STYROFOAM brand foam crafts

Jolly Jack o' Lantern Jamboree

Plant a patch of personality in your Halloween home. Are they directing trick-or-treat traffic? Practicing the jack o' lantern victory dance? Whatever their mission these perky pumpkins will keep you smiling.
   Completion Time - 
2-4 hours
   Designer - 
Kathleen George

Materials

STYROFOAM Brand Foam
  • Balls, one each size: 6"; 5"; 4"; 3"
  • Sheet, 1" thick, scrap
Other Materials
  • Acrylic paints: black; brown; green; white
  • Matte varnish
  • Felt, 4" x 6": green; orange
  • Black craft foam, 2mm, 3" x 5"
  • Orange tissue paper, several sheets
  • Wooden dowels, one each: 3/16"; 5/16"; 3/8"
  • Green fine-gauge floral wire

Tools

  • Fine-line black permanent marker
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Wooden skewers
  • Metal tablespoon
  • Paintbrushes: medium flat; liner
  • Disposable palette
  • Water basin
  • Paper towels
  • Scissors
  • Rubber bands, three
  • Wire cutters
  • Utility knife with new blade
  • Low-temp glue gun and glue sticks
  • Thin, white craft glue

Instructions

  • 1. Firmly press top and bottom of each foam ball against worksurface to flatten slightly. Mark center top and bottom. Wraprubber bands around 3" ball from top to bottom, making sixequal vertical segments. Mark segment lines. Repeat forremaining foam balls.
  • 2. Use utility knife to cut 1/2"-deep, V-shaped notch alongeach segment line. Rub cut foam edges with back of metal spoonto smooth. Insert skewer into bottom of each pumpkin.
  • 3. Cut patterns as indicated. Note: For ease in assembly,group hand and pumpkin segment pattern pieces as follows: A,3" pumpkin; B, 4" pumpkin; C, 5" pumpkin; D, 6" pumpkin.
  • 4. Holding 3" pumpkin by skewer, apply generous coat of whiteglue to one segment at a time. Center tissue paper segment ontop of glue; smooth with fingers. Carefully apply second coatof glue over tissue, gently removing air bubbles and wrinkleswith brush. Repeat to cover all pumpkins, overlapping tissuesegments. Place skewers in heavy glass or jar; let dry.
  • 5. When dry, apply matte varnish to pumpkins. Let dry; remove skewers.
  • 6. Use utility knife to cut two "arms" for each pumpkin fromdowels as follows: A, 3/16" x 2"; B, 5/16" x 2-3/8"; C, 5/16" x 2-5/8";D, 3/8" x 3-1/4". For stem, cut 1" length from 3/16" dowel.
  • 7. Paint arms green and stem brown. Push dowels into scrap foam to dry.
  • 8. To shape hands, pinch base in half and spot glue. Gluehands to ends of appropriate arms.
  • 9. Use glue gun to glue pumpkins together, smallest to largest.
  • 10. Using photo as guide and pencil, poke holes in eachpumpkin for arm placement and in top pumpkin for stem. Applyglue to ends of dowels and twist into holes.
  • 11. Glue leaves around stem and between pumpkins as shown.
  • 12. Using photo as guide and pencil, lightly draw faces onpumpkins. When satisfied with faces, use liner brush to paintfeatures black and white.
  • 13. Cut four 8" lengths from floral wire. Leaving 2" straighttail, wrap each wire length around remaining 3/8" dowel tocurl. Glue bats to curled ends of wire lengths. Glue wiretails 2" deep into pumpkins. Adjust wire as desired.