Hello there!  Today I am starting in on my dining room Fall decorations.  That being said, we are going to jump right into a DIY.

This DIY I will be making napkin rings for my Fall dining room table.  I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do until I went to the Dollar Tree and saw the small pumpkins.  That got my decorating imagination flowing.  I grabbed 6 of their pumpkins, which that store didn’t have 6 of the same color, but they were the same size and shape.  I was going to paint them anyway so it didn’t matter.

Here is the items I will be using for the napkin rings.

• 6 small pumpkins
• 1″ x 3″ template
• craft knife or razor knife
• pencil
• 6 chopsticks or whatever you want to use
• paint
• paint brush
• mod podge
• gold leaf
• gold spray paint
• sealer

Let’s get started!

I am taking the first 4 items:  Pumpkins, template, knife and pen.

I want to make a 1 inch x 3 inch window in the center of the pumpkin.  If you look closely at the pumpkins there is a line all the way around the pumpkin in the center.

I used a posted note for my template so one side was sticky.  I centered the template and drew around it onto the pumpkin.

I am doing the same thing on the other side of the pumpkin.  Trying to keep it centered with the other side.

This step you will have to be careful….real careful you don’t want to slice out of the line or cut yourself.

I started on the line and just cut around the pattern.  Do that to both sides.

Once I had the whole pattern cut I popped out the outer shells and started digging the tunnel.

I did that to all 6 pumpkins.  It makes a huge mess but nothing I can’t handle.

If you want to leave the pumpkin as is and not paint them here is what they would look like.

They look cute that way, but I wanted my Fall dining room table to be orange and gold.  I will be painting mine and adding some gold leaf to them.

I removed the plastic stems from the pumpkins.  They pull out very easily.

I grab my metallic gold spray paint and spray the stems gold.

Painting the pumpkins.

To paint the pumpkins I am going to use some chop sticks to poke in the stem hole so I have an all around access to painting the pumpkins.

I start painting the inside of the slot and work to the outside.  When I was done I place the pumpkin on a stick in a glass so the pumpkins can dry.

They are just too orange for me. ha!  Once they were dry I did an ivory wash to them.

I add 2 parts water to 1 part paint.

I painted the wash all over the pumpkin then wipe dry with a paper towel.  Leaving the ivory in the crevices.

Don’t they look better with the ivory wash on them?  They look like little hamburger buns don’t they?  🙂

I let them dry.

I wanted to add just a bit of gold leaf to the pumpkins.  I grabbed my mod podge, gold leaf and two paint brushes.

I just add mod podge to the area I want the leaf to be, add the piece to the glue area and tap with my finger.

The gold leaf will not stick where there’s no mod podge.  Once I had the amount of gold leaf I let it sit for about 3 minutes or so and then started brushing the gold leaf spots with a stiff brush.  Lightly brushing until the loose leaf was removed.

I added some gold leaf to the stem also.

After all of my pumpkins had the gold leaf added, I applied a coat of minwax finishing paste on them all.  I like to seal everything I do because it is easier to dust and clean.

I know that it seemed like a lot of steps, but sometimes to achieve the look you want on a budget it does require some time to make.  I love how the pumpkins turned out and I am so excited to be placing them on my Fall tablescape in my dining room.

What do you think?

I love the monogram napkins I found at Tuesday Morning.

If you like my DIY Pumpkin napkin rings please click the LIKE button and SHARE it with your social media friends!  You can pin this to your PINTEREST page to save it to refresh your memory when you would like to start decorating your fall table.  The buttons you need to click are at the bottom of my page.  I would love for you to be part of my family so follow me on all my social media.  Facebook HERE – Instagram HERE and Pinterest HERE.  Come by and say Hey!

Thank you again for coming by and spending some time with me!

Stay strong and stay blessed!

XO  Terrie