Here's what I started with:
Pumpkins and glass candlesticks from the Dollar store.
I would have liked to use different size Pumpkins, but this was all they had, and the price was right.
Spray paint - some I had had already, but I bought a can of Metallic spray in as close to Bronze as I could find
Glue - glue gun, E-600, or white glue, like Alenes
Spanish Moss
Ribbon, strips of fabric, raffia
I've seen some black Pumpkins recently, I can't remember where, and thought they were just terrific. So I started by spraying the Pumpkins with flat black, and spraying the glass candlesticks with the bronze color metallic. That stuff they always tell you about using lots of light coats of paint is true, by the way.
Also, try to pick a day when it's not windy. You can see the newspaper flapping in this photo, which adds to the adventure.
After the candlestick had a good coat of the metallic,
I used the flat black to kind of "dust" over it, to
make it less shiny, and more weathered looking.
Here are the two main parts after painting.
This is the point where I start putting things
together temporarily, and standing back to decide
if I like what I see, and what it needs. I added
the moss around the stem, and then glued the
Pumpkin to the candlestick, and glued the
moss in place.
After looking at these for a minute, I decided one way to change the size would be to stack two together, so I
used a pencil to make a hole in the bottom of the
top Pumpkin, added moss between the two, and glued,
using the stem of the bottom pumpkin to help
secure them.
Here's the finished project, in the dining room. I tied torn
strips of black and white check homespun around the top
of the candlesticks.
Consider this a jumping off place. There are so many things
you could do starting with this. Different colors, lots of glitter,
different bases, ribbons, raffia, paper letters, and on and on.
If you're not taking photos and writing about it, it should take
about a half hour, start to finish. Have fun! The Dogs and I did!
