On Labor Day, my mother and sisters came over to help me enact all of my pumpkin dress-up fantasies. Many hours, a bag of candy corn, and a six trips to the craft store later, we had 42 tricked-out pumpkins to welcome the arrival of September. (And hello, gorgeous.)

Today, inspired by the contents of my closet, my Pumpkin Fashion Series begins. First down the runway: Pom-pom pumpkins.

These were inspired by the J. Crew sweater I spied on Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere:

Directions:

Procure a pumpkin — real or faux. If you use faux, I have a few tricks to make it look better.

First, pull the plastic stem off your pumpkin.

Next, take it outside for a date with some spray paint. I think Krylon Fusion Dover White in Satin looks almost exactly like the finish on the real white pumpkins I find in October.

Then, attach a dried pumpkin stem — a real one. I pluck these off my jack-o-lanterns every fall and let them dry in the garage. Sometimes you can also find them for sale on Etsy and eBay.

Just a little hot glue is all you need.

Then, attach a few rows of pom-poms using hot glue.

In just a few minutes, you’ll have this sweet thing:

Are you excited? The 42 pumpkins before:

And after — Pumpkin Fashion No. 1: