So in the spirit of all that is fall, I found this awesome beaded pumpkin craft. This project has some great variations and styles. In this article, I will show you two ways, which both come out differently. The first one will create a two dimensional pumpkin, while the second will create a three-dimensional pumpkin. If you don’t like what you see here, you can change it so it fits your style.
There aren’t too many supplies that you need for this project. You’ll need:
- 0.5 mm orange copper wire. You should be able to find this at a Michael’s or any craft store near you. If not, most other flexible, higher gauge (thinner) wire should work.
- Orange seed beads. (Depending on how you want your pumpkin to look, you can use other colors as well). I recommend you also use green seeds for the top of the pumpkin.
- Two small wire rings. (You can make this yourself or find little rings in the jewelry section at a craft store. This material itself is optional. It is only necessary if you want to make a full, three-dimensional pumpkin).
- Pliers. (Nothing fancy, just a normal pair).
Next, you can begin shaping the wire. There are two ways to do this. If you decide only to make a two-dimensional pumpkin, begin preparing the wire. Here are the instructions for the two-dimensional pumpkin.
- Start by creating a simple, open loop of wire. Make it the size of the pumpkin you want to create.
- Next, use the pliers to create the figure of the pumpkin. Using the pliers, take the middle of the wire loop and bend each side of the loop slightly away from it, bending it the tiniest bit around the pliers in order to create the real pumpkin look.
- Make sure you do not close the wire before you bead it! It will mess up your entire pumpkin and you’ll have to start over.
- Then you can begin to bead the wire. Make sure you lead the beads in carefully so you can keep the shape. It’s extremely important to keep a bit of space left on the wire so you can close the pumpkin. I’d say leave about 5 to 10 millimeters on each side to twist the pumpkin together.
- Next, bring the two ends of the wire together and wrap them into a little twist. To finish, you take a small piece of wire, about 3 or 4 centimeters long, and fill it about half of the way with green beads.
- Finally, bend the piece into a “U” shape, and twist the ends around the open top of your pumpkin.
Now, here is another variation of this project. This one is slightly more complicated. But don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be an awesome project. Now here are the instructions for a full, three-dimensional pumpkin.
- Begin by preparing two small wire rings. Wrap 50 centimeters of the orange wire around the first ring 3 to 5 times.
- Now create the first of 8 arches. Slide twelve of your beads onto the arch, and wrap the excess wire around the next ring 3 to 5 times.
- You’ll repeat this step 7 more times, each time moving your arches around the wire rings to create your pumpkin.
- Let me clarify; you will not keep cutting new pieces of wire. Instead, once you have wrapped the wire around the bottom ring, just flip the figure over so the bottom is now the top. This restarts the process of making the arch.
- Once you have your pumpkin, you simply need to twist your green beaded wire around the top of the ring in order to create the stem.
These instructions will give you an awesome beaded wire pumpkin, either two or three dimensional, depending on which project you choose. There is so much you can do with this project. You could end up with an ornament, or a necklace, or just a little decoration to go on your windowsill every October. This is a great little project for the season. So go ahead and make something great. Have fun!
