From Broken Old Rackets to Perfect Fall Pumpkins

Have you started putting away all of your summer stuff yet? With Fall full on now and snow *cough cough* on the way sooner than later, it is definitely time to start packing stuff away.

If you are like me and end up with an abundance of things in storage you don’t need, why not turn some of it into new Fall decor!

The Old Rackets

I had a few old rackets in storage that I picked up at the dump reuse centre a few years ago and have never used them. I decided it was time to clear them out… so turned them into the perfect Fall pumpkins.

To start, I cut off the handles of the rackets so they became pumpkin shaped. I should note that it was much easier to cut off the tennis handle than the badminton handles. If you cut down badminton rackets, be warned that the metal handle goes right to the racket part. It took a few tries but I was finally able to find the end very close down to the oval.

Painting the Rackets

With the handles cut off, it was quick and painless to paint the rackets. I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Barcelona orange. Annie Sloan paint sticks to pretty much anything so it was the perfect choice for this project with the different surfaces.

To give the pumpkins a little more of a worn, rustic feel (so they would fit in with my decor) they got a sanding and then a coat of clear Annie Sloan Wax with touches of dark wax. Trying to keep the wax only on the frame was a bit of a challenge and as you can see, I wasn’t especially successful at it LOL.

Adding Texture

I thought it would be fun to add some colour and texture to one of the pumpkins. I had some chunky yarn leftover from this project so wove it in and out with an embroidery needle. A little hot glue on the back of the racket kept each length in place at either end. I did this to the tennis racket since I was only planning on doing one.