Say hi to Bert, our Teen Club mascot!
Teen Club is BACK at Hello Happiness Creativity Center! For 2023 we are offering MONTHLY kits that teens (13-19) can come and pick up for free and take home (or anywhere!) to complete. Each month will feature a different kit that will come with the necessary supplies needed to complete the activity and an instruction sheet, if applicable. The kits are totally free but will be limited and given out on a first-come, first-serve basis.
October's Teen Club Kit
Happy fall, friends! In October, we’ll be making cork pumpkins! Each kit comes with at least 25 corks (you will need 25 corks to complete the project, but most kits have extra just in case), a little pot of orange acrylic paint, a rubber band, a small piece of green felt, and a piece of raffia.
You will need glue, which is something we are unfortunately unable to include in this month’s kit. We’ve tested this project with regular white school glue and tacky glue, and they both worked! You can also use a hot glue gun, which would dry faster, but please use caution and the help of an adult if you go this route. If you do not have any glue at home, Hello Happiness sells white school glue for 50 cents. Be sure to pick one up!
You may also need a paint brush if you want to paint the corks orange. Hello Happiness does have a limited number of paint brushes available for free near the Teen Club kit display, but we also sell new and gently used ones for 50 cents!
Pick up your FREE cork pumpkin kit at Hello Happiness Creativity, 1504 New Jersey Ave in Sheboygan, any time we’re open! Tuesday-Friday 10AM-5PM, and Saturday 10AM-3PM.
Step 1: Paint each end of the corks orange, to give it that pumpkin look! This step is optional, and you can use a different color if you want a more unique pumpkin. Get creative 😀 Wait for the paint to dry before moving on to step 2.
Step 2: Count out 24 corks. These will be the corks that make up the body of the pumpkin. You are going to arrange them in rows. Two rows should have four corks, two rows should have five corks, and one row should have six corks. You are going to glue the individual corks together in each row! Wait for these rows to dry, we recommend setting them aside overnight.
Step 3: We’re going to assemble the pumpkin in this step! Take your glue and one of the rows of four corks. Liberally apply some glue to this layer, and place a row of five corks on top. Next, you are going to glue the row of six corks on top of this layer, and then the other row of five corks, and finally, the last row of four corks will be glued on top. Once you have it assembled, it should be ordered like this from the bottom, up: Row of 4 corks → 5 corks → 6 corks → 5 corks → 4 corks. Rubber band them all together and let this dry overnight.
Step 4: Gently remove the rubber band from the pumpkin. It should hold together, but please use care when handling it! The final things left to do are cut out a leaf shape from the green felt (optional, but recommended), glue that along with a cork to the top of the pumpkin to make the stem, and tie the piece of raffia around the stem for a nice autumnal touch!
