With halloween rapidly approaching, decorations are being thrown about the house. However, a decorated house is not complete without garland, and you most certainly need something to complement those jack-o-lanterns! Why not try your hands at crafting these simple and easy pumpkin garland for your delightful abode?

Materials:

Pencil
Compass
1 Sheet of Printer Paper
Scissors
Hole Puncher
Orange Construction Paper
Tape
Green Pipe Cleaners
String or Twine

Step 1: The Template

I first made a template from which I could trace the shape onto my orange paper later. On your printer paper, draw a dot in the center. Using your compass, put the needle on the dot you have drawn and create a large circle that fits on the paper. With your compass on the 1/2 inch setting, draw a smaller circle about the dot. Next, you will be drawing 4 oval-like shapes around the smaller circle. Put your needle somewhere in the large circle, and draw a line from the small circle to the edge of the large circle. Place the needle on the intersection of the line and the edge of the large circle and make another curved line from the edge of the small circle to that of the large circle. Basically repeat these steps to form 4 ovals about the small circle. This is where geometry pays off!

At the tip of each oval, draw a small rectangle. Make each rectangle large enough to have a hole punched in the middle. (You will punch holes later).

Cut out your flower template carefully. Ignore the large circle--this was just a basis for forming the ovals. Make sure your template works by picking up the edges of the ovals and holding them together to make a geometric shape.

Step 2: Tracing and Cutting

Trace your template onto a sheet of orange construction paper. Then, add the paper to the top of your stack of orange construction paper. I had 5 sheets total. Cut your shapes out of your stack carefully. I was able to cut the whole stack out at once because I only had 5 sheets, but if your stack is quite large you may have to divide it up and trace some more.

After all shapes have been cut out, fold the tabs that were created over and hole punch them. Hole punch the center circle as well.

Step 3: Constructing the Pumpkins

Take a green pipe cleaner (the fluffier the better) and make a knot at the end. Pull the other end through the hole in the center circle of one of the sheets. Then, pull the pipe cleaner through the holes of the tabs, one tab at a time. Push the top of the pumpkin down until it looks compressed and squashed like a pumpkin. Make another knot or twist on the pipe cleaner where it meets the top of the pumpkin. Take a piece of tape and stick it to the inside of one side of the pumpkin with some hanging out. Stick the other end of the tape to the inside of the side next to it. Repeat this process until all the sides have been connected to each other using tape.

Form a loop with the pipe cleaner and twist it. Then, with the extra pipe cleaner length, curl the pipe cleaner around a pencil. Push the twists off the pencil, and pull on the end like an accordian.

Your pumpkin is done, unless, of course, you want to add more curly pipe cleaners. :)

Repeat these steps with all of your pumpkins.

Step 4: String the Pumpkins

Cut your string or twine however long you want. The length depends on the number of pumpkins you have and how close you want the spacing to be. Regardless of how you string your pumpkins, you will pull the string through the pumpkin's loop and tie the string around it. Continue until all of your pumpkins are hanging in place on your string.

Step 5: Hang the Pumpkin Garland

Here comes the fun part: hanging your newly created pumpkin garland! You can hang the garland using tape just about anywhere, or you can tie it to handrails! No matter where you hang your pumpkin garland, it will bring holiday spirit to your home! Enjoy, and have a happy Halloween! :)