Pumpkin Pennant

I'm hosting a pumpkin party at my house in a few weeks. "A Pumpkin Party? What is that?" you say. Well...basically its an excuse to hang out and have a party. I know most people go out on Halloween and I am NOT a Halloween party person- I am a Fall person. But that doesn't mean I can't find a way to combine them!

A Pumpkin Party at my house means: Come over, BYOB (bring your own pumpkin), eat pumpkin tasting goodies (will post more later) and carve your pumpkins at my house. I deal with the pumpkin mess, kids can have fun with a few simple games, and adults can spend time together laughing and probably taking over their kids carving :)

I'll be gone for a week right before the date, so I have started making decorations. A few weeks ago I walked around Target and picked up some plates that I thought were cute and that sort of set my party color scheme right off: Orange, Black, Brown and this Teal Blue <3.

Anyways...if your coming to the party, this is a spoiler. You get a look at what is to come (so maybe you'll be more excited to come!).

Pumpkin Pennant

Materials Needed

printer paper
pencil
ruler
scissors
1/2 yard sturdy fabric, I used burlap
approx 3 glue sticks
glue gun
newspaper
10 ft twine, ribbon, yarn etc...
Various color-complimentary scraps of fabric. You can also buy some pre arranged coordinating fabric at any craft store area: Walmart, Micheal's, Hobby Lobby...
small pumpkin cookie cutter
Stitch Witchery (optional)
needle and thread (optional)

1. Take 1 piece of printer paper and fold in half like a book. Using your ruler and pencil make the size pennant you would like. I made mine 5 1/2" wide by 7 1/2" long. Cut out template and trace on fabric. Cut pennants out.

2.  I cut out 12 pennants. I did the math to calculate a good foot length for my garland. 5.5 (pennant width) x 12 (cut out)= 66in. or 5.5 feet so far.

I wanted my pennant to have some hanging room so I added a foot to each end making it now 7.5 feet (90 in).

Lastly, I wanted the pennants to be evenly spaced so I figured I could round out the garland to 10 feet. 10-7.5=2.5feet or 30in. 30/12= 2.6 inch spaces between pennants.

Long story short, cut your twine 10 ft long if you want it like mine, otherwise you can do your own math.

3. Plug in the glue gun, lay out newspaper. Measure 12 inches of twine (or whatever your using), mark with pencil. Lay pennant under twine and add a zig-zag across the top. Line up mark at end of pennant, fold fabric over twine, pinch with fingers until set. If you are using burlap, I would suggest you get a cold glue gun so you don't burn your fingers as the glue may squeeze through.

4. Measure out 2.6in, mark and repeat until you have glued all your pennants to the twine. If you want some added cuteness and security, sew a running stitch through the folded fabric.

5. Get out your scraps, get comfortable, and trace. Trace 12-36 pumpkins (it's up to you how many you want to cut out and glue on pennants). I wanted a good variety of different shapes and sized pumpkins. Nature doesn't come in just one shape and size...so I found a lot of different kinds online and traced them right off my screen. If you want the same pumpkins that I used, I have a PDF file you can print out here.

Now cut out your pumpkins. You should have a nice variety of eclectic pumpkins.

6. Lay out your garland, and arrange pumpkins in a way you like. Hot glue them in place (or use some stitch witchery and iron them in place). Again, added cuteness/security, put a running stitch on pumpkins in contrasting colors.

7. Hang and get ready to make the next party decoration!