November 21, 2014

Paper Strip Pumpkins

























It cannot be denied that fall is such a beautiful time of the year.  The collage of colors melding reds, yellows and greens is simply stunning.  This is the time of year where we layer clothing and take in everything homemade: cooking, crafts, sitting in front of the fire place, etc. 
Thanksgiving is next week and I wanted to revisit our paper strip pumpkins from two years ago.  I followed the version of on www.marthastewart.com for the first three pictures seen here. There is a step-by-step video on here site.  The green pumpkins with glossimer ribbon are the Martha Stewart ones that included the string to prevent them from being lop-sided gourds.





This time around, I wanted to try making the pumpkins without the string inside, and adding words to the pumpkin with the children could write what they were thankful for.  They were given strips for the additional members in their family so that they could also participate in their giving of thanks. Which version do you prefer?








I think they turned out great!   It looks like we have a pumpkin patch in the classroom, right? This craft took two days.  The kids wrote and cut out the leaf on the first day.  The second day they assembled the body of the pumpkin.  Depending on your home's color scheme, these pumpkins will add a festive ambiance. What do you think?


Supplies:
1. colored paper 
2. markers
3. brads (2)
4. make leaf template
5. hole punch

Directions:
1. cut paper in 1" strips
2. have child write what s/he is thankful for on one strip (optional)
3. trace and cut out leaf template
4. align 16-20 strips, punch hole at top of strips .5" from top, and place brad
5. punch hole in leaf, align bottom of strips,  punch hole .5" from end
6. place leaf and strips together with brad
7. fan the strips out in a circular fashion

Note:
If you want to add fonts to your pumpkin as I did, type your message
beforehand on the computer and format your page to print, then cut out the strips.




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