So, last week, probably on Facebook, I saw a link to this fantastic idea of cross-stitching a pumpkin. They had a bat template for the masses to use, but you know I wasn’t going to do anything so…ungeeky, right? Let’s just say that I am super glad that I made my Halloween project back in 2014 that involved the Boos from Super Mario World.

I followed the steps that the page had laid out…

1. Draw (ok, they had you print) the pattern. Now, I didn’t have any graph paper around the house, so I drew the lines manually. Then, I colored my design so I knew what I was doing.

2.) Poke the holes. Now, the first thing I did was circle the intersections of where the outside stitches were — I did not want any exposed/uncessary holes to deal with. Here’s the thing with punching these suckers out — you need to absolutely make sure that they go all the way through. I used a punch needle tool to get the holes, but then I went through with a giant tapestry needle (and still that gave me grief). Babe had a great idea of using a small drill bit (assuming you have a drill around your house) to make the holes.

3.) Stitch (and cry). OK, if you are new to cross-stitching, just walk away from this project. It will make you hate crafting and I would hate for that to be my fault. (I am only slightly kidding.) I have been cross-stitching for a loooong time and there were times that I had to put down the pumpkin because I was like “I WILL NEVER BE DONE WHY DID I START THIS PROJECT? AHHHHH!!!!”

I think I finally found a way that worked for me which was, to work on the side. For about a third of the time, I was holding the pumpkin upright and trying to stitch. That was frustrating (aside from trying to find the practically impossible to find holes in the back of the pumpkin). Once I turned it on its side so that the hole to remove the stem faced left, (I’m left-handed, so for you, it might go on the right side.) things seemed to move a lot faster.

4.) Do a happy dance when it’s finished. I used glow in the dark thread because, hey, if I was going to do this, I was going to do it the right way. And although it took about double the time I anticipated, I am SO happy I did it. In fact, next year, I’m going to start a little earlier and try to get the other two done and that way my pumpkin will have a circle of Boos around it. (We’ll see, right now I am relieved that I’m done, I might see it next year and be like, “Nope.”)

If you do decide to tackle stitching your own pumpkin, my biggest suggestions are 1.) Pick a small pattern — this Boo is about 15 x15 squares across and it took me about 8-10 hours, from start to finish 2.) Make sure your holes to stitch through are visible from the inside of your pumpkin 3.) Give yourself enough time and try not to stress — this isn’t a great project to work on in the car while someone is driving because finding the spot where the needle needs to go is hard enough without the bumpy bumps of the road. 4.) Have fun! Since you’ll be stitching on a foam pumpkin, you’ll be able to keep this year after year and never have to do it again, LOL