As I write this review of a fun crochet pumpkin pattern, we are officially into the fall season here in my neck of the woods. I found this pattern last year about this time and decided having some decorations that I made myself would be a fun way to celebrate autumn in my dining room.
The advantage to crocheting a pumpkin is that it works for fall, Halloween and even into Thanksgiving. As you can see by the photo at the left, I have the crochet pumpkins that I made last year in a display with real pumpkins and a few acorns. For right now, the display is for Halloween. Once we move into November, I will take out the real pumpkins and add some dried corn, maybe a gourd and some pine cones from my back yard. The small amount of time that I invested into making the large pumpkin and the small one has turned out to serve me well for decorating for more than one holiday.
I found the crochet pumpkin pattern on The Crochet Crowd website, last year. I often go to this site when I am looking for something fun to crochet either for myself or for gifts. Mikey, the owner of the site, often offers a tutorial with the patterns that he showcases and I find them very easy to follow. The video below was really easy to follow!
Video Tutorial For Crocheting A Large Pumpkin
The pattern was really easy to follow, especially after having watched Mikey in the tutorial video. I find that the videos are so handy because I can start and stop them as I progress through the crochet pattern.
You can pick the color of orange that you want for your crocheted pumpkin at your local craft store or online. You will need some brown for the stem (I used some scrap brown) and just a tiny bit of green for the curly little leaf. You will also need some stuffing for the inside. One thing that I found was that you do not want to be frugal with the stuffing. Put plenty of it inside your pumpkin or you might find that your finished crochet pumpkin is flat looking.
If you like to crochet and make decorative items for your home, you will enjoy making this pumpkin in the large size or any size for that matter. Mikey provides a video for large, medium and small. I love that my cute pumpkins don't have to be carved, won't turn bad and they are easily stored away until next fall when I am ready to use them again.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
The first day of Fall has arrived and artists and crafters are inspired to create in natures' Autumn Season colors. Reds and yellows, orange and brown show up in art and photography and a variety of handmade items. Let's review a few of these.
The beautiful colors of the Autumn leaves draw thousands of visitors each year to New England and the mountains and forests across the country. Mary Beth (mbgphoto) has captured many gorgeous views of the colorful leaves with her lovely photos, many of which you can see in her Autumn Art article here on Review This! You can also find her Fall photography featured on a variety of items in her Zazzle stores, such as this "Autumn Beauty" note card from herBeauty in Nature page.
Pumpkin Patch
(c) Personal Photo/Wednesday Elf
Autumn is the season for harvest time and Halloween. Pumpkins are the focal point of this season, especially for hand-crafted items. From playtime plushies to handmade dishcloths for your kitchen chores to accessories such as purses, pumpkins are a fun theme.
Plush Halloween Octopus or Stuffed Spider
Halloween Octopus or Spider
Plush octopus measures 2 inches tall and 6 inches across the eight tentacles. Each octopus is made with acrylic yarn and filled with a small amount of polyester fiberfill.
Colors include Orange, Black, Speckled Black (black with specks of color), and a two-tone combination of orange and black. The black octopus could also be a Halloween 'spider'. :-)
These cute plush octopus are fun to have around for Halloween or anytime of the year. They also make fun Halloween party decorations.
This reversible table runner is made with prewashed cotton fabrics. One side has assorted Halloween fabrics in traditional orange and black. The fabrics have Jack o lanterns, bats, pumpkins and candy corn. The reverse side is black and covered in candy corn. This table runner has been quilted and there is a layer of cotton batting.
Table runners are an easy way to decorate your table for any holiday, occasion or home decor. This table runner is 14" wide and 38" long.
The Halloween Quilted Table Runner is just one of a wide variety of table runners, lanyards, and quilted purses in the Etsy Shop of Cute PurseNalities, which also features handy coin purses and fabric lanyards. Pictured is a handmade quilted coin purse in an Autumn design.
Cooking, to me, is both an art and a craft. Creative recipes are something to be treasured, as Sylvestermouse Cynthia shows us with her Chocolate Halloween Ghost Train Cake tutorial. The recipe and tutorial for this fantastic cake are described in her "Cooking for the Holidays" blog.
Pumpkin Potholder and Washcloth for your Autumn Kitchen Decor
A potholder is a necessity when baking and it's delightful to have one that matches the Autumn theme. Pumpkins are a large part of this Harvest-Time season, so let's have some pumpkin kitchen helpers. This pumpkin potholder is handmade in crochet in washable orange acrylic yarn with a green top. It measures 9.5 x 11 inches and is made double-thick. Cleaning up from baking your pumpkin dessert is more fun when you have a pumpkin shaped dishcloth to use. It measures a generous sized 9.5 x 9.5 inches. Handmade in cotton yarn makes this dishcloth a joy to use for your kitchen chores.
This kitchen duo in the shape of a pumpkin of a potholder and matching dishcloth can be found atWednesday Elf's eBay Site.
The Fall Season has Arrived
So, enjoy the Fall Foliage in photos or have fun with hand-crafted harvest-time pumpkins, or bake a favorite seasonal dessert while you enjoy the cooler weather and the colors of Autumn. Welcome to Fall. (c) 10/3/2015 Wednesday Elf
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
Looking for last minute fun things to do for Halloween? How about easy pumpkin carving? The stores are still filled with pumpkins and you certainly have knives in your kitchen that can work great for carving. All you need are ideas for some interesting looks to carve. That's what Review This has for you today.
Pumpkin Carving Stencils
A Creative Desktop came up with some easy and fun printable stencils. All free, of course. Along
with instructions for how to print and use the stencils, this site gives you unlimited access to them. You are free to modify and alter them to suit your own tastes and needs.
Not just 40 different designs, but many funny faces as well. Be sure to click through to Page 2 to see lots more. There are some fun stencils, including a flying witch, a Star Wars Storm Trooper and the Ghostbusters logo. You are sue to find at least a few that you can try your own pumpkin carving talent on.
Carving Fun Pumpkins
More pumpkin carving fun comes from a page out of Better Homes and Garden. A simple trio of cute faces make up this page. All are easy for just about anyone to do. With these designs, the carving did not go all the way through the pumpkin. Instead, you have just the outer skin cut. Be sure to get a little paint to fill in the carving so you can get the bright contrast in color. Just like it shows in the image at the top of this page.
Free Stencils for Pumpkin Carving
Talk about fun and cute designs, Readers Digest online offers us some of those great easy stencils. They include some eerie faces, but also those darling emoticons just for fun.
My idea for this year when the grandgirls arrive for our Halloween fest is to have several different sizes. I'll let them pick out a stencil each, but I want to do this "how me?" goofy face myself.
A full 28 free designs are available for you to download and print. And all are fun and easy to do.
Posted by: BuckHawk
About This Contributor
BuckHawk decribes herself as "Basically a lazy person who prefers the easy things in life." So that's what she writes about. Easy home decorating, easy recipes, easy entertaining. But, she is also a lover of animals, gardening and crafting. You'll find her writing all over the Web, but with Review This Reviews! she has the opportunity to write about all of her loves.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
Remember when visiting a pumpkin patch meant picking out a pumpkin for Halloween carving? Well you can still do that, but pumpkin patches have sprung up all over with a wide variety of fall activities for all ages. I discovered all the fun of a pumpkin patch visit last weekend when we visited Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch in the Kansas City area.
In the photo above my granddaughters Kate and Emily stop so I can take their photo by a pile of pumpkins. The pumpkin patch had many different photo op spots throughout the area. There were those cute wood cutouts where kids can stick their heads through the holes and look like a farmer, cowboy or even a pumpkin. There were also lots of fall decorations with places for the kids to sit while you took their photos. This photo shows the girls running out of a maze made of corn stalks.
The pumpkin patch that we went with our granddaughters also had lots of animals for the girls to feed or pet. There was a pen of goats and also other enclosures with ducks, rabbits and chickens. There was lots to do for the girls including a ride on a train, tractor tricycles to race, and places to climb.
This big rocking chair was a hit with the girls.
After taking plenty of time to let the girls run around we stopped at the donut hut for some delicious pumpkin donuts. There was also a fudge shop where we purchased some fudge to take home with us. Of course we couldn't forget to get our pumpkin so before we left we hopped on the wagon for a ride down to the field where all the pumpkins were growing to pick out some special pumpkins to bring home and carve. The trip to the pumpkin patch was a great success. It was so much fun watching the girls enjoy the day. If you are looking for a fun activity for a fall day I would suggest looking for a pumpkin patch to enjoy the treats of the season in the great outdoors.
Fall Crafts
When we got back home from the pumpkin patch it was time for some quiet time so the girls colored some wooden masks that I had gotten from a craft shop. Here are several links to some fall crafts that would be great for all ages. Easy Pumpkin Craft Halloween Crafts Here are the girls with their newly colored witch masks.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”