How to Craft Miniature Pumpkins For Your Spooktacular Halloween Dolls House
Whether it’s down to the uncanny nature of tiny life-like items, or a reminder that we once trick-a-treated ourselves, there’s something about Halloween that lends itself so perfectly to miniatures.
Although honestly, I’m terrified of horror movies, I still have a love for the macabre, Victorian ghost stories and unsolved mysteries. I have a fondness for Disney’s Haunted Mansion, and the soon-to-be -Marvel-themed (boohoo!) Tower of Terror ride as they teeter on the edge of thrilling and quirky.
I made a few different kinds of Halloween pumpkin miniatures, including a grizzled pumpkin and a hollowed-out jack-o-lantern, complete with experimental lighting.
You can follow these steps to make your own. If you find other methods, please share them in the comments below!
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Polymer Clay Pumpkin
What you’ll need
- Orange, green and yellow polymer clay
- Work surface, I use a small acrylic mat
- Pasta maker (optional)
- Ball tool or toothpick
- Toothbrush or similar tool for texture
- Tray, foil and oven for baking
- Pastels or paints for final touches
Step 1
Condition your orange polymer clay. I used Sculpey’s Just Orange. Both my miniature pumpkins are on a 1:12 scale. I wanted to keep it as accurate as I could, so I checked the average size of a pumpkin and went from there.
If you’re winging it, it’s about the size of a small bouncy ball, if not, I went for 1 inch (2.5 cm)
Step 2
Roll into a ball, and flatten it a little on the bottom, so it can sit without rolling away.
Step 3
Using a ball tool or toothpick, make vertical indentations (real name, ribs, btw) around the ball.
I tried both these options, and while I like the versatility of the ball tools, the toothpick felt more organic to me. If you want to have more striking ‘ribs’, a skewer is probably the better option.
Step 4
Use a toothbrush or similar tool to add texture.
Step 5
Make the stem by rolling out a green-coloured piece of polymer clay into a long sausage shape, keeping one end a bit fatter so that it fits into the head of the polymer clay pumpkin.
I didn’t have an appropriate ‘stem’ green, so I mixed some brown (from an earlier crafting sess) and Sculpey Yellow with Granny Smith Green. It was darker than I wanted, but actually, when I looked at more pictures of pumpkins, I’m pretty happy with the results.
Attach the stem or tendril, depending on how long you want it, and wind it around the top of the mini pumpkin. Nip the end of and smooth.
If you just want a traditional stem, just make an ‘r’-shape with the clay.
Use a sculpting tool to attach the stem.
Step 6
Oven bake. How long will depend on the polymer clay you’re using. I baked mine for around 30 minutes at 270℉ (130℃).
Step 7
Finishing touches. To create shadow, highlights, dirt and generally to add texture, I used grated pastels in a variety of browns and burnt oranges, and dry-brushed the polymer clay pumpkin.
Acrylic paints will also work, but I find pastels create a subtler effect.
Polymer Clay Jack-O-Lantern
This is a much more challenging and time-consuming miniature. I actually used a different method, which required a reverse mould. Unfortunately, the results were pretty disappointing, but I’ll be well-prepared when I try again! Hopefully, I’ll be able to add this method at a later date.
What you’ll need
- Orange, green and yellow polymer clay
- Silicon putty or ball for shaping the pumpkin
- Sculpey oven bake adhesive or other polymer glue.
- Work surface, I use an acrylic mat
- Pasta maker (optional) or acrylic roller
- Ball tool or wooden kebab skewer
- Xacto knife or clay blade
- Toothbrush or similar tool for texture
- Tray, foil and oven for baking
- Pastels or paints for final touches
- Small ball light for inside
To make a hollowed-out pumpkin, you basically need to make a reverse mould. Actually, it’s much simpler than that. You really just need a ball or other material that will bulk out the middle of the jack-o-lantern while you sculpt and bake. I saw some sites and videos suggesting I use a glass marble, and I also considered a ball of some kind, but I wasn’t sure about how these items would fair in the oven. So, since I didn’t want to tempt an explosion, however on-theme it might be for Halloween, I used silicon to create a mould.
In hindsight, I wonder if a ball of tinned foil would have worked just as well, and also helped with the baking process. It would have also been tons easier to remove than the polymer ball was.
Step 1 covers the ‘mould’ making, but if you have an object you can use instead, skip this step.
Step 1
I’m using a silicon putty that can be used to create moulds, and since it’s oven-friendly till about 150℃, it was the ideal material.
I created a spherical mould (3.5cm) to create a pumpkin shape, and in 10 minutes, the reverse mould was made.
If you want to make it more realistic and less perfectly spherical, the silicon putty can be shaped by hand too. Just bear in mind that if it sits on a flat surface, it’ll settle and harden that way.
Step 2
Condition your clay. Again, I’m using Sculpey Just Orange. Use a pasta machine to roll out the clay to around 3mm (0.1 in) so it’s large enough to cover the ball. Don’t roll it out too thin, or it’ll crack when it’s baked. The great thing about polymer clay, of course, is that if you make a mistake, you can just re-roll it.
Cut off the excess clay from the bottom, and neaten.
Step 3
Just like with the solid pumpkin, use the tool of your choice to make the ribs. This time, I used a long skewer, like those used for kebabs. The effect was much more striking than the toothpick, so I would definitely do this again. Make sure to pinch in the top and bottom of the pumpkin to emphasize its shape. You can add texture using a toothbrush or other tool.
Step 4
Now add a stem. I’m using the same polymer clay colour combination as for the other pumpkin, which was brown, Sculpey Yellow and Granny Smith Green, but you could also go for a lighter beige or brown and add definition with pastels or paint later.
Use a silicon tool to keep the stem in place on the crown of the pumpkin.
Step 5
Use pastels to add shadow and highlights to your jack-o-lantern. Grate pastels and use a big brush, like a blusher brush, to dry brush the ribs, base and crown.
Step 6
Draw out and carve your design. I cut mine using an X-acto knife. Make sure you don’t carve your jack-o-lantern features too close together, as it’ll be more likely to crack later on. Cut out a lid, so you can remove the ball later on and add a light if you want to.
Step 7
Oven bake your pumpkin. Check your polymer clay brand for specific baking times and temperatures.
Step 8
Once your jack-o-lantern is cool. Cut the two sides of the pumpkin and remove the ball. Reattach the sides using clay adhesive and bake it in the oven for 30 minutes (check product for specific details).
Epoxy Resin Pumpkins
While I could probably make a mould from scratch, I bought two mini pumpkin silicone moulds to try out making pumpkins from resin. These would also easily be turned into tiny decorations once they’re cured.
What you’ll need
- Epoxy resin and hardener
- Pigment dye/Mica powder – orange and green
- Mini pumpkin silicon mould
- Plastic gloves + mask
- Cup for mixing (transparent is best)
- Wooden stick
- Mini scales
- Pipette
- Tray (optional)
- Wet wipes
Step 1
Prepare your workspace and make sure it’s flat. I use an old baking tray to contain my moulds in case of any spills. Keep all your materials handy. Before combining, you can heat up your resin and hardener in a jug of warm water to prevent bubbles from forming.
Step 2
Place your mixing cup on a scale and weigh out your resin agents depending on the requirements. Mine is 3:1.
Step 3
Slowly mix the agents together for around 3-4 minutes. Here, I took a small amount out using a pipette and put it into a smaller container to mix resin for the stalk.
Step 4
Add the colour gradually and mix until you’re happy with the intensity.
Let it sit for a few minutes to see if there are any bubbles. Remove any bubbles and pour.
Step 5
For the stalk, use the pipette and drop the resin into the mould, filling it until it reaches the pumpkin crown.
Step 6
Mix the orange for the pumpkin and pour into the mould.
Step 7
Once the epoxy resin pumpkin has cured, remove it from the mould and remove any excess resin using pliers and file.
Miniature Pumpkin Ornaments
You can easily turn your polymer clay or epoxy resin pumpkins into ornaments by adding jewellery findings. As long as there’s a space wide enough to drill or scoop out a hole, you can screw in a hook that can then be attached to string, ribbon or other material to hang your miniature pumpkin ornament.
