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Hi Everyone! Its Sara from The Aqua House and I’m here today with a fun little pallet project! I don’t know about you, but now that the kids are back in school and August is winding down, I’m starting to think about Fall…especially fall decor! Fall is always such a cozy time and it makes me think of crunching leaves, sweaters, apple cider, and pumpkins!
This spring I showed you how to do a simple herb garden from a pallet and today I’m here with another super easy pallet project. Pallets are a great material to use to achieve that rustic look, and with fall decor, I like to go a little rustic. Pallets are usually inexpensive (or free!) so these pumpkins are a great way to decorate on a budget!
You could set these pumpkins on your favorite shelf, hang them on your wall, or set them out on your porch.
And there are so many ways you can customize them to fit your own style! I’m not a fan of bright orange in my home so I made my pumpkins white, but the possibilities are truly endless as to what color you could paint them and how you could embellish them.
Are you ready to make your own pallet pumpkins?
For this project you will need:
The first thing you will need to do is pull your pallet apart and get the top cross pieces off. You will use the back claw side of the hammer to do this. Â These are the pieces we will use for the pumpkins. You will need six of the cross pieces. Five of them will be used to make the front of the pumpkin and the sixth will be used as a brace across the back to hold your pumpkins together.
Now take these six pieces and cut them in half. Â Pallet sizes vary so you will need to measure your pieces to determine what length “half” is for you. Cut them in half using your chop saw.
Now lay five of them out with half of them vertical and half of them horizontal…or whatever way you want your pumpkins to be. Â Now you are going to take the extra cross piece section and nail it to the back of the pumpkin perpendicular to the other pieces. You will need to trim this extra piece down to fit. I made my back brace piece so it was a little smaller than the entire width of the pumpkin. Use a nail gun or hammer and nails to attach. Make sure that your nails aren’t longer than the thickness of your wood, otherwise your nail will poke through the front of your pumpkin.
Then you will turn your pumpkins face up. Â With a pencil, sketch out how you want your pumpkin to look. Â My horizontal pumpkin ended up looking more like an apple (oops!), but hey apples are still fall decor, right?
When you have the pumpkins sketched out how you want, then you will need to take a jig saw and cut around your outline. Â Take your time and go slow. Â Pallet wood will easily crack and splinter, especially if the pallet is older. Â Its worth it to go slow and do it right.
You may have to cut through the back brace piece. Â When you are done your pumpkins will look something like this.
Now it is time to paint them. Â As I mentioned before, there are so many different colors you could chose from, with, of course, orange being one of them. Â I chose white because it matches my home decor best and because I like the look of white pumpkins.
If you want to go for a more rustic look like I did, when you are painting just apply a light coat of paint.  Its ok to  make sure the pumpkin isn’t 100% covered with paint.  I’d rather make it looked distressed while painting rather than going back over it with a sander later.
While the pumpkins are drying its time to make the mini bunting! For the bunting you will need three different fabrics either in scraps or 1/8 yard cuts (1/8 yard is the smallest cut most stores will do for you).
Take your fabric and cut it into 1 1/2 inch strips. From these strips you will cut triangles with a 1 inch side.(For more on how to make a bunting look here.)
Take your triangles and hot glue them onto the string, putting the hot glue on the back side of the fabric.
Attach your bunting to the pumpkin using hot glue.
Now take your twigs or small branches and cut them down to make your pumpkin stems (mine measure about 4 1/2 inches). To make the stem looked curved over like a pumpkin stem, cut one side on an angle.
Attach the stem piece to the top of your pumpkin with hot glue.
Your pumpkins are now done, unless you want to do any more embellishing!
Now go find that perfect place in your home to display your pumpkins (or apple, ha!). Then cozy up in your favorite sweater, grab some apple cider, and enjoy your new creation!
-Sara
Check out Sara’s blog HERE, her Facebook page HERE, her Instagram account HERE, and her Pinterest Boards HERE.