Hanging Pumpkin Centerpiece

I like to decorate the kitchen table with a centerpiece.  The problem is, we use our kitchen table for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and loads of crafts in between, and a centerpiece just gets in the way!  So, last Christmas I made a hanging centerpiece, and I thought that would work for the fall, too.

What do you think?

This centerpiece hangs from the chandy, and it hovers about four inches off the table.  This allows us to still use all of our table space, and it is low enough that we can still see each other across the table during meals!  I love that it is easy to clean under, and I never have to move the centerpiece!

I was going to do a tutorial on this, but there was just not much to it, and I didn't have my camera.  (Sorry about the lousy pics!)  Anyhow, I'll give you the basic instructions, and if you would like more details, just leave a comment and I will get a tutorial together for you!

I started with:

A charger plate

Spanish moss

Some floral picks

Ribbon

A scrap of fabric (mine was actually a drop cloth)

I cut out a very large circle from the drop cloth.  I gathered all of the "edges" together, and "eye-balled" where I thought my printing should go.  I took a permanent marker and wrote on the fabric.  I got lucky, and it actually is centered...mostly!

After I wrote on the fabric, I took a needle and a very long piece of thread, and I hand stitched an outline all the way around the fabric, about 1/8 inch from the edge, and I cinched the fabric together as I went along.  I was essentially making a giant yo-yo flower.  I know that I haven't shown you how to do that yet, and I promise I will!  In the meantime, here is the tutorial I used to learn to make these flowers. Again, the pumpkin was basically just a giant yo-yo.

After I had sewn all the way around my fabric and cinched it as tight as I could, I was left with a very big hole at the top.  Don't worry!  You won't be able to see it!  I stuffed the fabric with some batting I had on hand, just fluffing and smooshing as I went along.  (Yes, these are VERY technical terms.  Fluffing and smooshing.) Once my "pumpkin" was sufficiently stuffed, I grabbed a thick stick from the yard, pushed it in the center of the pumpkin, and covered the hole with Spanish moss, being sure not to entirely cover the stick.  I used a small amount of hot glue (Oh!  Who am I kidding?!  I put a couple of giant blobs of hot glue on the top and just "smooshed" away!) to secure the Spanish moss.

To put it all together, I put some Spanish moss on the charger and laid some of the floral picks on top of the moss.  I set my pumpkin on top of that, and then I tied two very long pieces of ribbon to my chandy, and I set the centerpiece in the middle.  It really is that simple.  The ribbon is not attached to the charger.  The charger just balances on the ribbons.  Cool, right?

Again, if you want more details, let me know!  Have you tried something unexpected recently?  How did it turn out?  I'd love to hear from you!

Enjoy the Son!

Comments

[Lizz Allen]

I like it Holly! Very creative!

[Kendy Best]

I love it! I love your fall crafts and I really can't wait to see what you do at Christmas!!