I love making 3-D decorations from paper. I will show you one paper technique here that is suitable for ornaments and encourage you to think about how you can change it for other seasons. Here is a fabulous 3-D pumpkin that you can use throughout fall—maybe add a little jack-o’- lantern face to it for Halloween? Your pumpkin can stand on a shelf or can be hung on a ribbon or as part of a fall mobile or garland. Add thankful messages to each section and your pumpkin will work wonderfully as a Thanksgiving activity, too!

1. Using a glass or tin can and a lead pencil, trace 8 to 10 circles onto the orange paper and cut them out. Fold your circles in half. Use a glue stick to add glue to half of a circle and then place a second circle on top, so that 2 semicircles are glued together, with the other half of each free. Repeat until all your circles stacked.

2. Trim the top and bottom of your circles to give them a pumpkin shape. Cut a short green stem, plus a long strip of green paper. Using scissors, carefully curl the paper strip to become a vine. Ask an adult for help if you need to. Add a little glue to the stem and the vine, and nudge them in between the layers at 1 edge of the orange circle.

3. Add glue to the outside semicircles and press them together to form your 3-D shape. Your basic pumpkin is finished.

4. Want to turn it into a jack-o’-lantern? Cut some jack-o’-lantern shapes from black paper. Turn the central paper fold of the pumpkin into a tiny flap—only 1⁄32 to 1⁄16 inch (1 to 1.5 mm) wide. Then, glue the mouth to it. Repeat with the paper folds on either side to add the eyes.

Reprinted with permission from Easy Paper Projects by Maggy Woodley, Page Street Publishing Co. 2019 Photo credit: Maggy Woodley