Did being trapped inside during the COVID pandemic inspire any craft project ideas for you?

While I was trapped, I had an idea for a new kind of pumpkin patch!  

Wouldn’t it be fun, I thought, if families could not only select their own pumpkins to carve but what if they could also visit a handmade/artsy pumpkin patch that was like a fun outdoor art gallery!  In place of walls of art displays, the art could be displayed on top of bales of hay!

I’ve known artists to paint pumpkins, crafters to bedazzle and stencil pumpkins and kids to sticker pumpkins and turn them into animal faces.  What if every imaginable type of pumpkin decorating could all be on display in one place!  The wide variety of decorative options would probably help the growers with marketing to attract more attention to their location!  There could be a contest, there could be prizes, there could be a pie contest…this could really turn into an annual Fall event!  

On the other hand, I had created some crafty pumpkins for my husbands office the year before.  They were hours of work but when finally completed I was very happy with how custom made they looked for a specific profession! 

I was in high spirits to decorate the office and the clients who came in that Friday were impressed and amused by such distinctive decor!  The following Monday, unfortunately, clients didn’t get to see the handcrafted pumpkins.  All of my creations were sunken and molded and rotten. I had to throw everything away…aaaggghhh!!!!!!  Lesson learned, if you want your decorative pumpkin to last, use a foam, plastic or wood pumpkin!

Rather than repeat my mistake, I ordered foam pumpkins from Oriental Trading.  My timing was great!  They had pumpkins that were slightly imperfect in color so they were very much on sale!  To me, the color didn’t matter because I was planning to decoupage the entire surface!  

They’re not always on sale but Oriental Trading does still sell these plain foam pumpkins!  They also have flat wooden pumpkin shapes that could be great for decorating!  Of course there are plenty of stores that sell fake pumpkins and plenty of stores who have them on sale at the end of the season!  

Decoupaging required much more time than I had allowed for.  With Thanksgiving and Christmas creeping up on me, I wasn’t able to complete as many pumpkins as I had expected. I still have many, many unopened Oriental Trading boxes in my basement so maybe one Fall in the future, my decorative pumpkin patch will be a real live family fun destination! 

 My completed pumpkins will all be posted here on the internet pumpkin patch! 

If you beat me to it and get your own decorative pumpkin patch together, I would love to see it!!!