How to Make Botanical Pumpkins

A couple of years ago I took an everlasting wreath class at a local flower farm. It was my first time working with dried flowers and I was surprised by the colors and variety to choose from. Last year I was inspired to make a botanical pumpkin – it took 15 minutes and I really like the end result. It’s fun to be creative in a new way and I suggest you give this DIY project a try.

This year I am selling my botanical pumpkins at Bainbridge Island/Suyematsu Farm at their pumpkin patch! The farm is a fun Fall activity with hayrack rides, pumpkins, make your own dahlia bouquets, and every edible squash you can imagine. For more information check out their website.

Flowers I use for my botanical pumpkins include: strawflowers, gomphrena, celosia, amaranth, paper daisies, poppy pods, craspedia, dusty miller, etc.

Important Note: If the back of the flower is somewhat flat (like strawflowers, gomphrena, paper daisies, poppy seed pods) then cut the stems completely off and add glue to the back of the flower. If there is a stem that is useful for securing it to the pumpkin (like amaranth, celosia, dusty miller, baby’s breath) just cut the stems short and glue those to the pumpkin. Nest flat laying flowers over the stems so they are hidden. Example photos are below. 

Materials for the Botanical Pumpkin

• Hot glue gun & glue sticks
• Pair of floral snips 
• A toothpick
• A variety of dried flowers
• A pumpkin 

Step One: Make sure the top of your pumpkin is clean, there should be no dirt left over from the pumpkin patch. You can use warm soapy water on a paper towel or Swedish dishcloth to clean your pumpkin. Dry with a tea towel or hand towel.

Step Two: Choose your dried flowers – I like to lay out all of the flowers in front of me and pick and choose as I go. I like to add bigger flowers first and then work around them. For example, on my pumpkin I added the amaranth first to frame the right side of the pumpkin. For dried flowers like amaranth, you can cut the stem short (1-1.5″) and hot glue the amaranth stem to the pumpkin stem (see below photo, the amaranth stem is light brown & the dusty miller stem is glued on top). 

Step Three: Once you have your focal flower added (the amaranth and pumpkin foliage in my case) start adding your other dried flowers. For straw flowers, cut the stem off right behind the head of the flower (see photo below) and put hot glue on the back of the flower. Gently place the flower where you would like it on the botanical pumpkin, hold it in place for 15 seconds using the toothpick. Note: The toothpick is helpful to hold the flowers in place while the glue dries since dried flowers can be fragile. 

Step Four: Start nesting smaller flowers next to the larger ones – add in foliage like dusty miller and accent flowers like celosia, poppy seed pods, bunny tail grasses, etc. 

Step Five: Keep adding flowers until you are happy with the end result. Your botanical pumpkin will last for several months inside. 

Check out our Create page for more ideas!