“Autumn is a mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.” – Samuel Butler

I’m so excited to share my first autumn DIY.  I mean.  I know it’s only the middle of August.  And still nearly 100 degrees outside.  And autumn feels like it’s forever away.  But a girl can dream, can’t she?

As I mentioned in my house key holder blog, I’ve been pretty obsessed with watching Dollar Tree DIY’s on YouTube.  I mean, who would have thought that you could make such cute, good quality items from Dollar Tree?!  I sure as heck didn’t.

So when I saw one YouTuber turn this super soft baby blanket into plush pumpkins, I knew I had to make them, too!

supplies:

• fabric of choice (though, I recommend the Dollar Tree baby blankets)
• scissors (or cutting mat/straight edge/rotary cutter)
• thread
• extra long needle (recommended!)
• jute twine (you can find this as Dollar Tree, too!)
• hot glue gun

First, cut your fabric.  For the largest pumpkin, I cut a piece 15″ x 24″, for the medium pumpkin, I cut a piece that was 12″ x 20″, and for the smallest pumpkin, I cut a piece that was 9″ x 16″.

Next, I folded my fabric in half width-wise with the right sides together, and sewed along the open edge.  I used a sewing machine, but you can easily hand-stitch this.

Then I gathered one end and sewed across it.  If you’re not using a sewing machine, you should be able to tie it tightly with a piece of string.  Turn the fabric right-side out and stuff with the polyfill.

Then gather the top and close it tightly with a string.

For the next step, I can’t recommend an extra long needle enough.  You’re going to use it to to add the indentions:

You do this by pulling the string through the pumpkin until you get it to look how you want, then knotting it, before threading it through again.

To make the stem (my absolutely favorite part), attach the jute twine to the base of the stem with hot glue.

Continue to wrap it around tightly, securing it every so often with a bit of hot glue.  I needed to cut across the top of the gathered fabric to get a nice  flat surface.  Coil the jute around the top and glue it in place.

And ta-da!  The cutest stinking plush pumpkins I ever did see.

What other Dollar Tree DIYs have you been making?  I’ve been crushing on so much lately!