For a fairy tale wedding, add your own fairy godmother touch by making a romantic pumpkin carriage centerpiece. A simply carved white pumpkin with gold accents is an easy and unique centerpiece that you can make year round. If you weren’t able to pick up some pumpkins at Half Moon Bay’s Art and Pumpkin Festival in October, or if your wedding is not during pumpkin season, you can use an artificial carvable pumpkin like Funkins pumpkins.
If you can’t find carriage wheels to attach to your pumpkin, they are easy to make on your own.
Materials for wheels:
- wire
- modeling clay
- glue and paper for paper mache
- two bamboo skewers or wooden dowels
- hot glue gun
To make the wheels:
- Twist pieces of wire to form wheels. Make two slightly larger than the other two. (Twist one longer piece into a circle, then make spokes by twisting three short pieces across the diameter of the circle). Press a piece of clay into the center to hold the spokes in place.
- Cover the wire wheel with modeling clay to make it thicker.
- To harden the wheels, paper mache each wheel with strips of paper dipped in watered-down glue. Let each wheel dry completely before proceeding to step 4.
- Paint each wheel with gold paint (or color of your choice).
- Cut your wooden skewers so that the wheels will rest against the pumpkin after you attache the wheels. (This will be about the width of the pumpkin). Paint two skewers or dowels with gold paint. With a hot glue gun, glue the wheels to each end of the skewer.
*An alternative way to make the wheels is to buy clay that you can bake, and simply mold the wheels and paint them after they harden.
Materials for carriage:
- white pumpkin (or you can use an artificial carvable pumpkin like Funkins)
- knife for carving
- gold puffy paint
- gold ribbon
- pins
To make the carriage:
- Scoop out your pumpkin and carve out the windows for the carriage on both sides of the pumpkin. Use gold puffy paint to outline the windows.
- Decorate the pumpkin with gold ribbon by pinning the ends of the ribbon on the inside rim of the hole at the top of the pumpkin and at the bottom of the pumpkin. Use gold puffy paint to add any other detailed decoration to the pumpkin.
- Attach the carriage wheels to either side of the pumpkin. Hot glue will hold the wheels in place, but can easily fall off. You can attach the wheels more securely by "stapling" the dowel to the side of the pumpkin by bending a piece of wire into the pumpkin on both sides of the dowel.
Light a candle inside the pumpkin and place in a ring of ivy for a cool centerpiece!
See the accompanying slideshow for illustrated steps or checkout Eileen's blog.
Have fun!
