It was a paper-pumpkin party!

A month or so ago I hosted a paint demonstration at my house for some local gals. It was fun - we noshed, drank and chalk painted a hostess tray. While we sat and chatted, I proposed we start a neighborhood craft club. The idea was enthusiastically received, and we now have a Facebook group of 32 members, who will meet once a month to try out a variety of crafts.

Last night was our first meeting. Eleven women from our community came over to my house, where we crafted these adorable paper pumpkins.

The idea came from Better Homes and Gardens. (click for instructions on how to make them)
We tried heavy and light-weight scrapbook paper, as well as additional adornments, like tulle, raffia, twine, fabric leaves, ribbon, etc. And while the instructions didn't call for it, we stuffed most of them with colored tissue paper. The light-weight scrapbook paper just couldn't withstand the weight of the wine cork stems. Tip - the heavy card stock papers work great - no need for stuffing!

It was a really fun evening! We ate, drank a lot of wine, laughed and worked just about the whole time on these adorable autumnal creations. I loved how encouraging everyone was to each other, and the team efforts some of the projects became. Some of the women got super creative - like Gail, who hot-glued decorative ribbons to her strips of paper, and Jackie, who used fancy craft scissors to give her paper a special edge.

Here's some photos from the evening...

Our guest, Michelle, brought Cupcake Heaven! 

(That's really the name of the bakery and they tasted heavenly!)

 Jackie, made these delightful candy-coated pretzel sticks to display in her Tiffany vase!

 

Liza took a break from cutting strips of purple paper to smile for the camera!

Tonia made this gorgeous orange sparkly version!

Someone had to drink a lot of wine to accumulate that many corks! 

(I swear its been a group effort over the past two years that we've lived in this neighborhood.)

Jen's lovely pumpkin in green and pink!

 

Pumpkin-making at its finest!

A bouquet I put together for the festivities.

 Gail displays her great black and orange pumpkin!

 Another beauty - love the raffia!

A butterfly found this one!

The pumpkin patch - delightfully colorful!

Next month our craft will be embossed travertine tiles - perfect for gift-giving. I can't wait! And we'll have a special guest craft demonstration in early December with the gents from Our Crafty Home! I am super excited to make a Christmas wreath with these guys! So please make sure to follow along as we share more monthly crafting parties.