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Thanksgiving Day Paper Craft Decoration Ideas that Don’t Attract Pests

I live in the country and we are always very aware of things that attract unwanted pests, rodents or animals. We think about holiday decorations a bit differently and you should too. I wanted to show you some fun and easy Thanksgiving Day paper craft decoration ideas you can make with your kids that don’t attract pests brought to you by Orkin. We love paper crafts. There’s so much that can be done with a simple sheet of paper. We’ve turned card stock into gift giving boxes, boxes for truffles, holiday cards and even little notebooks. So, so much can be done with paper and a little bit of creativity.

I really want you to be aware of some DIY project ideas that have holiday embellishments that attract those unwanted pests and critters to your home. You don’t want them ruining your holidays. Not only are they a nuisance but you really don’t want them to make a surprise visit at your holiday party, contaminate your food, trigger allergies and, in even worse, spread disease.

You might want to avoid a real pumpkin or even straw as decorations. These are pretty popular this time of year too. I would opt for the artificial ones if you want these types of decorations. The pumpkins can rot and attract fruit flies. When you leave straw outside it can become wet from the outdoor weather conditions and hold mildew and mold that plaster beetles eat. Not only that but scorpions love pine straw. Scorpions are one of my worst fears so you can bet I never have pine straw as a decoration. No way.

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Here’s a decoration idea that you will love. My kids enjoyed helping me create these fun pumpkins too. In fact, they took it to a whole new level and created some funky colored pumpkins to fit their taste.

Here’s what you need for this Thanksgiving Day Paper Craft Project:

Card Stock paper (very important you get a heavy paper so your pumpkin will stand properly)
Scissors
Tape – I used a tape dispenser that rolled out dots of adhesive. You can also use double sided tape.
Pumpkin stem template
Round Pumpkin Template
Tall Pumpkin Template

Thanksgiving Day Paper Craft Directions:

First print out the templates of the projects you want to do. We have a few tall pumpkins and round pumpkins as the centerpiece of our table. I would suggest using at least 5 pages of paper for each design. The more paper you use the more full your design will look.

Start by tracing the template on the card stock color you want to use for each design. We used multiple different colors on the tall pumpkin (even some glitter paper) and we used only one color for the round pumpkin.

Be sure to print, cut out and fold along the dotted lines at least one or two steams for each pumpkin. The long pieces of the stem can be curled with a pencil to create the stem look.

Now cut out each pumpkin design.

Attach each side together with adhesive tape (as shown in the photos below).

In between one of these pieces you will need to add adhere the stem part to hide it in the middle of the pumpkin.

Continue this until each piece of the template has created a full circle.

The pumpkin will be able to stand on it’s own if it is full with enough card stock paper. You might need to trim the bottoms with scissors if you didn’t match up your designs perfectly. A quick trim with the scissors to give a straight bottom will fix this problem if you have it.

Now you can fan out the project and display it in our favorite spot. One thing I really like about this project is I can bend the project in a way where it can collapse for storage without ruining the project. We could use this for a few years to come as long as it’s stored properly.

Aren’t they cute? What color would you make your pumpkins? You could do so much with these. You can choose a color that fits your color scheme at your holiday dinner too.

Here are a few photos to show you step by step the process to create these paper craft pumpkins:

Tip to Avoid Pests this Holiday Season:

Be aware of the storage containers you use to store your holiday decorations. When you store these items in the attic, basement or garage they could become housing for rodents, spiders and cockroaches if you don’t protect your decorations. Use plastic bins to provide the best protection from these pests. They have the tight fitting lids and bugs cannot get in them.

If you notice signs of a pest problem in your home, contact the licensed pest professionals at ORKIN for a detailed inspection and customized treatment program.