Crafts · Holiday & Special Events ·

Honeycomb Pumpkins

by Laura Zeo

Honeycomb Pumpkins

For being a “summer girl” through and through, it seems so unfair my birthday generally falls on the first day of Autumn. However, spooky season is my absolute favorite season to decorate for! I come home from the beach and splash my pastel rainbow of pumpkins made from every medium from glass to wool, across my mantle and nooks in need of sweet little spooky things. And yes, that was me saying pastel rainbow—just because the leaves are falling does not mean I squash my Boho Coastal vibes! And for either the deer or my Labrador, I stack an ecru, peach and pale green pumpkin atop each other outside my front door. These are the colors that inspired me to create these no-sew easy peasy honeycomb felt pumpkins. They are the perfect look to last from the start of school all the way to Thanksgiving (or Remembrance Day for my new Canadian friends)! Styling them can be maker’s choice - go as elaborate as you like and feel free to swap out the colors to your preference. Here’s how to make these gourd-geous seasonal pumpkins. 

Experience level: Beginner

Time to make: Approximately 20 minutes to 1 hour per pumpkin

Felt Materials

Additional Supplies

  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Fabric Scissors
  • Fabric Stiffener
  • Iron
  • Wool Ironing Pad
  • Cutting Machine, OR Printer and Freezer Paper
  • Foraged Sticks

Optional Supplies

  • 1.5 cm Felted Balls (feel free to use whatever size works for your acorns)
  • Rotary Blade
  • Foraged Decorative items like Pinecones and Acorn Caps

1. Forage and gather your supplies. If you are making felted acorns, discard the nut and keep only the cap.

2. Cut a 12 x ¼ inch strip of Beige felt. I prefer using a cutting mat and rotary blade, but nature isn’t perfect so hand cutting is always welcomed.
3. Lightly moisten your beige strip with water. Grab a pencil and wrap it around. Spray with a Felt Stiffener and set aside. (Alternatives to felt stiffener are bountiful! A popular choice is hairspray NOT from an aerosol can, but liquid pump. And in this case, the more inexpensive the better!
4. If using a cutting machine, import the templates of each gourd (see links below). You will need 8 templates for each color/shape. For the pumpkin leaves, use the Mint and Dark Green felt colors. You will need a total of 6, 3 smaller leaves and 3 larger leaves.

5. If you are hand-cutting your felt, print the template onto the non-glossy side of freezer paper. Be sure to print 8 patterns per pumpkin. Print 3 small leaf templates and 3 large leaf templates. Cut and sort your freezer paper shapes and iron them onto the felt.

6. For the pumpkin shapes, it is important to make them as identical as possible for assembly. Whether you used a cutting machine, or cut by hand, trim away any misaligned or fluffy pieces.

 

 7. Using your iron, make a crease down the center of each pumpkin segment.

8. Break or snap 3 sticks to their desired lengths. Use a pumpkin segment as a reference guide. It should be long enough to touch the base of your shape and make a pumpkin stem.

9. Begin assembly. Take your first 8 pumpkin pieces and open at the crease. Add a line of hot glue across ½ the inside of the pumpkin. Close to seal and repeat for the other pumpkin shapes.

10. Continue to hot glue along the inside of every segment and be sure not to over glue. Stop your glue gun before the edge of the felt. (I used disappearing ink to show glue placement. It is the halfway point of each shape).

11. Time to stack! Hot glue about 1 inch at the top and bottom of a segment. Immediately add another segment on top. Be sure that they align. (See my reference photo for where to glue!)
12. After you repeat this process for all 3 pumpkins, slowly open a stack and watch the honeycomb go peek-a-BOO! If some glue oozed out and made your pumpkin a little wonky, either gently pull or cut your stuck spot so that it opens properly.
13. Seal your pumpkin by adding two more lines of glue to the matching location at the top and bottom and align it with the counter-parting side.
14. Repeat for the remaining pumpkins.
15. Allocate your stick pumpkin “stems” to each pumpkin and dedicate a top and a bottom to each pumpkin.
16. Insert your hot glue nozzle into the BOTTOM of your pumpkin and add a good squeeze around. Immediately insert your stick through the TOP of the pumpkin and stop before the stick passes the line of felt. The stick bottom should remain inside the pumpkin.
17. Use your fingers to work the glue around the felt and the stick by pressing and holding for about 20 seconds.
18. Repeat this process for the other pumpkins.
19. Now it’s time to decorate! Add your forestry findings and felt leaves to your pumpkins. For some, I added pinecones first, while others I started with the leaves. Craft as you see fit!
20. To make a felted acorn, add a dollop of hot glue to the acorn cap and insert your felt ball. Set aside.
21. Return to your Beige strip of stiffened felt. Usually, it needs a decent amount of time to properly cure, however, a hairdryer can accelerate dry time! If your strip is dry, remove the now curly felt from the pencil and cut into thirds.
22. Glue a section of curly felt vine around each stick.
23. Continue to decorate using felted acorns and your findings until you have the most charming little pumpkin that will never rot!
This simple decoration is sure to delight with its whimsy and mix of natural elements to your felt craft. If you love this tutorial, try your hand at a pastel rainbow! Please share your versions of this fun collection of felt Honeycomb Pumpkins on social media by tagging @The_Felt_Store and @Felt Like a Party on Instagram.
Happy Crafting!

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