Rustic Pumpkin Stand for the Living Room

In our home, we have a countdown to a very special time of year.

Christmas? No.

Birthdays? Nope.

It’s football season.

Ask Dear Husband at any point in the summer how many days until football season starts and he can give you the answer down to the day. Maybe even to the hour.

We are serious about football.

When The Home Depot asked me to build this Rustic Pumpkin Stand for the living room, I knew exactly what we would use it for: football season.

It’s perfect for holding remote controls, shakers, football magazines, and snacks. Perfect! We don’t even have to get up at halftime!

Here’s how to make this Rustic Pumpkin Stand:

MATERIALS:

• Two  72″ x 5-1/2″ Cedar fence pickets, square edged preferred. NOTE: if you can only find rounded or dog-eared fence pickets (which is what happened to me), you can either trim the rounded or dog-eared part off before cutting the pickets and adjust your measurements accordingly, or you can simply use the rounded or dog-eared parts for the top of the pumpkin, to mimic the ridges found in a natural pumpkin. I did the latter and it worked fine.

• One 1×2 x 4 feet long (can cut a 8 foot long 1×2 in half for use on two projects)

• 1″ staples

• Exterior wood glue

TOOLS:

• Measuring tape

• Circular saw or miter saw (a miter saw works better, but a circular saw will work fine)

• Jigsaw

• RYOBI Airstrike Crown Stapler

• Clamps

• Solid work surface

• Carpenter’s (or regular) pencil.

Here’s the cut list. Do this before you get started assembling the pumpkin stand.

PUMPKIN:

• Four Cedar fence pickets cut into 18″ long pieces (length can be flexible to accommodate all four cuts on a single cedar fence picket; just make all four cuts equal length)

•  Two 1×2 @ 20″ long

•  One 1×2 @ 8″ long (length can be flexible to use up scrap wood). This is for the stem of the pumpkin; I actually used scrap wood for the stem and it worked well.

FRONT BOX:

NOTE: For the box, make sure you have squared-off fence pieces (not rounded or dog-eared). If you could only find rounded or dog-eared fence pickets (which is what happened to me), then just trim the rounded or dog-eared part off, which will mean trimming about an inch from the board. Then cut the 16″ long board one inch shorter as well.

• One Cedar fence picket @17″ long (the front of the box)

• Two Cedar fence pickets @ 5-1/2″ long (the sides of the box)

• One Cedar fence picket @ 16″ long (the bottom of the box)

Now, let’s build!

(1) Cut all of your boards according to the cut list. For the pieces of the pumpkin, there is flexibility to cut slightly shorter to accommodate all of the pieces per the materials list. For the box pieces, it is important to cut straight and accurately (see note above).

(2) Lay the four fence pickets on your work surface, so the overall width is about 23″.

Place the 20″ long 1x2s on top, with about 1-1/2″ gap on either end. TIP: Use the stem (stem is 1-1/2″ in width if you are using the 1×2) as a guide for where to place the 1x2s. You want to make sure you have enough room to attach your stem at the right height on the pumpkin.

Use wood glue and two 1″ staples per overlap of 1×2 and each cedar fence picket to secure 1x2s to the fence pickets.

Flip the project over. Add additional two staples per overlap of fence picket and 1×2 to secure fence pickets from front to 1×2 supports.

(3) Starting 3″ out at the bottom edges, draw a pumpkin shape on the front of the cedar boards. Avoid drawing so that the 1×2 supports will be crossed when you cut out the pumpkin shape.

NOTE: If you want to make sure you don’t cross the 1×2 supports in drawing your pumpkin, draw the pumpkin on the back side of the boards. That way, you can draw around the supports.

When drawing the pumpkin, keep the shape organic and unique. Pumpkins generally are “bottom heavy” so consider a smaller rounding on the bottom and larger rounding on top. Also, if you are using rounded or dog-eared fence posts, you can incorporate those edges into the design of your pumpkin, like this:

Next, position the project so that the area to be cut out overhangs the work surface to allow the jigsaw blade to cut freely. Secure the project to the work surface with two clamps. Test to make sure project is secure.

Cut the boards, following the pumpkin shape with the jigsaw. Remove clamps and reposition and re-clamp to cut the full pumpkin shape out.

P.S. I have a RYOBI jigsaw and I really like it. It cuts well and is easy to handle.

(4) Put the stem in place in the center of the back of the pumpkin and attach with wood glue and staples.

(5) Now it’s time to build the box. Use glue and 1″ staples to attach the front of the box to the sides of the box. Apply glue along three edges of the bottom of box. Place the bottom of the box inside the front and sides. Staple in place along the side and front edges with 1″ staples.

Place the box open side up on the work surface. Apply glue along the top edges. Place the pumpkin on top, aligning the bottom edge and the start of the pumpkin-shaped cut with the outside corners of the box. Use 1″ staples to secure the bottom of the pumpkin to the bottom of the box. Use a straight edge to guide you when stapling the pumpkin to the sides of the box.

Next, it’s time to decorate your pumpkin stand.

First, sand down any rough edges. I used a medium-grit sanding block to do this, but any medium-grit sandpaper will work.

Then, paint or stain the pumpkin. I decided, for a rustic look, to use chalky-finish paint in neutral tones. I used Rust-Oleum’s Chalked Paint in Aged Gray and Linen White.

I decided to alternate gray and white on the boards.

Then, once the paint was dry, I lightly sanded the painted areas to give it a distressed, rustic look.

Last, since my pumpkin was going on a table-top, I added felt pads to the bottom of it so that it wouldn’t scratch the table.

Time to put it in the living room before game day!

The Home Depot offers Workshops at all of their locations for do-it-yourselfers of all ages and experience levels. There are three types of Workshops offered – Do-It-Yourself (DIY), Do-It-Herself (DIH) and Kids. Customers can learn how to build décor projects, how to make easy home repairs, and how to operate tools through demonstrations and step-by-step instructions. Visit http://workshops.homedepot.com to learn more!

This Rustic Pumpkin Stand can be used to house plants, candy, magazines, or other items. Visit these blogs to see how other bloggers built and used this project in their homes:

Outdoors

• Domestically Speaking
• Redhead Can Decorate
• My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
• Setting for Four
• Little Red Brick House

Kitchen

• Live Laugh Rowe
• Thistlewood Farms
• Little Glass Jar
• Ella Claire
• Anderson and Grant

Guest Room

• All Things Thrifty
• Over the Big Moon
• Pretty Providence
• Lou Lou Girls

Living Room

• DIY on the Cheap
• The Frugal Homemaker
• Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza
• Just a Girl and Her Blog
• Maison de Pax

Dining Room

• The Yellow Cape Cod
• 33 Shades of Green
• Southern Revivals
• Meadow Lake Road
• Inspiring Hearts & Homes

At our house, we are ready for football season and fall!

This post is sponsored by the Home Depot. I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in this Workshops Program (the “Program”). As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. My post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.