Guest Post: READING CONFETTI ~ Paper Pumpkin

 I'm excited to have another guest host here on Come Together Kids.  After you read about this cute pumpkin craft she's sharing here today, you have to check out Lorie's blog.  She's only been blogging since August, but she has already shared tons of great ideas.  I love how she uses her love of books and her knowledge as a reading specialist to tie together great books with fun activities. Plus, her blog has several tabs with great tips for parents to use when reading with their children ~ so handy!

Hello!  I am so excited to be here!  A great big thank you to Laura for allowing me to do a guest post!  I'm Lorie from Reading Confetti and just recently started blogging.  I'm taking some time off from being a reading specialist and teacher to stay home with my 3 year old son and not-quite-2 year old daughter.  I've taught third through eighth grades and am now focusing my efforts on my preschoolers, so my blog is about making reading fun for kids of ALL ages. The project I'd like to share with you today is a paper pumpkin decoration.

To make your own, you'll need:

• orange and brown paper (Scrapbook paper would also be pretty!)
• a drinking straw, preferably orange  (You could also use string or ribbon knotted at each end, but the straw made it easier for my preschooler to participate.)
• green curling ribbon
• tape, scissors, paper punch

Cut strips from the orange paper and punch a hole in each end.  I didn't even measure the width - just tried to make them roughly the same size.  The important thing is to make sure they are the same length and the hole is approximately in the same spot on each.  This will keep your pumpkin from bulging in some spots.  I had to overlap two holes a little because my punch was slightly smaller than my straw.

Thread one end of each paper strip onto the straw.

Thread the other end onto the other end of the straw.  Add as many strips as you need to make your desired fullness.

Fold the bottom of your straw and secure it with some tape.

Tie a few lengths of green curling ribbon around the top and curl.  Leave two tails uncurled so you can tie them together and use them to hang your decoration.  Put a roll of brown paper around the top of the straw to make your stem.

That's it!  Cute and easy!

To go with our craft, we read The Runaway Pumpkin , an adorable story about a pumpkin that goes rolling down a hill, scattering farm animals along the way.

I hope you and your little (or big) readers have fun with this and I'd love for you to stop by Reading Confetti!

Thanks so much for sharing your cute paper pumpkins, Lorie!  I definitely plan on letting my kids make their own pumpkins with some of the tons of scrapbook paper that I have here at home.  I also love how you used the straw as the base.  I've seen it done with a brad before, but the straw makes it easy for even little ones to do this activity and it gives you the base for your stem ~ so smart!  

And readers, make sure you stop by Reading Confetti to check out all the other great ideas.  Lorie recently shared a fun post with all sorts of Book Inspired Halloween Costumes.that would be so cute for your little readers!