Upcycled pumpkins out of cans

Gather up all your old cans and jars because today we are making a fall craft with them! These cute upcycled pumpkins will be darling decor all autumn long!

As fall rolls around, pumpkin-flavored everything starts to appear. But instead of heading to the store to buy plastic pumpkins that will quickly end up in a landfill, why not make your own unique, sustainable decoration? Enter: upcycled pumpkins out of cans.

In the following article, we’ll teach you how to turn your empty cans into beautiful, eco-friendly pumpkins that you can proudly display in your home. Get ready to get crafty and save the planet, one pumpkin jar at a time.

Supplies to make upcycled pumpkins

jars, tin cans, and any old containers
Orange spraypaint
stick
Spanish moss
yellow vinyl (if you want to do the jack-o-lantern)
Jack O Lantern SVG

You will want to make sure that you gather up enough recycled containers in varying size to make your display look the best.

How to make upcycled Pumpkins

Step 1: Remove wrappers

Make sure you have removed all the stickers and labels. Some come off really easy, some are bit more difficult! If you have one that leaves a sticky residue-Try adding peanut butter to remove the sticky label.

Step 2: Paint

I used spray paint because it adheres to glass, metal and plastic all pretty evenly. Nice light coats until it’s all covered in orange! I added some brown and black spray paint to distress the jars.

Step 3: Add the face to your upcycled pumpkin

This step is optional! If you want to leave the face-off, these pumpkins can be left out to Thanksgiving! Or you could have the face on one side and then rotate it around after Halloween!

I have a Jack O lantern cut file with all the different faces. I just cut it out of yellow adhesive vinyl and picked each pumpkin’s face.

You don’t even need to use transfer tape, just peel it off like a sticker and add it directly to the jar.

Step 4: Add the stem

There are lots of different ways you can add a stem- but I went with the cheapest route! Break off a stick and just hot glue it right to the top!

I added twine and Spanish moss as well. Each one is a little different so you can be creative and decorate the tops of the pumpkins however you want!

You can also coil some wire to add to the top.

Decorate with your pumpkins

Then I just stuck them all up on my shelf to enjoy all of Fall!

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