Danni's Twisted Pumpkin and Wine Mulls

Danni here from Silo Hill Farm blog.  Remember me from yesterday?  I know, I know....another ugly pumpkin makeover, but since I love pumpkins, I can't resist rescuing them after the Halloween season. 

This one happened to be an ugly Styrofoam pumpkin from the dollar store.  Even worse...it had the ugliest stem in the world.  A nubby little thing really.  I had seen so many of those cute twisty, curly stems on Pinterest so I decided to give this pumpkin one.
Wanna make one for yourself?   Here's what you'll need.

 This project is a lot quicker and easier than you'd think.  Not including dry time, I was done in about an hour and a half.
Take that ugly pumpkin and remove the stem.  In this case, I just had to pull really hard on it.  You might have to cut yours off depending how it's attached.  Save that stem, you're going to need it.

Set the pumpkin and stem aside and start cutting out your fabric strips.  I cut mine a little longer than the pumpkin was from top to bottom and made them about an inch wide.  I used my rotary cutter. (I cut a huge slice into my finger.  Swears were said.  Be careful, those suckers are sharp....or just use scissors.)  Next, I cut the ends to points using scissors because now I was afraid of my rotary cutter.  Cutting the ends to points makes them lay nicely and not get all bunched up at the top.

Then, take your sponge brush and working in sections, brush the Modge Podge over the pumpkin.  Lay a strip on and brush over the top with more Modge Podge.  Repeat all the way around the pumpkin.

I cannot lie....you will have very sticky fingers when you are done.
Now set this aside and let it dry.  I just set mine right on top of that little plastic cup that was holding the Modge Podge.

Now this is the fun part...let's make that cute curly stem!
Cut a piece of wire the length you would like your stem to be.  Curl the end with some pliers and wrap it up in as many layers of foil as you'd like.  I triple folded my piece of foil to begin with and then just rolled the wire up in it leaving a little bit of the other end of the wire sticking out to attach my stem.  Then....twist the whole thing to whatever whimsical shape your heart desires.

You need to reattach the original stem to the entire piece you just made.  I poked my wire through the top of the old one and used some masking tape to secure it.

Now you are going to want to hide all of that foil and masking tape. I used a little fabric-safe glue and started at the stem end and wrapped ribbon all the way up it dabbing a little glue every now and then to make sure it stayed.

Then I just shoved the stem back into the pumpkin, glued a little bow on it and let it all continue to dry. 

At the last minute, I decided to add a little button...because I have a million of them!  Once it's all dry and not the least bit sticky, it's ready to make it's debut in your Thanksgiving decor.  

Much better than it was ever going to look as a Halloween pumpkin, don't you think?  And don't you love that crazy stem with all of it's twisty, whimsical loveliness?
Now, can I tell you about one of my favorite Thanksgiving projects?  After all of the cooking, eating and cleaning are over with, I make wine mulls! They are the perfect Christmas gift and the longer they sit the more intense the spice flavors become.  Not to mention, they are so stinkin cute...

Wine Mulls

Because they are packed into orange halves, they look like cute little ornaments and they smell amazing!  Because the orange halves are dried out in your oven, they don't need refrigeration.  I make a dozen of them at a time and put them in a basket by the door for guests to take home.  

Wine Mulls

They also make the perfect hostess gift along with a bottle of wine.  If you haven't tried warm mulled wine, you're missing a wonderful holiday treat!  Don't drink wine?  They are also wonderful  dropped into some warm apple cider.  Want to know how to make these cute little wine mulls?  Just click HERE.
Thank you again Donna for letting me guest post not once, but twice in a row!  You know I'm your number one fan! LOL!!! 

You are the Mother Of All Crafts - Queen of the Repurposed Craft!

You really do not know how helpful you have been.

A hug and a huge THANK YOU!

And yes, I got the number one fan joke.  Chucks is not dead -YET!

See y'all!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Use this discount code to receive 10% off your purchase at the Distressed Donna Etsy store:

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SHOP HERE! 

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