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Pottery Barn Style on a Budget: Halloween Edition

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As soon as the Halloween-themed Pottery Barn Kids catalog hit our mailbox, Zack got busy pointing out all of the things that he “wished he could have.” Yeah, you and me both, Kid.

One of the things that he kept going back to was the Pirate Build-A-Pumpkin kit.

After looking at the photo in the catalog and reading the description, I figured I could make my own version of the adorable pumpkin accessories. Pottery Barn wants $12 each for the Pirate, Cat, Skull, and Spider sets, but I knew I could make all four of them for half of that.

Wanna know how? Yeah, of course you do. 🙂

Pottery Barn Inspired Pumpkin Accessories

1. I began by drawing out each of the pieces I wanted to add to each pumpkin.

Don’t fancy yourself an artist? No worries. I did the hard work for you and drew out everything you need for the four pumpkins. Click here to download the .pdf file of the artwork. The artwork is scaled for a medium sized pumpkin, so you will need to enlarge or reduce if you are using a large or small pumpkin.

2. Print out the .pdf and cut out the shapes for the pumpkin(s) you want to put together. For this tutorial, I am showing the Skull accessory kit.

3. At your local craft store, pick up some sheets of sticky-backed felt (about $1 each). You will need white and black for each set. I put all four sets together and only ended up using one sheet of white and two sheets of black.

I advise against using the “soft” sticky-backed felt. It’s a pain to peel the backing off of it.
4. Trace and cut out the shapes on each piece of felt. On the artwork, I labeled each piece with the color and the number of each shape you will need to cut out. Some are labeled front and back, which means you need to trace the front side (the side with the writing on it) and the back side (without the writing), so you’ll have mirror images of each piece.

Note: On the Cat set, you actually need to cut out 4 front and 4 back of the white rectangles, not 2 of each as noted on the artwork.

5. On the pieces that stick out of the pumpkin, I inserted a toothpick in between the front and back shapes to make a little toothpick sandwich. I just left a small portion of the toothpick sticking out to stick into the pumpkin. I had to break a few of the toothpicks in half so that they wouldn’t be too long. Once your little sandwich is put together, you will probably need to trim the edges so that the pieces match up nicely.

The pieces you will need to set up with a toothpick are:

  • Pirate – Hat (I put one toothpick in the center and one on each side)
  • Cat – Ears, whiskers
  • Skull – Bones
  • Spider – Legs

6. After assembling the rest of the pieces that layer on top of each other, draw in the faux stitching. On the white pieces, I used a thin black marker. On the black pieces, I used a silver metallic marker I found at the craft store for a few dollars.

Sorry that picture is so oddly lit. I’m not sure what’s going on there.7. Now, all you have left to do is to peel the backing off of the pieces and stick them directly to your fresh pumpkin or craft pumpkin. The pieces on toothpicks can be easily stuck directly into the pumpkin.

8. Display your new friends proudly!

I can’t believe how much my knock-offs look like the “real” ones!

You can create your own Pottery Barn-inspired pumpkin kits for under $5 for all four of them. The only difference between these knock-offs and the real thing is some polyester stuffing in some of the pieces and actual stitching instead of faux stitching. Oh, and $43.

Zack really wanted his picture taken with his new pumpkins. Here he is posing with his favorite, “Fat Cat.”

Our pumpkins will eventually be carved into Jack-O-Lanterns a few days before Halloween, but until then, we’re going to enjoy Fat Cat and all of his fun little friends.Will you create a set of your own?

***********

I’m in the mood to party! You can find this post linked to Rhoda’s “It’s Fall, Y’all!” party at Southern Hospitality and to Jane’s Frugalicious Friday party at Finding Fabulous!

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Comments

  13. niartist says

    Oh this is just beautiful! Definitely a fantastic way to ring in fall! Oh, and if you're going to be doing any spooky Halloween decor, stop by my blog for a how-to and a giveaway! I hope you can!

    Reply

  14. frugal farmhouse design says

    You did an amazing job on these. I did not even know they made felt like that. Thanks for the tutorial. This is one of the projects I will be doing with my younger guy. All the best, Lori

    Reply

  17. Shanty 2 Chic says

    Your pumpkins are adorable and your right! They look exactly like the PB pumpkins! Great job! ~Ashley

    Reply

  28. Nikki Cogg says

    You're amazing!! I don't have kids but my husband and I love to decorate pumpkins, so we'll definitely be making a few of these!

    Reply

  30. Lindsey @ Better After says

    I'm totally going to do this! My three year old just wandered up and said "Hey! That pumpkin has BONES on it!" I asked him if we should make some, and his eyes lit up and he said "YEAH!"

    😉

    Reply

  55. sonia says

    i just received my PB catalog yesterday and these caught my eye. i love that you put a tutorial together. yours rock!!!!!! thanks from all the folks on a budget and think PB prices are crazy stupid!!!!!!!! hey, how about you make a tutorial for one of those $69.00 costumes featured. we would love it!!!!!!!

    Reply

  57. Anonymous says

    I love the ideas of saving money on Halloween crafts. Especially ideas from the PB. I love that place. Keep up the good work. Keep the frugal ideas coming our way.

    Reply

  59. little bird says

    i recently started a blog for nursing home activity directors. I search the web for great ideas for them to use. I used this one the other day. It really came out great

    Reply

  60. Mandy says

    Just discovered your site and love so many of your ideas. I would love to feature your "Pottery Barn on a Budget" over on our site Steals and Deals (www.stealsdeals.blogspot.com)! We have a day where we share with our readers how to save some $ and this piece would be FAB! Of course I would direct all of our readers to your site. 🙂 Please let me know, thanks!

    gasnb@msn.com

    Reply

  65. Valerie says

    What a great idea! I have added you to my file box at thecraftersfilebox.blogspot.com.

    Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

  66. Kristin says

    Lindsay, you are so ridiculously creative. LOVE the pirate! And your little man is adorable. p.s. You looked gorg in Leigh's wedding photos. : )

    Reply

  69. Anonymous says

    First time reader. Can I say I love you? This is such a cool tutorial. I think my son is going to love you too! THANKS so much!!! Will be doing this over the weekend!

    Reply

  70. bj says

    omgosh….I am a first time visitor to your amazing blog. I don't know how I've missed it all this time but I just became a follower so I won't lose you….:)
    Amazing pumpkins and they DO look just like PB.
    Please come by sometime…
    xo bj

    Reply

  72. Anonymous says

    I came across your blog yesterday and found this project. it is super awesome. I had to make the pirate pumpkin today! My boys each made their own pirate pumpkin and loved it. Thanks for the DIY

    Reply

  75. Nicole says

    You are soooo creative! Thanks for the great idea1 Me and my kids just made our own pumpkins following your instructions!

    Reply

  76. amber gariety says

    These are so cute! I can’t wait to try them this Halloween. We have been growing lots of pumpkins in our garden and will have lots to carve and decorate.

    Reply

  77. Tom Coleman says

    Su-weet! You are amazing… it’s funny, we get so used to buying stuff, that we don’t realize that buying imitations is just that (imitating), and making it ourselves is the way to make lasting memories. When you’re a kid, you actually want to DO stuff, create stuff… not just buy it. Great job!

    Reply

  80. Kids Kitchen Playset says

    Thanks Lindsay for the ideas for creating a Pottery Barn Halloween on a budget.
    I love pottern barn’s kids range but you are right they can be really expensive

    Thanks again
    Katie

    Reply

  83. cherryl says

    Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you!!!! This is exactly what I needed and you did such a good job. You are awesome for sharing your patterns with us and we are grateful. God Bless!!

    Reply

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