This terra cotta pumpkin looks great as a decor item and also does double duty as a candy dish.

This is a win-win in my book! I love to recycle items in crafts. Not only does it save money, but helps our environment too.

Don’t you just love fast and easy home decor ideas that add seasonal flair to your home at very little cost? Me, too!

Thanksgiving tablescapes often make use of a centerpiece that gets showcased in the middle of a table. This idea would make a perfect addition to any holiday table.

I love working with terra cotta pots.

I always have a variety of sizes of them hanging around that are left over from working with succulents and the shape of them and their shape just lends itself to all sorts of holiday ideas.

I’ve made a lot of fun projects with them and have many more planned. Even old pots will work as long as you clean the clay pots well.

Turn an old clay pot into a whimsical pumpkin candy dish with just a few supplies. See the tutorial on The Gardening Cook. Share on X

How to make a terra cotta pumpkin

I visited a thrift shop over the weekend and came home with a decrepit-looking stem of dusty brown silk flowers for 99 cents that had seen its better days.

But it had very nice detail on the leaves and I figured I’d find a way to use it somehow in a craft project.

My husband wondered if I had lost my marbles when he saw it. I had no plans for it until I started on this project.

The color is just perfect for my pumpkin stems!

This has to be one of the quickest projects I have done in a long time. The only real time is drying time for the paint and if you like the color of your terra cotta pot, you don’t even need to do that!

Note: Hot glue guns, and heated glue can burn. Please use extreme caution when using hot glue. Learn to use your tools properly before you start any project.

Gather your Supplies for this terra cotta pumpkin:

This project only needs a few supplies.

a 4″ clay pot and saucer
some wire rope
craft paint
a few silk leaves
a wooden spool
some candy pumpkins
hot glue gun and glue sticks

First I painted my pot and saucer orange and combined black and orange paint to get a greenish-brown color that I wanted for my spool.

When the paint was dry, I assembled the stem of the pumpkin. First I wound the wire jute around a pencil to give it a nice curled shape.

Then I wrapped this around my spool and tacked it in place with some hot glue.

A quick dab of hot glue on the center of the upside-down saucer holds the pumpkin stem in place.

I cut two nice pieces of leaves off my old dried flower stalk and tacked them on both sides of the spool.

I used a nice dusty brown color that looks nice with my spool stem. Now my thrift shop purchase makes perfect sense. Isn’t the detail lovely?

All that was left to do was to fill the clay pot pumpkin with candy pumpkins and pop on the lid.

Tada !! All done in less than a couple of minutes! I LOVE that this looks just like a pumpkin decor item but it secretly holds the candy inside it. Who would ever guess? What fun!

This flavor of candy, along with candy corn, is very popular, particularly in the fall. Did you also know that you can grow candy corn plants in your garden?

You won’t get the candy but the look and colors are the same!

Now it was time to stage my terra cotta pumpkin candy dish.

I used a couple of old books, some faux gourds, and silk leaves and ended up with a very pretty fall vignette that will be perfect for either Halloween or Thanksgiving.

If you have an hour (or less if you don’t paint) of spare time and an old terra cotta pot, make your own pumpkin candy dish today. The vignette would be perfect on a fall mantle!

See more terra cotta pot projects here:

Pin this terra cotta pumpkin candy dish for later

Would you like a reminder of this clay pot pumpkin project? Just pin this image to one of your Craft boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Admin note: This post for the terracotta pumpkin candy dish first appeared on the blog in September 2017. I have updated the post with a printable project card and a video for you to enjoy.

Yield: 1 fun candy dish

Terra Cotta Pumpkin - Clay pot Pumpkin Candy Dish

Turn a few craft supplies and an old terra cotta pot into a pumpkin shaped candy dish for Halloween or Thanksgiving.

Active Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Difficulty easy

Estimated Cost $5-$10

Materials

1 - 4″ clay pot and saucer
6 inches wire rope
orange and brown craft paint
a few silk leaves
1 small wooden spool

Tools

Paint brush
Pencil
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions

Paint the pot and saucer orange. (if you like the color of your pot and it is very clean and new, you don't need to paint it.
Paint the wooden spool brown.
Wrap the wired rope around the pencil to form a tendril shape. Wrap it around the spool and then tack the two pieces to the saucer bottom.
Tack the flowers to both sides of the spool and tendril with some hot glue.
Fill the pot with candy corn.
Replace the lid and display with pride.