Foam Clay Pumpkin Tutorial
Foam clay is a fun, lightweight material, and the perfect choice for making a clay pumpkin! When you’re done, give this small crochet pumpkin pattern a try too! This post contains affiliate links.
I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing pumpkins everywhere lately! Hardy winter squashes are in season now, and oh how beautiful they are! They’re great for decorating for the same reason they’re perfect for winter – because they are strong and don’t go bad fast. But if you want your pumpkins to really last forever, then you’ll especially enjoy this delightful little fall craft.
Foam clay is so pleasing to work with. It has a nice soft feel in your hands, and shaping it is easy enough for young kids or people with mild hand weakness.
It doesn’t need any tricky baking to cure, so young people can do this project independently, and you can also easily do it away from home – at school, on vacation, or at a party – since you don’t need an oven or kiln. The finished product is somewhat soft and doesn’t break as easily as items crafted from more delicate types of clay.
You can use these pumpkins as centerpieces or table decor for a seasonal party or feast, whether for Thanksgiving, Halloween, or some other gathering. A small clay pumpkin would also make a great focal point or side accessory for a tiered tray.
The lightweight nature of foam clay makes it doable for jewelry, but it’s not as sturdy as other options, and hard to form in very small sizes. So you can make this clay pumpkin for slightly larger gag jewelry projects.
Try making a grouping of clay pumpkins in complementary colors and shapes to be extra decorative. If you want to design yours as a jack-o-lantern, you can use a black paint marker to draw features.
Or if you’re more adventurous, you can try making little features out of a dark colored clay and press them into the pumpkin. If cute is your vibe, you can even stick on wiggly eyes – because this clay dries without baking, it’s safe to add plastic or other accents. If any of the parts fall off after the clay cures, simply stick them back on with a dot of super-glue.
You’ll find that there’s really no limit to what you can do with this versatile material. Here are the basic pumpkin instructions to get you started!
What you’ll need:
Foam clay – orange, green, brown
(Yes, that’s all!)
How to Make a Clay Pumpkin
1. Take a chunk of each of orange, green, and brown clay to use for the pumpkin, stem, leaves and vine. You can use different shades of these colors if you’d like more variation in your finished project.
You’ll need the largest amount of orange clay because this is going to form the main part of the pumpkin. You’ll use a smaller amount of green and brown.
2. Use the palm of your hand to roll each clay piece on a smooth, even surface to make a ball. Don’t worry about the sizes of the balls, you can adjust it later.
3. Use the tip of your finger or thumb to make a small indentation on the orange ball.
4. Turn the ball so the indentation is on the bottom, helping it to stand in place without rolling away.
5. Use a small object such as a pencil point to make another, deeper hole on the top of the pumpkin.
6. Take the brown clay ball and roll it back and forth to make a rope shape. This will be the stem of the pumpkin.
7. Insert the wide end of the stem into the small hole on the top and press to stick it in place. Curl the other end.
8. Next, we’ll use a clay tool with an angled edge or tip to make the sections of the pumpkin. Looking down from the top, make 4 little cuts forming a cross or X shape across the top (skipping past the stem)
9. Now, looking at it from the sides one at a time, use the clay tool to draw the cuts down to the bottom. Add another cut in between each of the original 4 to make the pumpkin have 8 sections.
10. Next we’ll use the green clay to make the vines. Roll little pieces of green clay between your fingers or against a flat surface to make thin ropes.
11. Make a twirly shape at one end of each vine and press them onto the pumpkin near the stem.
12. Using another small ball of green clay (you can use a different shade of green if you’d like) use your fingers to form a leaf shape.
13. Use a clay tool to make little lines on the leaf for veins.
14. Stick the clay leaf onto the top of the pumpkin, next to the stem.
That’s it! Cure or air dry the clay according to the instructions on the package. What a sweet little clay pumpkin! That was so quick, you can go ahead and make another to go with it – try making the next one a little taller or fatter for variety. Real pumpkins aren’t all the same, either.
DIY Foam Clay Pumpkin
Materials
- Foam clay - orange, green, brown
- Clay tools
Instructions
1. Take a chunk of each of orange, green, and brown clay to use for the pumpkin, stem, leaves and vine. You can use different shades of these colors if you’d like more variation in your finished project.
You’ll need the largest amount of orange clay because this is going to form the main part of the pumpkin. You’ll use a smaller amount of green and brown.
2. Use the palm of your hand to roll each clay piece on a smooth, even surface to make a ball. Don’t worry about the sizes of the balls, you can adjust it later.
3. Use the tip of your finger or thumb to make a small indentation on the orange ball.
4. Turn the ball so the indentation is on the bottom, helping it to stand in place without rolling away.
5. Use a small object such as a pencil point to make another, deeper hole on the top of the pumpkin.
6. Take the brown clay ball and roll it back and forth to make a rope shape. This will be the stem of the pumpkin.
7. Insert the wide end of the stem into the small hole on the top and press to stick it in place. Curl the other end.
8. Next, we’ll use a clay tool with an angled edge or tip to make the sections of the pumpkin. Looking down from the top, make 4 little cuts forming a cross or X shape across the top (skipping past the stem)
9. Now, looking at it from the sides one at a time, use the clay tool to draw the cuts down to the bottom. Add another cut in between each of the original 4 to make the pumpkin have 8 sections.
10. Next we’ll use the green clay to make the vines. Roll little pieces of green clay between your fingers or against a flat surface to make thin ropes.
11. Make a twirly shape at one end of each vine and press them onto the pumpkin near the stem.
12. Using another small ball of green clay (you can use a different shade of green if you’d like) use your fingers to form a leaf shape.
13. Use a clay tool to make little lines on the leaf for veins.
14. Stick the clay leaf onto the top of the pumpkin, next to the stem.
