How to Decorate a Pumpkin with Yarn
How do you decorate a pumpkin? Let me count the ways. I’m going to show you how easy it is to decorate a pumpkin with yarn.
With fall decor in full force, decorating pumpkins is so popular. There are many ways to decorate pumpkins. The possibilities are endless.
You can use different materials, different colors, styles, and textures. Different methods and different supplies.
I have been decorating pumpkins using different materials and a variety of methods. My first newly decorated pumpkin of the season is so easy with minimal supplies. It turned out so pretty ~ perfect for using in a fall vignette.
How do you choose a way to decorate a pumpkin?
HOW TO DECORATE A PUMPKIN WITH YARN
INSPIRATION FOR DECORATING A PUMPKIN WITH YARN
If you Google “how to decorate a pumpkin” a million different suggestions will come up. The same thing for Pinterest. I actually found the idea for this pumpkin method on the Tuesday Turn About Link Party that I co~host.
I loved the look of the pumpkin made by Corine of Junk to Gems. This pumpkin has is a natural color and has a soft, organic texture.

After reading through Corine’s how~to post, I knew that this pumpkin decorated with yarn would be my first DIY pumpkin project of this season.
SUPPLIES FOR THE PUMPKIN WITH YARN
This post contains affiliate links to products used in this fall project. If you should order anthing from this site, I may receive compensation, but you don’t pay a penny more.
You need just a few supplies to make this pumpkin with yarn. Fortunately I already had everything I needed.
- craft pumpkin, either styrofoam, plastic or paper maché
- chunky, thick yarn in your color of choice
- glue gun and sticks
- scissors
- ruler (optional)
- raffia or twine
I already had two paper maché pumpkins that I used in this year’s fall mantel. I could definitely use one of them.

I had also seen another style of paper maché pumpkins on sale for $5.00 at Joann. There were four of them and I bought three. It wasn’t until I started working on my pumpkin with yarn that I realized they were the same as the ones Corine used. I had a total of five pumpkins in two styles to choose from.

NOTE: This past weekend I had to stop at Joann for more glue sticks. The last pumpkin was still there and I bought it. Now I had four of the leaf style.
Corine used a cream~colored braided yarn for her pumpkin. I didn’t have braided yarn, but I did have a thick, thisted yarn in a cream/blush color. I don’t know why I bought it last year, but I found it in my yarn stash. It was chunky and a pretty off~white with a touch of blush.

STEPS TO DECORATING A PUMPKIN WITH YARN
With all my supplies gathered, I was ready to start decorating my pumpkin with yarn. I decided to use one of the pumpkins with the leaves attached. Like Corine, I removed the leaves. I’ll keep them for another project.
STEP 1 ~ PUMPKIN PREPARATION
I set my glue gun on a piece of wax paper and plugged it in. While it was heating up, I used a ruler to cut several lengths of yarn to wrap from the top to the bottom of the pumpkin, about 8 inches. I also removed the price tag. You can see the original $9.99 price.

STEP 2 ~ GLUEING THE YARN TO THE PUMPKIN
I began by glueing a length of yarn to the top of the pumpkin. I started with the indentions.




It took eleven lengths of yarn to go around the pumpkin.

Then I started filling in between the indented pumpkin lengths. It took about four lengths to fill in. The last two lengths will be a little shorter. Just cut the extra yarn off to fit in the shorter space.
TIP: I found that cutting the yarn on the diagonal gave a better look.
TIP: To hold down the end of the yarn, I found that using a glue stick works well. Last fall when I was making the pumpkin and flower wreath, I burned two fingers really badly. It took weeks to heal, so I’m a little glue gun shy.
TIP: If you have any “glue globs”, just cut them off with scissors ~ not your sewing scissors.

TIP: If you have any yarn fuzz, just shave it off with your scissors.
The pumpkin decorated with yarn. I love it!!

STEP 3 ~ FINISHING THE PUMPKIN WITH RAFFIA
The pumpkin stem had a small twine wrapped around it. I left it there. To give the pumpkin a more finished look and cover the edges of the yarn, I used raffia. I had plenty in my craft supplies.

I gathered several strands of raffia and wrapped them around the stem.

Then you can tie the raffia in a knot and cut off the excess.

STEP 4 ~ STYLING THE YARN PUMPKIN IN A FALL VIGNETTE
I knew the vignette I wanted to create using my pumpkin decorated with yarn. It would be part of the focal point for our entry. You might remember the fall leaf art project I made a few weeks ago.
I never finished the entry arrangement. It definitely needed another fall focal point.

I also had an inspiration image for the pumpkin arrangement. I loved this lovely fall vignette with a basket from my friend Laura of Decor to Adore. I shared it as one of my 10 Fabulous Finds at Bluesky Browsing #5.
I love the unexpected fresh feel of the blue check dishtowels with the pumpkins and fall foliage.
Fortunately, I had everything I needed to recreate the look.

For my entry arrangement, I used:
- a large wicker basket my older daughter gave me years ago
- my pumpkin with yarn
- a white painted pumpkin
- a small orange pumpkin
- three fall foliage stems in two colors
- two blue check dishtowels
NOTE: I used a plastic shoe box in the bottle of the basket as filler. Then I stuffed in packing paper.
TIP: Save packing paper for decorative stuffing.

I love that the colors of the leaf art are repeated in the pumpkin basket.


Now that my decorated pumpkin with yarn was finished and my fall entry complete, I am ready to start on another pumpkin project. I do hope that you will PIN this project for yourself.



Pinned this – maybe be doing this with my collection of paper maiche and foam pumpkins – will use low temp glue on the foam pumpkins.
That is so pretty. I will definitely put this on my to-do list. Thanks.
Awesome pumpkin! So easy and very impressive; my idea of a good project! Dollar Tree has finger cots (protectors)–silicone, hot pink, 3 in a pkg. I’ve already lost 2! I keep the third on the end of a glue stick in my plastic Hershey’s cocoa box! I hate glue gun burns–they are the worst! I also keep some teriyaki sticks handy to poke and prod stuff into where I want them to be. When the end gets nasty, I just cut a new end!
Very pretty!
Thanks so much for the great tutorial Carol! I love yarn pumpkins and I especially love the chunkier ones like this one. Happy almost fall to you!
I love this! Believe it or not I just made a few of my own yarn pumpkins that I’ll be blogging about soon. Great minds think alike! Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm. xo Kathleen
I love how your pumpkins turned out.
I am really liking all of the yarn pumpkin tutorial this year. So many great ideas. Thanks for sharing with us this week. #HomeMattersParty
The before pumpkin was pretty darn cute but the after is lovely. The color and added texture looks perfect against those fall leaves. Thanks for sharing this at Farmhouse Friday. We are featuring it tomorrow! Pinned
Thank you, sweet friend. I’ll be looking.