Pumpkin Painting

Continuing our Fall pumpkin theme, Michaels had featured artists and their beautiful painted pumpkins, so I thought I would give it a try.  Now to be fair, I have held a pumpkin painting party in the past with friends, so I’m no rookie!  It is very easy and is a great way to get the kids, parents, grandparents, and everyone in the house involved and using their creativity to design and paint one-of-a-kind pumpkins.

I saw pumpkins for sale online at Michaels, the plastic ones, and I opted for two of these.  Why didn’t I go for real pumpkins?  Well, I wanted to make something sustainable that I can reuse over time.  Feel free to opt for real pumpkins, especially if you are looking for beautiful door décor as these will provide great weight in the wind and outdoor elements since the plastic ones are very lightweight. 

Products Used: 

- Two 9” Craft Pumpkins by Ashland at Michaels 
- Folkart Home Décor Chalk Paint in Sheepskin by Folk Art at Michaels 
- Martha Stewart Satin Surface Acrylic Paint in Beach Glass at Michaels 
- A 2” flat paintbrush and two small detail brushes, both available at any craft store

I had to paint the top half separately from the bottom half because I had to flip it upside down.  You can only do that when the top is dry.  The pumpkins took two layers of white chalk paint with about an hour in between for drying time.  

To be honest, it was very challenging to wait!  Now I fully understand the phrase “it’s like watching paint dry”.  So I started working on another craft for the holidays in the down time- which was about three hours of waiting for paint to dry between layers.  

Moral of the story, have another craft project going at the same time as this one!

I recently purchased some leaf stencils for another craft project, so I was inspired by the leaf theme for the first pumpkin.  I used another darker color of blue paint (not pictured) to add some more interesting colors in the blue/green family.  

For the second pumpkin I thought of a classic Kate Spade polka dot theme because I love polk dot décor.  Both were very easy designs and don’t need a super stead hand – hint, I do not have a steady hand.  

Some other designs I have seen are floral, tie-dye, stripe, or even sports-themed pumpkins.  It’s pretty much a blank canvas :)  Just know that if you opt for a more neutral Fall theme you can put out your pumpkins in late August, versus a more Halloween-theme pumpkin.  

Happy Fall y’all!