Thread: Stupid paper mache pumpkin question

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At the risk of looking like a complete idiot I need to ask a question. I am trying to make a paper mache pumpkin out of a plastic bag filled with crushed up news paper. My problem is I cant get it round. I have tried twine and it slips off the lower corners and they just pop back out again. It does not look like a pumpkin AT ALL!!! I cant make the ribs to make it look like a pumpkin. Is there some trick to this or am I just a complete doof? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, audible

I hear your frustration audible but don't give up! I had problems like that also so you're not alone. I used chicen wire for my scarecrow but I did see a pic a while ago where someone used a plastic bag and made the ridges along the side of the pumpkin with duct tape. I think the thing that made it work was that the top and bottom were pinched in towards the center. Maybe like the top and bottom were pulled towards each other with a piece of string. I believe this is what helped give it the pronounced ridges in the side. Hope this helps!

Audible - one thing I've learned from the past years "being" on this forum is "don't be afraid to ask questions"! People in here are SOOOOOO great and friendly, you will find someone to answer your request, of this I'm sure!

This being said, I made my first paper mache prop this year and I did the same as you are trying to do.... What I did is filled the bag with A LOT of newspaper, then tied the opening in a knot, turned it upside down, taped the corners of the bag, then used twine (if I remember well, we used ONE long strand, started by putting it "across" the pumpkin to split it in half, then in quarters, then in sixth, ...) and made the ribs, then covered them with masking tape (as per Stolloween's tutorial).

Here are a couple pictures...





And remember: pumpkins are RARELY a perfect circle... So even if it doesn't look as "perfect" as you would like, it will still lokk great, I'm sure!

Hope this helped!

I ended up having to use a lot of tape around my garbage bag to make it round. That being said, it is a pumpkin so you don't want to make it look like a ball; being a little "off" is okay!

my stupid question would be how do u get the bag and the paper and all that out of the pumpkin? or do u kind of make a seam?

Hey everyone thanks so much for the responses. And to WickedBB70, I would never be afraid to ask a question on this forum. I have been on this forum since last year this time and know that the people on here are really fantastic. This is without a doubt the best forum on the net. I should have a pretty great haunt this year because of people like you and everyone else on here. I cant thank everyone on here enough for all the help. And of course its all your fault for the horrible prop addiction I have now. LOL.
I will keep trying to make my bag-O-trash into something that resembles a pumpkin. I think the string I used was to thin, that could be the problem. I used string kinda like kite string. It seems like everyone here uses something more like twine or rope. I will try that and see how it comes out.
Thanks again everyone and have a great Halloween, audlble .