Stacked Pumpkin Fall Decor

Materials:

1) Silk leaves of your choice – I used fall hues

2) Quikrete quicksetting concrete

3) Three Foam craft pumpkins – either in three varying sizes or all the same size.

4) Spanish Moss

5) 1/2″ wooden dowel rod ( you only need one!)

Not Pictured: paint stir stick, water, small saw (I used a swiss army knife!), glue gun with glue sticks.

1. Form the Base

First, cut a circle around the stem of the largest craft pumpkin with your small saw or serrated knife and remove the top.  For the quick setting concrete, I disregarded the package directions after getting some clumpy gravely stuff and mixed by eye.  I poured in about four cups of the concrete powder and, using a watering can, slowly added water white stirring until a thick, smooth consistency was reached.  It ended up looking about the consistency of peanut butter. Finally, I inserted my wooden dowel rod into the center of the mixture and stabilized with the paint stick.  Let this contraption dry overnight, or until the dowel rod is set.

3. Make your other cuts

Using the same knife, cut the middle pumpkin similar to the first in a circle around the stem.  Then cut a small hole in the bottom of both remaining pumpkins – just large enough to fit over the dowel rod.

2. Assemble the layers

Start by laying a thin layer of moss over the dowel and the large opening to the bottom pumpkin.  Drape the moss over the sides of the pumpkin for dramatic effect.

Using a glue gun, drizzle glue all over the center of the moss.  Stick your leaves into the gluey moss in an irregular arrangement.  Add more drizzled glue and slide on the second pumpkin. 

Finally, you’re nearing the end!  Hold your last pumpkin up to the side of the remaining dowel.  Approximate how much of this rod will need to be trimmed off.  Mark the spot and saw off the top dowel rod at that spot with your mini saw. (seriously, I used the serrated blade on a medium sized multi-tool knife).

Then, follow the same steps with the top of the second pumpkin – moss, glue, leaves, glue.

Slide on your last pumpkin… and Voila!