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Easy DIY pumpkin and ghost garland. Yes. You heard that right. It is October, it is Halloween season and I am ready for allllll the decorations. I mean, my house is already mostly decorated but now that it’s October I am feeling especially spooky.
Have you ever been scrolling on Pinterest and see a pin that stops you in your tracks and you think to yourself “WOW. I have everything I need to make that, that looks like fun” then you do and it turns out amazing? Same. It’s rare but same. This pin and blog post by Bliss Makes really inspired me to get out my yarn and scissors and make THE CUTEST Halloween Garland ever.
I love a good DIY but it just gets that much better when it’s 1. Quick and 2. Inexpensive. This checks both those boxes. To take it one step further, I make a video explaining how it’s done for those of you that don’t like reading or for those of you that really enjoy my brand of humor and sarcasm.
Now, for those of you that enjoy reading. Here we go:
Supplies needed:
White or off white yarn
Orange yarn
Brown yarn
Sharp scissors (my favorite fiskars)
A piece of cardboard roughly 3inches wide by 5 inches long
Small Pom Pom maker (This is the pack from amazon for $6.99)
The following instructions make a string of garland that is about five feet long with 6 ghost tassels and 5 pumpkin pompoms. Feel free to adjust to make it longer, shorter, packed with ghosts or more sparse. It is totally up to you.
To make your tassels, grab your white yarn and the piece of cardboard. Cut about a 12 inch piece of yarn and a 6 inch piece of yarn, then set both to the side. Begin wrapping the yarn from the spool around your piece of cardboard long ways. I wrapped mine about 25 times because of the thickness of my yarn but feel free to eyeball this, just be sure to keep count of how many times you wrap it. Once you’ve reached your desired thickness, grab your 12 inch piece of yard and slide it between the cardboard and yarn on one side and gather at the top of the tassel, tighten the yarn then tie in a knot (as many times as you need to feel secure). Now, grab the 6 inch piece of yarn, about 1 inch from the top of your tassel, tie this piece around horizontally so that the yarn gathers creating the shape of your ghost. Repeat as many times as needed for the desired amount of ghost tassels.
For your pumpkins: Using your small pom pom maker, follow the instructions wrapping the orange yarn around the pom pom maker until it is full. Then before you clip your edges, cut a 6 inch piece of brown yarn to tie your pom pom with. Once your pom is made and tied with the brown yarn, trip to the shape of a pumpkin but don’t cut the brown yarn. To make the step of your pumpkin, gently tie 3 loose knots in the yarn, then with the 4th and final knot pull it tight. Follow these instructions until you have as many pumpkins as you want on your garland.
For the braided string to hang: Cut 9 strands of yarn about 5.5ft long. Tie them all together at one end. Then do a three strand braid with 3 pieces of yarn in each strand. Once complete tie at the other end.
Arrange your ghosts and pumpkins on the braided string. I like to lay my braid on the counter then find the middle and place a pumpkin in the middle, then work my way to the ends alternating ghosts and pumpkins. The strand I made with 6 ghosts and 5 pumpkins starts and ends with ghosts. To fasten these to the braided strand, just tie them through a loop of the braid with a double know.
Last but not least, hold up your completed Halloween garland and get excited because you did that!!! At this point feel free to add on little faces or leave as is, like I did. If you end up making this DIY please tag me @KaitlinClaywell on instagram, I would love to see it.
