Water	1. Cut a hole in the top. *LEAVE the SEEDS in! 2. Fill with soil. 3. Put a little bit of water in and set in a spot to grow!

More ideas…

Here is the pumpkin growing from Growing in Pre K

Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for the Pumpkin Pot!
Happy Planting
~Sara