I’ve tried really hard to find the changing leaves in our area in Massachusetts!! Because of an unusually warm fall and lots of rain, the leaves are not as vivid as usual, but I did manage to find some pockets to bring to you!!
This is in Rocky Woods Reservation in Medfield, MA, I highly recommend visiting it for a beautiful short hike or a long one, there are many trails!!
Victor and I walked around the pond and remembered how we would ice skate on that very pond, when we were kids!! Now, there is a sign saying “NO SKATING!!”š
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I am so excited to show you how to make these lush colorful pumpkins!!
I saw these fun velvet pumpkins on Pinterest…there are many methods of making them, but this way is easy, the no-sew way!!
These are the materials you’ll need: 1/2 yard of velvet material, a bag of rice, polyester fiber fill, toilet paper rolls, sticks for stems, newspaper for pattern, a glue gun, scissors and common pins.
It was fun to make these pumpkins with Gina, but you could also make these with children, it’s that easy!! Cut out a 15 inch circle on newspaper for the pattern. If you want 3 different sizes, you can also cut out a 17 inch and a 19 inch circle of newspaper. Then pin the newspaper pattern onto the fabric and cut it out.
To put together pumpkins, place about 1/3 cup of rice on the wrong side of the fabric circle. Then place half of a toilet paper roll in the center of the fabric, on top of the rice. Next, grab three or four handfuls of poly fill stuffing and place it evenly around the tube. Itāll squish down quite a bit, so add enough that itās about twice as big as your desired finished pumpkin size.
To form the pumpkin shape, grab the fabric on either side, pull it up and over the poly fill, and stuff it down into the tube. You could add some glue to the inside of the tube first. At first this will be a little tricky, but just keep going around and stuffing the fabric in the tube while holding it with your other hand. After a few stuffs itāll start to stay on itās own.
To add the stem, put a generous amount of craft glue on the end of a 4 inch stick. Then push and twist it down into the center of the pumpkin. Hold it in place for a minute or so and then it should be good to go!! A little note about the sticks…I prefer a gnarly stick, but if you prefer a more perfect stick, that’s fine tooš
These are the pumpkins I made first! I crafted rosettes out of the fabric, it’s a little tricky, but with practice I got better…click here for a good tutorial to follow!
Once I started, I couldn’t stop!! I got creative and added brooches and pins to the base of the stems!!
And then I was making them for gifts!! This leopard one went to my sister-in-law Patty for her birthday…the spider brooch was part of her gift, she can take it off and wear it!!
This gold pumpkin is a gift I gave to my friend Sue and she sent me a photo of it on her mantel!!
No bows for Gina’s pumpkin, as she says, “I’m not a bow person!!” How about those guys on each side of her pumpkin, perfect for a yoga teacher, like Gina!!
And these glittery aqua pumpkins, I made for Gina and me, they match the decor in our homes!! The spiders are earrings and the leaf is a pin…so these velvet pumpkins make great gifts or you can decorate your home for the holidays with them!!
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Now we are in Virginia…let us take you for a walk in our neighborhood to see some visions of fall doorways, in the South…
In the photo on the left, the pumpkin stacking reminded me of one that I did (the right photo), on our porch, a few years ago!!
This front entryway is simple, yet lovely and effective!
The front porch on this house is so inviting, what a charming home!!
Isn’t this house something out of the Adams Family? But I love the naturalness of it!!
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Halloween is literally on our doorstep…Sometimes I dread it coming, but other times I embrace the spooky and child emotions inside!! This year I’m doing the latter!! Our grandsons are making the trip up to The Yellow House, and so I’m digging down deep to the child inside and getting my spooky onš§āāļø
šHAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALLš»
Visions of My 70s 
You are a spooky hoot. Love autumn and Halloween. Always love your pictures and everything else. The pumpkins are Soo pretty. I want to make some with my granddaughters. I also need to get to Rocky woods My backyard I used to walk through my own trails. Havenāt done it in years. Hope you are all well busy lady. Stay safe ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
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Thank you, Kathy, so glad you like this postš§” We hadnāt been to Rocky Woods in ages!! The pond looks so small compared to how I remember it!! While youāre out for a walk, donāt forget to pick up branches for your pumpkins!! Enjoy your Halloween with your grandchildrenš»š
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I love reading your blog Carol. I too have many fond memories of Rocky Woods. Thanks for the tour of Fall in New Englandā¦living in Florida now, I really miss the changing of the seasons! Love to you and Victorā¦miss seeing all my old friends.
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Thank you for reading my blog, Nancyš¤ We had such a nice walk around The Woods, they have done a nice job maintaining it all these years. I remember the lodge right on the pond and they used play music when we were ice skating!! Nothing like New England in Autumn, but Virginia is beautiful too, just not the memories, making new ones though!! Love to you and Chip, enjoy your Halloween with your grandchildrenā¦stay wellš
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Love the leopard print one especially. All of it looks great mom! Amazing job!
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Thanks VJ!! So glad you enjoyed this post!! Iāll make you a pumpkin if you wantšš¤
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Loved this. Especially the houses and the costume you had on.
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Glad you liked it, Marilynš§” That picture of me was from 3 years agoš The houses in Virginia are beautiful, they go all out for Christmas decorations, I’ll have to do a post on that!! Enjoy Halloween on the Capeš»š
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As usual, your blog is full of ideas and beautiful pictures. I hope you are enjoying the Fall, which won’t hit us until Thanksgiving. Keep sending more, for I love your blog. God bless you and the family!
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I’m glad you’re still reading my blog, Nancy, you’re the bestš§” I bet it’s beautiful down south for Thanksgiving, I’d love to see pics on FB!! Hope you and Art are doing well!! Victor and I just got our boosters, we were a little tired and achy, but we got over itš
Warm wishes to you and your familyšš¼
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Carolynn, I love your pumpkins! Thanks for sharing!!!
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Thank you, Norineš§” I was thinking, that making those pumpkins would be a great craft for the kids to do, any fabric could be used!!
Have a fun Halloween, I miss school at this timeš»š
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Loved your blog. The pumpkins are so creative, they really do make nice gifs, especially with the pins and earrings attached, really clever. a fun
project. I miss the fall foliage too. The trees in back are a little colorful, but not like
always. Took some drives up state, but it was the same. Unfortunately, we can’t
change the weather. The pictures of the doorways are great, nicer than the ones here.
I know you are in Virginia now, so enjoy the Fall, and especially HALLOWEEN with
the boys, it’s a fun time.
Warm wishes you and Victor. Take good care and be safe.
Love,
Lucille
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Hi Lucille!! Itās always great to hear from you!! We are back at homeā¦on our drive here, the best foliage was in the hills of Pennsylvania and New York!! As we got closer to New England the norāeaster had blown the beautiful leaves off the trees and even knocked some down!! The Cape really got hit bad with trees down and electric outages. Gina and family are here for Halloween, we have a great neighborhood for trick or treating!! Thank you, as always for your kind comments, I always love hearing from youšš
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I canāt believe I live so close to that pond and didnāt realize itās even there! We used to be able to hike all the way around our pond, because it led me through the woods to my house when we moved here! Now the new owner of the house at the far end put up a fence. Itās chain link, so Luke and I used to climb it. But now itās so overrun with prickly vines thatās not possible. How dare they!! So itās nice to know thereās something else so close.
I absolutely adore your velvet pumpkins. They are so classy just like you, and even Bohemian!š¤ And the black and white striped pumpkin that you had on your porch a few years ago Iāve seen similarly in a catalog, and it cost over $100! Please tell Gina BTW that I adore her haircut. TrĆ©s chic! The decorated homes were a real treat, but I have to say I would be out there with my loppers on the Addams Family house, just on the entrance up the steps at least. Itās very effective, but just might be a lawsuit waiting to happen, donāt you think?š
You look adorable in your costume and I hope you wore it again tonight. What candies did you buy to give out? Perhaps the Carol of old might have handed out rice cakes, but Iām quite sure my fun friend has rebirthed the child in her for many years now with much more delicious evil snacks!! š«
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Hi Penny!! Thank you so much for your reply!! I can’t believe you and Luke used to climb a chain link fence…I agree, how dare they!! Since you love being out in nature so much, it is so wonderful that you are close to Rocky Woods, you will love it!!
I’m glad that you adore the velvet pumpkins and think they are Bohemian, because I AM Bohemianšš And I love the overgrown Adams Family House, it’s very earthy and mysterious, I would risk the lawsuit for the look!!
I didn’t wear that costume, I was going to, but Gina brought me a headband with a veil and spider on it!! We had a fun Halloween night, until it started raining, but my grandsons had lots of candy by then, so it was fine!! You are too funny about me giving out rice cakes, I actually shop at Whole Foods for my grandson’s Halloween goody bags, my daughter likes them to eat healthy…the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, literallyš¤£ But I hand out all the usual candy bars for Halloween!! Thank you again for your fun replyš§”š¤š
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