Now that Fall has officially arrived I remembered a cute craft my mom made years ago.
A dryer duct pumpkin!
I use to have one, but I can’t find it, so I just made another one. Now I get to show you a tutorial on how to do it. Yippie!
These pumpkins are so fun and easy to make. And who would have thought to use a dryer duct?
For this project you’ll need:
* an aluminum dryer duct 3″ diameter about 21″ long
* 3 cinnamon sticks
* raffia
* hot glue gun or small stapler
* orange Rust-oleum spray paint
First thing, aluminum duct.
I purchased mine at a hardware store. This package was about $13, but just look at it!, it will probably make tons of pumpkins! Maybe you and your friends can go in together and split the cost.
I wrapped the duct around into a circle to figure out how much I need. Make sure you cut a little extra. Better safe than sorry!
Since the duct spirals around, you’ll have to clip the wire in the duct.
I tried to use scissors but they weren’t strong enough. I had to use pliers with a cutter on it to snip that one section.
After the section was cut I measured it and it was about 21″ long.
Either end of the duct will look pretty sloppy.
So you’ll want to tuck the extra aluminum inside to make it smooth looking.
Take either end of the tubing and bring them together and hot glue the edges together. Or if you have a small stapler you can probably just staple it together.
Now it’s time to spray paint! I already had bright orange Rust-oleum spray paint in my stash from my botched cooler project. I’m glad I finally found a use for this bright orange. I was afraid I had wasted four bucks.
Once the paint was dry I just hot glued 3 cinnamon sticks in the middle and tied a raffia bow around it.
I used 3 cinnamon sticks as opposed to one because the three together made a thicker stump which in my opinion looked better.
I also used about 5 strands of raffia to make a more full bow.
On a side note, I bought the cinnamon sticks at Hobby Lobby. I originally found a package on the Fall isle for $3.99 but after browsing all the isles I found a package on the Christmas isle for only $1.99.
Sneaky, Hobby Lobby. Very sneaky!
Maybe it will help my totally pathetic attempt at a computer desk seem more festive!
Well, at least the mini dresser and pumpkin are cute!
~ Happy Fall Crafting!! ~
Adorable! I’m going to have to keep an eye on Freecycle for a dryer duct.
Has anyone tried painting with anything other than spray paint? I would like to try this with a group of children and don’t want them using spray paint … ideas?
pretty pumpkin!
How cute is that! And very easy, too. Thank you so much for sharing a cute and quick craft. My kids might even like this one 🙂
wow! such a creative idea!
I was flipping through my reader and saw this and said, Hey, that looks like the pumpkin that Allison had in her house.
DUH! ;D
How adorable is that?!?!? So very creative.
That is too cute!!! Never would have thought to use a dryer duct!
What a great idea! So unique!
Hope your flooding issues are over.
~ The Speckled Dog
That’s so cute! Very resourceful! 😀
What a good idea! I will have to add that to a craft project for us to do.
Now that’s stinkin cute!
Hi Allison-
This is so clever and cute. What a great idea. I think I have some excess dryer hose in my basement. Prest-o Change-o a pumpkin. Love re-purposing projects like this.
My best- Diane
A-DOR-A-BLE!!!!!
That’s a cute idea!
That is the cutest pumpkin ever! I love it!
Love it! Want to go buy a duct and make pumpkins to put all over my house. It would be perfect as I have very little fall decor!
OMG – that is so cute! And clever!!
We made those at MOPS one year and they had even painted them for us so we just had to put it together. One of my favorite fall decorations.
Wow, now THAT is adorable!!
That is just too cool! I love it! Hooray for fall!
I was just blog-hopping and came across your blog. I’m so glad I did!
I LOVE this project! I actually have an extra dryer duct lying around…why? I have no idea! I’m definitely going to make this. So cute!!
Love the fuller stump! Very cute idea@
omg this is amazing. just by looking at that pumpkin i would have never thought it was a dryer duct? so cool and so creative!
I LOVE this idea! It looks adorable! Gotta love our mom’s creativity 🙂
That pumpkin is so adorable!! Love it!! I am going to have to give this a try!
Hugs
SueAnn
That is so cool and sooo cute, I love it!
This is so stinking cute!
That is a super-duper creative pumpkin!! I think I might have some dryer ducting in the garage.
How freakin cute is that???!! And so cheap too!! I’m liking!! 🙂
very cute,, another one of those “who woulda thunk it” creative ideas. I want to make one too!
OK, that is just ridiculous…ly adorable. So smart. Thanks for linking up…and can you come back and re-link because I was apparently so tired at 4:30 this morning I installed the mkliny with the teeniest tiniest thumbnail you could possibly imagine. I could barely even see the pictures. I’ve changed the thumbnail size and they’re all blurry now!
So cute! I never would have thought to use a dryer duct, but it’s adorable.
SO creative!! I am going to use this for my monthy craft party. Thank you for sharing.
Cute idea! Thanks for linking up to Flaunt it Friday! 🙂
This is genious!!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Thank you so much for sharing. Your blog colors are eye candy for me today. Thanks
Cute idea! Followed your link over from Fab Friday. Drop by Atticmag and leave a comment for your chance to win Roxy bedding.
Allison
Atticmag
Uhm… SO stinking cute. Love this! 🙂
I loved this project! So much so that I featured it on my Friday Fave 5 on my blog! You should go check it out! http://www.landofthemisfittoyz.blogspot.com
Now THAT is really ingenius! I can hardly believe it. I NEVER would have thought of it in a million years. Too cute! Dryer duct … ha!
What a clever idea!!
This is SUCH a cute idea!
Allison, that’s adorable. I think I need to make some in white!
So cute! I know I have some of this stuff laying around-now I just need to find it.
I’m gonna try using the plastic dryer venting (the white stuff) that I have in the basement and see if that has the same effect!!
You have one clever Mommy to come up with this adorable pumpkin. Lucky that you remembered how to make it too! Thanks for sharing.. I am sure that after construction.. I have plenty of that stuff around.. now atleast its useful!
Wow I can’t believe that’s made out of a dryer duct but now that I see it, I also see that it’s perfect since the ribs are already part of it! I didn’t realize how cute and little it was until I saw it on your desk, what a fun decoration! Thanks so much for joining us at A Crafty Soiree! I hope to see you next week too!
so cute! I think I may make a few for a craft fair I am doing! Thanks for sharing…
Denise
http://www.dancinglydenise.typepad.com/mepursenalities
TOO smart, I love it! Featured you here http://homeaandgarden.craftgossip.com/dryer-duct-pumpkin/
Fabulous! On my way to the Depot for some dryer duct. Found you through Craft Gossip’s link. Thanks so much for sharing. Happy Sunday and Happy Crafting! 🙂
this is so clever! i love it!
Oh my gosh, so cute! That is just about the most creative fall craft I have seen. Thanks for the tutorial!
I have to say this is super creative!
I Love it!
Absolutely ADORABLE !!!! I think we have some of that venting left over from our reno…. definitely will try this !
thanks for sharing,
gena
http://www.thehouseonlavenderhill.blogspot.com
I love these but I have never made them. cool.
What a fun idea. Never heard of it before, thanks for the tutorial!!
Oh my STARS! This is the best! so creative and fun. I will feature this tomorrow at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. totally a unique idea!!!
This is really sweet!
A dryer duct pumpkins…lol…your mother was crafty indeed!
It turned out really cute!
Allison – These are adorable! So clever and creative – really unique! I’ll be featuring this tomorrow – Stop by and grab a featured button if you like. Thanks for linking up to the Sunday Showcase. I greatly appreciate it. Hope you have a fabulous week. Stephanie Lynn
Isn’t that clever, and really cute too! 🙂 Stopping by from It’s So Very Cheri!
Thanks for sharing! Have a great week!
Erin
Too Cute!! What a wonderful idea. Have to see if I have any to make one for myself.
Thanks
Too Cute!!!!!
Thanks
LOVE this!
I’m featuring it over on my blog at http://www.jellybeanjunkyard.wordpress.com
My daughters made these in a girls club: white plastic duct, staples, tree twig and acrylic paint.
The paint flaked off some from the flexible plastic, so I repainted them, mixing some white glue with acrylic paint. They’re still in fine shape after over 10 years.
Beautiful idea, You are very creative
Wow your mom had a great idea! That is just too cute and so easy and creative to make. Thanks for the tutorial. Just saw this at UTT&D blog. Love it!
I just drove by a new house in the development and saw some of this in the burn pile! I am so going over there and snitching it!! I can’t wait!
This has to be the cutest pumpkin I’ve ever seen! Kuddos to your mom!
totally creative and so darn cute. I would love to have you link this to CraftOManiac.blogspot.com for my Monday link party going on now. Jen
this is AWESOME! Link this awesome creation up to MMM so I can feature you next week 🙂
just kidding…you already did 🙂 I’m featuring it next week sometime…I’m so impressed right now!
I just HAD to come and see your pumpkin!! I love it!!! You can even set them out in the yard without fear of them being smashed. 🙂 Great tutorial!
Such a cute, fun, and creative idea! Great job.
My mom and I made these years ago too! I love them and this reminded me that I should make my own! Thanks for the tutorial!
Allison, this is SOOOOOO cute, and SOOOOO creative. How in the world did your mom come up with this. I am in awe. This is my kind of project if I’v ever seen one. Please come over and link up to my party too, he he, I wanna have you on there, with this awesome project. Girl you rock. I AM GOING TO DO THIS thanks to you, can’t wait to show you my pics. 😛
I LOOOOOVE it. I’ve got some extra dryer vent and I’m going to make those. I’ve been needing some new holiday decorations and that will be perfect. Thanks for the great tutorial.
That is the MOST AWESOME idea ever! I love fall and can’t wait to make a ton of pumpkins for around the house!
Very clever. I’ve been thinking about how to use dryer vent as a craft item for years and never came up with anything this cute.
I actually need a dryer duct. Right now the duct goes on my porch and makes that a mess. I’m going to take it and have the stuff go behind my trellis. Maybe I’ll have enough for the pumpkin too. Very cute project!!
This is the most adorable and ingenious thing I’ve ever seen! I probably have some of this stuff in the garage!
Off to feature this on my blog. Happy crafting!
This is so cute and clever!! I love it! BUT I had to tell you while I was looking thru some links on The Gypsy’s Corner my 2 yr old daughter said “oh look mama, a punkin” and pointed to the thumbnail link of your pumpkin!!! 🙂
😆 That looks wonderful! I love it, I have never thought to use dryer hose!
Hugs, Cindy
Thanks for the great idea! I just made one, and I spent $0! I found some old dryer vent in my garage, and it is the white kind 🙂 Instead of painting it, I left it white, and used a stick I found outside for the stump. Some found twine for a bow, and Voila! An awesome pumpkin! Thanks for the tutorial, and for getting my creative juices flowing! 🙂
This is so cool – I love it!!!
Hey Allison, Thanks so much for linking up and for your great support, you were so kind to reply like right away 🙂 I loved this so much I had to FEATURE you today, so please come and grab a FEATURED button, and I appreciate you adding me to your weekly party list. Hope to see more of your projects soon!!!
Allison, I LOVE this idea! I’ve featured you here:
http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/2010/09/diy-fall-halloween-decor.html
Have a great week!
What a great idea! I think have all the supplies for this already! I’ve been looking for some non-real pumpkins that could survive our front porch and this may work. We have tons of lava rock which removed from our garden beds so it could used to weight them down. Thanks!!!
Hey Mrs. Allison, it’s been awhile since I stopped by to say hi.
I’m posting about this today 🙂
http://www.esbechic.com/1/post/2010/09/dryer-duct-pumpkin.html
Thanks girl
What a neat idea! You should enter it in the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge here:
http://henthornehandmade.blogspot.com/2010/08/recycled-halloween-challenge-will-you.html
I wish I had some to make one! I will be scouring construction sites to find some. (legally of course!)
I actually own one of these!!!!! I bought it years ago at a craft fair!!!
The only difference is she used a paper towel holder as the stem.
Shows you how far I’ve come…I would never buy something that easy these days. LOL
Genius! So cute.
Really cute decoration. I saw this in a magazine a few years ago and meant to try it out then. But I forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for linking to my party. I would love to have you join me for one, or all three, of my parties each week.
Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
I love the pumpkin. I’m a volunteer for Hospice. Do you have a printer friendly tutorial. I would love to share this with other volunteers and see if we could make these for our patients as a seasonal gift. Would be perfect for this time of year.
That’s an adorable idea! Little kids would especially love this. Thanks for the tutorial!
Super cute! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!
Hi!
Wanted you to know I posted a link to this tutorial today on my blog, PaperFriendly.
Nancy Ward
paperFriendly
http://www.nancywardcrafts.com
YOU HAVE BEEN FEATURED AT CRAFTOMANIAC.BLOGSPOT.COM thanks Jen 😉
That’s absolutely adorable. thanks so much for sharing!
I love this! I featured your pumpkins on my blog today:
http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2010/09/pumpkin-patch-at-oopsey-daisy.html
Thanks for the inspiration!
~Alison
This is far to cute for words…wonder if my husband would suspect me, if this was missing off the back of our dryer?…hmmmm
We love this tutorial and placed a link to it over on our blog:
http://sistersallys.blogspot.com/2010/09/theres-pumpkin-in-my-dryer.html
Thanks!
I must have gotten the wrong kind of dryer duct. It was aluminum, but very hard to work with. The spiral ducts were way closer together, anywhere I pushed too hard left a big dent. So this project is benched until I find a better dryer duct. So cute though! On the the dollar store wreath! : )
Don’t forget to check out The Halloween Scene at SSB!
http://superstinkyboys.blogspot.com/2010/09/halloween-scene-1.html
xoxo
Ginger
I couldn’t help myself and had to rush out and get a dryer vent hose! Easy to make- I used a stick that had fallen outsides from a tree rather than a cinnamon stick but this was so easy!!! Thanks for the tutorial! 😆
So making this! I think I have some vent in my laundry room that is leftover from installing our dryer. Woo hoo! I’ll probably use a stick from outside (though I bet the cinnamon sticks smell lovely) and use whatever orange paint I have laying around to make this project free! So cool!
That is ridiculously CUTE!! I love it!! I know we have some of that dryer duct stuff sitting in our laundry room that’s just asking to become a pumpkin! 🙂
This is so adorable and creative!
I loved this faux pumpkin tutorial so much I’m featuring it on my site today. Hope you don’t mind.
ok, I am huge into DIY (handy chick!) so this is a perfect marriage of my crafting and house projects! Genius!
hugs! Kim @ Frost Me!
party inspiration
Loved this idea! I made two for the hearth on my fireplace! Thanks for posting!
We made these as a Girl Scout craft many years! They were so easy and fun! 🙂 Nice to see someone else knows of the dryer vent genius!
Funny that I found this on someone elses page and it linked right back to yours LOL. This is soooooo cute!
I have an unused dryer duct, yay! — Off to Lowes to pick up some orange spray paint. I’ll send ya a pic when Im done. Halloween is my favorite Holiday! Im just pissy that they are not allowing me to take that day off from work this year 🙁
I just made this! Mine was harder because I used a different kind of duct, your choice would have been SO MUCH easier, but I had the kind I used sitting around so I made it work.
You can check it out on my blog!
I LOVE HOW CUTE IT IS!! Thanks for the great idea! <3
Hello! Thank you so much for posting this tutorial! I also made some pumpkins of my own and featured your tutorial in my post!
DIY Dryer Hose Pumpkins
So Cute! I blog over at http://2crafty4myskirt.blogspot.com/ This Thursday I will be posting a round up of handmade pumpkins. I plan to include this project with a link to your tutorial. Please let me know if you are not OK with that. Great work!
Awesome! I can’t wait to see the post. Thanks for including mine.
Tooooooo Cute Gatta make one or two or three. LOL