2×4 Pumpkin – Tutorial – alaynascreations

DIY 2x4 Pumpkins Make your own wooden pumkins with this easy tutorial

Who is ready for fall?! Ok, I’m not quite there yet either. We had such a great summer I’m not entirely ready for it to end. The kids started school last week and standing outside waiting for the bus I could feel a little bit of chill in the air that says “yep, fall is on its way.” This weekend we even spotted some leaves changing colors on the mountains. Fall is definitely starting to move in on us. And with fall, comes…fall decorating!

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons to decorate for – all those pretty reds, oranges and browns are just so homey and bright. With Halloween and Thanksgiving back to back, most decorations can be out from the beginning of September through the end of November. That’s why I love this set of wooden pumpkins. They’re cute, versatile, plus they are easy and inexpensive to make (my favorite things!).

Cute, right? And easy enough that even a novice crafter can handle them. In fact this is a project I did for a craft day back in my old neighborhood with friends that didn’t have much experience with crafting and they loved it.

You need: a 2×4 cut up into the following lengths (this is to make a set of 2 pumpkins)
2 pieces at 8″ long
3 pieces at 6″ long
2 pieces at 4″ long
and 2 scraps for the stems (mine are approx 1″ x 1″ x 2″), or you could use a branch from your yard for the stem
plus some orange paint, dark wood stain, and some embellishments like berries and ribbon

After you have cut the wood and sanded off any rough edges (doesn’t have to be super smooth), paint all sides orange. (don’t paint the stem pieces – these will be brown)

Any old orange color will do. In fact, something a bit brighter is probably a good idea. I used a shade called Papaya.

Once the paint is dry you’re going to do a little distressing. That just means you sand off some of the orange paint, usually on edges and corners (you know – where the piece is most likely to have been banged or chipped after years of use).

Then cover the whole thing in a dark wood stain (like walnut or mahogany). Brush it on and wipe it right back off as you would with any other staining project. You will see how it settles into the distressed parts and gives the orange a nice aged look. You will also need to stain your little tiny stem pieces now.

Let the stain dry for a while, probably overnight. It’s always hard for me to be patient and leave a project partially done, but stain in particular really needs the extra drying time.

Using wood glue to adhere them together (hot glue works in a pinch but doesn’t adhere as well and may fall apart over time), stack the blocks to form the pumpkins.

The small pumpkin gets a 4″ piece on bottom, 6″ piece in the middle, 4″ piece on top.

The larger pumpkin uses a 6″ piece on bottom, the two 8″ pieces in the middle, and the final 6″ piece on top. Use a clamp or stick something heavy on top of them and let the glue dry.