DIY PAINTED FAUX PUMPKIN

Ciao Amici! Fall is officially here and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. This is our first holiday season in our new house, and while I would love to deck-out our home, I also know that spending all of our budget on decorations would not be responsible. Buying a house is a big step and with it come lots of financial responsibilities. Hashtag adulthood right? So here is where the idea of creating cute and inexpensive decorations came from. Specifically this cute painted faux pumpkin.

Courtesy of: PMQ for two // Lolly Jane // The Casual Craftlete

If you go on Pinterest right now, chances are you’re going to see thousands of pictures of painted pumpkins like the ones above. You can use them as center pieces, decorations for your mantel, prop them on the front porch, or even stick flowers in it. The possibilities are endless. While I definitely see the appeal in using real pumpkins and painting them – they are gorgeous – I can’t help but think of the amount of waste produced. Painting a perfectly fine pumpkin? You could literally feed a family with that. And no matter how well you seal the pumpkin, you’re still going to end up throwing it away. Such a waste! I just cannot bring myself to do it. But what if you could create the same look by using a non-perishable object?

I found this cute foam pumpkin at our local dollar store and thought it would be perfect for painting and recreating the same trend as above. Really, you can use any type of faux pumpkin, foam, wood, metal. You might just need to apply more coats of paint depending on the material you are using.

For this pumpkin I only needed to paint two coats of white paint and one of this paint in a porcelain doll shade. I wanted something very neutral so I could use it over the years, even if I decide to change our living room color palette.  I used a fine tip paint brush and some gold paint to write “fall” on the front, but you could easily achieve the same look by using a gold marker.

This DIY is super easy and it only took an hour or so to do (including drying time). You could make this project with your kiddos. Maybe you could have them write what they are thankful for on it. Again, endless possibilities.

What you’ll need:

a faux pumpkin

white acrylic paint

pale pink paint

gold paint

wide flat brush

fine tip brush

fan brush

an old rag

Directions:

1. Start by applying two coats of white paint to your pumpkin by using the wide brush. Allow enough time between coats to dry the paint.
2. Cover your fingertip with the rag. Dip the rag in light pink paint and start by swiping along the creases of the pumpkin. This will create a shadow effect on the surface of your pumpkin, giving it a more realistic effect.
3. Using the same paint, dab the top of the pumpking along the stem to create more shadow.
4. Using a fan brush and the pink paint, create some faint vertical lines on the pumpkin. This will add texture to your pumpkin.
5. Paint the stem gold.
6. With the fine tip brush write whichever word you choose in gold. You can trace the word with a pencil if you wish to have a guide.

That’s it folks! An easy craft you can create on a fall afternoon. And unlike a real pumpkin, this faux pumpkin will last for many years.