These Old-Fashioned Keys Had Nothing to Do With Fall: Then They Became the Letters on Four Pumpkins
Pumpkin decorating often starts with paint or a carving knife, but Homedit’s Emily Burmeister used neither for this fall display. She started with white pumpkins and a pack of metal keys, turning the different key shapes into letters across their curved surfaces.
Each pumpkin carries part of the word “FALL.” Rather than writing the letters onto the pumpkins, the keys become the strokes that form them, leaving the white surfaces exposed around the dark metal.
Old-fashioned keys become the letters
The decorative key set contains six different designs, from long narrow keys to shorter pieces with ornate bows. Those differences provide the shapes needed to build letters instead of using four matching pieces.
Emily first removed the keys from the package and worked with their existing silver-gray finish. No alteration to the keys was needed before arranging them.
Arrange the keys before reaching for glue
Keys were placed on a flat surface first to determine which combinations could form F, A, L, and L. Some letters use two keys positioned at right angles, while the A uses several pieces to create its angled shape.
Planning the combinations off the pumpkins also shows how the key teeth, shafts, and decorative tops can become parts of each letter rather than hiding those details.
Hot glue holds the metal against the pumpkin
Once the arrangement was set, Emily applied hot glue where each key would sit. Pumpkin ridges create an uneven surface, while the keys remain straight, so the metal does not make contact along its full length.
She used enough glue to bridge those gaps and pressed each piece into place while the adhesive set.
Each pumpkin gets one letter
Keys that looked like a loose collection on the table start to read as letters once attached to the white pumpkins. Dark metal also creates enough contrast for each shape to show without adding another color or finish.
Keeping one letter on each pumpkin allows the word to appear when the pieces are placed side by side, while each pumpkin still works as a separate object in the display.
The glue fills the gaps behind the keys
A close view shows why more glue was needed than a flat craft project would require. Parts of each key touch the raised pumpkin ribs while other sections sit above the recessed areas.
Clear hot glue fills those spaces and holds the rigid metal against the curved form. The pumpkin itself remains unchanged apart from the attached keys.
The separate letters become FALL on the mantel
Placed together on the fireplace mantel, the key arrangements spell “FALL.” White pumpkins keep the palette neutral, while the aged-metal look of the keys adds a darker detail against their pale surfaces.
A leaf garland runs below them, but the lettering comes from the keys rather than another traditional fall material.
From plain pumpkins to a message made from keys
From across the room, the four pumpkins read as a single fall display. Move closer and the construction of each letter becomes visible: ornate key tops, long shafts, and teeth have been positioned to create the shapes.
Instead of covering the pumpkins with another finish or cutting into them, the project leaves their white surfaces intact and changes what sits on top of them.