I just made a pumpkin! It grew from a combination of the upcoming fall festival for the kids at church and finding fleece on sale. Hmm, bright orange fleece. I bought 3 yards and sewed a long pillow, about 3 feet high and 6 feet long, stuffed loosely with fiber fill (which reduces the overall size some). I cut strips of scrap fleece and tied the pillow into four sections, making ties tight enough to achieve the classic pumpkin shape. Then I attached Velcro straps on the ends of the pillow. It might have been smarter to do this first, but it was an afterthought.

We’re going to wrap the “pumpkin” around kids at the festival and take their picture. Taller children can sit, while each wee one will stand inside the pumpkin for the photo op. The Velcro allows us to make the "pumpkin" smaller or larger to fit each child. I used some extra fleece to make a little cap for the kids to wear in the picture of they want to. I admit it’s not a GREAT pumpkin. However, the kids will have fun with it, and parents will love the adorable snapshots.

Carlene Havel, author of "A Hero's Homecoming"
http://www.prismbookgroup.com/AHerosH...