DIY Wooden Pumpkins – Made from Recycled Scrap Wood
These DIY wooden pumpkins are made from pieces of reclaimed wood recyled from an old mailbox post project. The project is easy to do in just a few hours.
If you love rustic fall decor, you will enjoy making these adorable scrap wood pumpkins. All you need is some scrap wood, craft paint, and a few inexpensive craft supplies.
Making home decor projects using items that have been recycled is both cost-efficient and eco-friendly. The pumpkins are great for dressing up your front steps for Halloween and fall. They also look really cute on a fall mantle or occasional table.
Reclaiming the wood
Using reclaimed wood makes this project a thrifty one. This old mailbox post had definitely seen better days, hasn’t it? Who would have thought that it was a bunch of pumpkins just wanting to be reborn?
Supplies for the wooden pumpkins
To make this DIY project, you will need the following supplies and tools:
Materials:
- 3 pieces of 4 x 4-inch reclaimed wood. (4-inch, 6-inch, and 8-inch pieces)
- 3 small garden twigs
- A piece of moss
- 1 bunch of natural raffia
- Acrylic paint – orange, blue, black, and white
- 1 brown pipe cleaner
- 2 autumn floral picks with sunflowers
Tools:
- Black marker
- Small paintbrush
- Black paint pen
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Optional: Filler and sandpaper (If your wood is in bad condition).
How to make the DIY wood pumpkins
These wooden pumpkins are very easy to make.
Sand and paint the wood
- Fill any imperfections with wood filler. (optional step)
- Use sandpaper to smooth the wood surface. (optional step)
- Paint the wood with orange acrylic paint and let it dry.
Paint the faces
The three faces are quite different – one girly, one funky, and one a bit puzzled.
- When the paint is dry, use a black marker to draw the outline of the faces on the orange pieces of wood.
- Don’t worry about the detail yet. You will finish that later.
- You can paint an outline of the faces freehand by looking at the pattern below.
- Alternatively, you can use some transfer paper and the free pattern below to transfer the outline of the faces on your wood for painting.
Decorating the wooden pumpkins
- Cut the garden twigs into three pieces about 2 1/2 inches long.
- Paint the stems with blue acrylic paint and let them dry.
- Hot glue three small garden twigs in the center top of each block as a pumpkin stem.
Decorating the wooden pumpkins
Decorating the pumpkins
Each wooden pumpkin uses raffia to make hair. One block gets a crew cut, the girly girl pumpkin gets long hair, and the funky guy gets a funky haircut!
- Pumpkin #1 – Wrap the brown cleaner around the pumpkin stem.
- Hot glue a small piece of moss in front of it.
- Attach a few pieces of raffia with hot glue.
- Pumpkin #2 – Attach pieces of the floral picks to the pumpkin stem.
- Hot glue some pieces of raffia to them.
- Pumpkin #3 – Attach long pieces of raffia evenly over the top of the pumpkin to form hair.
- Hot glue a sunflower over the top of the raffia hair.
Finishing the faces
- Use the black paint pen to darken the design that you put on the faces earlier so that it stands out.
- Paint the faces with black, orange, and white colors as shown in the photo above.
That’s all there is to this project! Aren’t they cute?
More fall DIY projects
Looking for other crafty ways to decorate your home for fall? Here are some other decor projects to try.
- DIY Clay Pot Candy Dish Project – Recycled Terracotta Pumpkin
- DIY Fall Door Swag Tutorial: A Beautiful Twist on the Classic Autumn Wreath
- DIY Hurricane Candle Holder Centerpiece – Rustic Fall Table Decor Idea
How to display the scrap wood pumpkins
- Place the wooden pumpkins on your front steps.
- Add pinecones, faux pumpkins, moss, and black plastic spiders around them.
- Remove the spiders after Halloween, and the decoration is still great for Thanksgiving.
My favorite part of the scrap wood pumpkins is the teeth on the two larger ones. They look like little kids – all toothy and grinny. So much fun!
Have you ever used reclaimed wood in a decor project? Tell us about it in the comments below. I’d love to see your projects.
Share this project for scrap wood pumpkins on X
If you enjoyed this tutorial for making recycled DIY wooden pumpkins, be sure to share the project with a friend. Here is a tweet to get you started:
🎃🪵 Turn leftover wood into charming DIY scrap wood pumpkins! This easy fall craft is a great way to repurpose wood scraps into rustic pumpkin decor for your porch, mantel, or autumn centerpiece. 🍂🍁 ✂️🧡 #DIYFallDecor #WoodPumpkins… Share on X
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Admin note: This article for making pumpkins from scrap wood first appeared on the blog in October of 2015. This post has been updated with new photos and a slideshow video featuring other easy Halloween decor projects.
DIY Reclaimed Wood Pumpkins - Easy Fall Decor Project
These adorable pumpkin decorations are made from reclaimed wood from an old mailbox post.
They are simple to make with just a few basic craft supplies and a bit of time.
Materials
- 3 pieces of 4 x 4-inch reclaimed wood. (4-inch, 6-inch, and 8-inch pieces)
- 3 small garden twigs
- 1 piece of moss
- Small bunch of natural raffia
- Acrylic paint - orange, blue, black and white
- 1 brown pipe cleaner
- 2 autumn floral picks
- Optional: pinecones, faux pumpkins, fall leaves, and black plastic spiders for displaying the pumpkins.
Tools
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Optional: Filler, and sandpaper (If your wood is in bad condition).
- Small paintbrush
- 1 black paint pen
- Black marker
Instructions
- Optional: If the wood is in bad condition, fill the cracks and sand with sandpaper until smooth.
- Paint the reclaimed wood with orange paint. Let it dry.
- Use a black marker to draw the outline of the faces on the orange pieces of wood.
- You can do this freehand or with tracing paper and this pattern.
- Paint three pieces of twigs for pumpkin stems with blue paint and allow it to dry.
- Attach the twigs with hot glue to the middle of the top of each orange block to form stems.
- Pumpkin #1. Attach 1 small piece of moss to the floral sticks. Wrap the brown pipe cleaner around the stem. Hot glue a few sprigs of raffia for hair.
- Pumpkin #2. Attach a piece of the floral pick to the stem. Add some raffia for hair.
- Pumpkin #3. Attach longer pieces of raffia for the girl's hair. Hot glue it and a large sunflower to the top of the block.
- Use the black paint pen to darken the designs of the faces and paint them with black, orange, and white colors according to the design in the pattern.
- Display the scrap wood pumpkins on your front steps with pinecones, mini pumpkins, and fall leaves.
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This is a super cute idea for Halloween
They were a ball to make!
I love these! What a nice change
Sort of quirky but I love them too!
These are adorable!!
Thanks Heather. They were so much fun to make.