2x4 Wood Porch Pumpkins for Fall
These easy to make, large-scale 2x4 wood pumpkins will add beautiful presence to your porch this Fall! Read on and I'll show you how easy they are to make!
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Did someone say pumpkins?
I wanted something large scale to put on my front porch this fall and these
2x4 DIY pumpkins were just what my porch needed! Who can't use cute decor for
their front porch, right? Like this
new fall wreath
I just made from dollar store supplies?
I went online and found lots of reclaimed wood pumpkin ideas to inspire me. My wood pumpkins are far from perfect, but I love their
quirks and uniqueness. They are the perfect finishing touch to any Fall porch
and such an easy DIY! 😃
Fall is my favorite season! The changing leaves, crisp air and gimme me all
the pumpkins!
If you've been following me for any length of time, you'll likely have seen my
dollar store thrifty antiqued pumpkins, or my
white-washed pumpkins, or my personal favorite, my
adorable pumpkins made from sweater sleeves.
I can't forget about the time I painted my own pumpkin pillows, or painted grocery store pumpkins with copper paint. Or the easy and removable houndstooth pumpkin pillow design I made! But to date, I have never made any pumpkins from 2x4s! Or anything else from 2x4s for that matter.
Until today.
Today I made 2x4 porch pumpkins all by myself...Mr DIY usually does any
chopping or cutting, but I handled this project myself. If I could do it, you
can too! I'll walk you through it, step by step!
Let's go!
HOW TO MAKE 2x4 PUMPKINS
This project is not an exact science! There are no exact measurements included. But that's what makes this DIY 2x4 pumpkin project so much fun! You can't really mess this up! These 2x4 pumpkins will be beautiful even with quirks and imperfections!My finished pumpkins measure 17.5" wide x 21" tall and 21" wide x 30" tall; that's including the bases and stems. But you can make them any size that works for your porch.
Mark pumpkin shape on 2x4s
I started by laying my 2x4s out side by side and lightly tracing a pumpkin-ish shape onto them. Can you see the pencil marks in the picture below?
I say "pumpkin-ish" because this was my first time attempting to cut a shape out of wood. 2x4s are 2" thick, and I wasn't sure how the jigsaw would cut through that, so I decided to make the cuts with our chop saw. Obviously chop saws don't cut rounded edges...hahaha. Read on and I'll show you how I faked it.
Cut wood
Here are the 2 rough-looking pumpkin-ish shapes that I cut. To make it
easiest, I adjusted my cut line based on the cut of the first piece. The
pumpkin pieces are not attached at this point, simply cut out!
Sand and round edges
Don't skip this step! Sanding is where the magic happens! You get to soften and smooth all the rough edges and splintery things, and you can even round the edges somewhat with a sander.Here's what I mean. Can you tell the difference between the first two boards and the last one?
I used a brand new piece of 80 grit sandpaper to make this job quick and easy!
Glue pumpkin pieces together
Once both my pumpkins had their edges nicely smoothed and shaped, I brought them inside (thank God for air conditioning!) to glue them together!I discovered we didn't have any large clamps, but Mr DIY is a handy dandy hubby and he used rachet straps to hold the pumpkins together while the glue dried.
By the way,
this wood glue
is a rock star! It is good for indoor and outdoor use, and it holds strong and
dries very quickly! In 30 minutes I was moving my pumpkins back outside to
stain them!
I started with a dark stain as a base coat, followed by dry brushing chalk paint over the top. Stain needs time to dry, so I had to wait until the next day to finish these.
The stain looked amazing, but I really wanted a layered look, so I kept going. I added a heavy coat of white chalk paint on the smaller of the two wood pumpkins, distressing the edges with my sander once the paint had fully dried. See how the brown stain is peeking through?
Here's a close up look at the large pumpkin. You can see that I left more brown showing, and on top of the white paint I added just a touch of minty sea glass paint. A cheap chip brush with stiff bristles will help you achieve that cross hatch look.
Unleash your creativity - paint the wood pumpkins
The best part of making your own home decor is that you have full say as far as design and color! I knew I wanted my 2x4 pumpkins to have a layered, worn look, so I experimented with stain and paint. These are some of the items I considered using.
I started with a dark stain as a base coat, followed by dry brushing chalk paint over the top. Stain needs time to dry, so I had to wait until the next day to finish these.
The stain looked amazing, but I really wanted a layered look, so I kept going. I added a heavy coat of white chalk paint on the smaller of the two wood pumpkins, distressing the edges with my sander once the paint had fully dried. See how the brown stain is peeking through?
Here's a close up look at the large pumpkin. You can see that I left more brown showing, and on top of the white paint I added just a touch of minty sea glass paint. A cheap chip brush with stiff bristles will help you achieve that cross hatch look.
Just a note here for all the perfectionists - you don't want these pumpkins
to look too perfect! They definitely have more character when you don't
overthink it. Use the electric sander to remove paint, and if you take off
too much, just add some back.
Be careful not to sand too heavily and get down to the bare wood!
Cut stems and bases for the porch pumpkins
Initially I planned on using branch pieces for my stems. I picked some from
the backyard and even went so far as to cut them to size, but I wasn't
loving how they looked.
So instead, I grabbed a small piece of scrap wood and hand drew some simple
stem shapes and then Mr DIY cut them out with our
jig saw. This is one tool that I really want to learn how to use this year! I have
so many ideas in my head!
Although the pumpkins stand up on their own, I wanted to give them a sturdy
base so they'd stay upright in a strong wind. I simply cut some of the
remaining 2x4 boards into pieces and they got a coat of dark stain, along
with the stems. Once the stain dried, I glued all my pieces together with
that
awesome wood glue
I mentioned earlier!
And just like that, we have beautiful and large 2x4 porch pumpkins that
really make a great statement for Fall on our front porch!
I love the large scale of these pumpkins, they add such presence to the
porch! Best of all, they cost less than $10 each to make! How's that for a
thrifty DIY project?
I'd love to know what you think of my 2x4 porch pumpkins and if you have any
questions about this DIY, be sure to ask me in the comments! I am usually
working on several DIY projects and crafts at a time, and have lots of
favorite tools that I rely on. You can
SHOP MY FAVES here
for tools as well as beautiful decor and accessory ideas for your home!
Supplies to make 2x4 pumpkins
- 2x4s (I used 3 of the 8' length pine)
- pencil
- chop saw*
- palm sander (I own this one and love its small size)
- coarse sandpaper (60 or 80 grit works well)
- wood glue
- clamps or straps
- wood stain (I used this color stain)
- white chalk paint
- light mint chalk paint
- jig saw*
*always wear proper protection when working with power tools!
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I love this project and I would love to make these for my porch. These pumpkins make me want to decorate for fall very soon.
ReplyDeleteHope you try this project Sherry! And fingers crossed the weather cools down soon!!
DeleteCindy these pumpkins are great! I love that you made them each a bit different. So many ways to paint them and add embellishments here or there if you want.
ReplyDeleteThank you, yes they'd be so easy to personalize for your style!
DeleteI really LOVE the pumpkins!! They look wonderful on your porch!
ReplyDeleteThank you Christine!
DeleteWOW, I can't believe glue held those together! Your hubby was so creative with his use of ratchet straps... I finally had to break down and go buy a large clamp. Your pumpkins turned out so cute, I love how you cut them a organically so they're not perfectly symmetrical.
ReplyDeleteThanks Betsy, they really turned out even better than I was hoping! And yes, that glue is the bomb!!! 😉
DeleteLove the pumpkins! Think I will try them but leave them stained and paint jack o lantern faces on them :}. I am a Halloween freak,lol! Thanks for the know how! And yayyyy for you taking a long desrved break!!!! The pics are amazzzinggg!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are so sweet Sandra! Your ideas sound great, make sure to send me a pic of your finished Jack o lanterns! xx
DeleteCindy I don't see my first comment so forgive me if I end up commenting twice here, but I love your 2x4 project! I don't have any outdoor fall decor anymore since my kids got older and I love this one - definitely have to make these! So fun and cute!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa, I was in the same boat! I can see these lasting many years!
DeleteOoooh Cindy, these are gorgeous!! I can't believe it was your first time cutting. They look absolutely stunning :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Eileen!
DeleteAbsolutely stunning... I can't wait to try it this weekend.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for sharing!
These are so cute! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
DeleteI'm SOOO going to make some. I tried making really large cement pumpkins for outdoors but couldn't get them large enough. This will be perfect. Thanks for the great project idea and detailed instructions!��
ReplyDeleteAwesome, I'm so glad you enjoyed this project! You can make your 2x4 pumpkins as large as you want!
DeleteAbsolutely love these pumpkins!! I'm going to make these for our Silent Auction at a fundraiser for disabled Veterans.Thank you for sharing!!!
ReplyDelete