DIY TUTORIAL! Fall pumpkin decorations made from old recycled books

Have a bunch of old books lying around? Give them a new life by creating unique pumpkins, perfect for autumn and Halloween decorations. I just love this cute, rustic way to recycle old books

 into decor for your home for fall!

There are a few different techniques that you can use to color the pumpkins, depending on how color-saturated you want them (and how much time you want to spend creating them ).

MATERIALS

Old paperback books
Sticks
Orange acrylic paint
Mixing container
Scissors or Exacto knife
Hot glue & glue gun
Sheet of paper
Leaves
Green jewelry wire

DIRECTIONS

On a blank sheet of paper, draw and cut out a pumpkin shape (keeping in mind the size of the book you will be using and that the book will need to be able to stand up, so keep the bottom flat).  Pull the front & back cover off the book. Open the book  to about halfway through, and then trace the shape onto the book pages. Use an Exacto knife(for straight cuts) or scissors(for a more rustic jagged cut, my preference) to cut out the pumpkin (you will have to work your way through the book doing this, cutting several pages at a time).

Once your pumpkin shape is cut out, it’s time to give it some color! Decide which method you want to use (if you’re making more than one, you may want to try a different method of adding 

color for each one):

Dip the edges in orange paint. Take a paint brush with some orange acrylic paint and brush it across the edges of the pages. Water down orange acrylic paint to dilute it and put it in a large mixing bowl or other container. Test the orange color by dipping a sheet of paper in – add more water or orange paint to make it the color you like. Then, just close the book and dip the cut edges in. 

You can dip as little or as much as you’d like – the deeper and/or longer the book gets dipped in the paint, the further the color will soak up into the pages. If you want the book pages to be entirely orange-tinted, dip the whole book in the paint (this produces a really cute look, but it took almost 2 days to dry completely!).

Once the book pumpkins are completely dry, Open the book so that the first and last pages and the core of the spine are facing up. Use the hot glue gun to glue a stick (the stem), into the top of the spine of the book. Zig-zag hot glue all the way down the spine, then just open the book completely so the pages are all spread out.

It’s time to make the curlies and leaves that will attach to the top. Use some jewelry wire to create little curly spirals that will also stick out of the top of the pumpkin by wrapping it around a pen or pencil (I used a stick), then just slide it off.

Put a drop of hot glue on the end of the wire and place it into the center where the stem is, arranging it how you like. I like to wrap it once around the stem.

Next, it's time for the leaves. You could cut these out of felt or paper, but I think it gives a more rustic, authentic feel if you use real leaves. For a personal touch choose leaves from your own yard. My back yard in the burg has an orange tree so I used leaves from that to make them "Florida pumpkins".

Now let the glue dry...and Voila! You've created adorable recycled pumpkin decor from old books. Arrange them together or separately in your home for fall cheer!

I hope you enjoyed this autumn craft...It's definitely got me in the mood for apple cider and cinnamon candles! This is the first of many DIY tutorials to come! I'd love to hear if you tried it, how yours turned out or take any requests for DIY tutorials you'd like to see. Follow/subscribe and/or leave me a comment. Happy Fall!

XoXo-Bombshell Beauty