Let's Make a Pumpkin Penguin!

Everyone does ghosts, vampires and witches as Halloween decorations, but how about penguins?

Here is a cool and fun tutorial to make a Halloween Penguin out of a foam pumpkin:

Materials Needed:

13” foam pumpkin

black acrylic paint

white acrylic paint

paint brushes (one wide, one smaller for edges)

felt in orange, yellow and black

one pair of 1” wide wiggle eyes

spray on acrylic sealant

straight pins

hot glue gun

pencil

black Sharpie (optional)

scissors

needle and thread in appropriate colors to sew felt

stuffing for felt pieces

templates (attached at the end of these directions)

1) Cut out the body template (the peanut shaped part of the penguin’s body). Using straight pins, secure the template to the pumpkin as shown here. You just need it held in place long enough to trace around the outside.

2) Trace around the template. Don’t worry if you don’t actually see a lead line, you should at least get an indented line to work from.

3) If you like, you can go over the pencil line with a black Sharpie so you have a more defined line.

4) Paint the area inside your outline with the white paint (it is a lot easier to paint black over white, than white over black – I learned this the hard way)! Don’t worry if you go a bit over the Sharpie line, you can clean it up when you do the black paint.

5) Allow to dry. You may need to do a second coat to keep the orange from trying to show through the white paint.

6) With the smaller paint brush, begin to do the black paint, starting at the border of the white paint. Keep a wet towel nearby. If you accidentally get black paint in an area you don’t want it, you can wipe it up while the paint is wet.

7) Allow the black paint to dry. Again, you may need to paint a second coat to get nice coverage.

8) Once you have the pumpkin painted to your satisfaction, take it to a well-ventilated area and spray a coat of acrylic sealant over the entire surface to protect the paint.

Hint: Wrap a small mixing bowl in a plastic shopping bag, then you will have a stable base to set the pumpkin on while painting. This is especially useful when you are coating the bottom.

9) Cut out your felt pieces, using the appropriate templates. You will need two pieces in orange for the beak, 4 pieces in black for the wings, and four pieces in yellow for the feet.

10) Here is a trick for your starting knot, so the knot won’t just pull through the felt. Tie a knot at the bottom of a double thread, once you have threaded your needle. Then put the needle through the fabric for your first stitch, but before you pull it tight, run your needle through the end near the knot. When you pull it tight, you get a nice slip knot.

11) Using a whip stitch, sew the two pieces of the beak together, leaving a 2 inch opening for the stuffing. Fill with stuffing, then whip stitch the opening shut. Do the same for each wing and each foot.

12) Now attached each felt piece where they belong, using straight pins to hold them in place. See the photo of the finished penguin for guidance. By using straight pins, you can move the wings, feet and beak around till they are just where you want them.

13) Once you have the wings, feet and beak where you want them, glue on the wiggle eyes. I sort of eyeball this part (no pun intended) but you can also use the body template as a guide if you wish.

14) With the pins holding each felt piece in place, gently lift them and use hot glue underneath, where it won’t show, to secure them in place. Allow hot glue to cool and then remove the pins.

Congratulations! You have a penguin pumpkin!

Click this link to Download Pumpkin Penguin instructions and templates.

Click this link to only Download Templates for Pete (this is a smaller file, but does not have direction in it).

NOTE: Both files are in PDF format and you will need Adobe Reader to open them up. Click here to get a free copy of Adobe Reader.

Comments

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How cute!! I made a kitty. I need to get pictures of it and post it.

Posted by: Beth | October 13, 2009 at 06:20 AM

I love it! Just found you through Craft (http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/10/pumpkin_penguin.html). This penguin is adorable and makes me happy :)

Thanks for the tutorial!

Posted by: Patricia | October 13, 2009 at 04:33 PM

This is So Cute! It is such a pleasure to meet you! I will be back to visit often! Have a nice week. Twyla

Posted by: two crazy crafters | October 13, 2009 at 10:09 PM

I love this so much that I've just linked back to it from my latest post:
http://www.kuvik.net/ztoft/playingbythebook/2009/10/19/penguins/
(scroll down to find the link to you)
Thanks for the inspiration!

Posted by: Zoe | October 19, 2009 at 05:30 AM

Thanks for your comment. I had fun making the penguin. LOL at the nose. I was thinking mine didn't look as good as yours. I felt like mine had a big nose. :)

Posted by: Maryanna | October 19, 2009 at 06:24 PM