Waking up this morning and realizing it was October is bittersweet, mostly bitter. I tend to get through these transitions by throwing myself into the fun aspects of the season however carving pumpkins on October 1st can end up being a smelly mess by Halloween. That is no treat! I discovered pumpkin painting and want to share some ideas with you.

Pumpkin Dipping: The first tip is I don’t really dip them. I bought 3 white pumpkins and picked 3 acrylic paint colors. The key is to lay the paint on really thick…just gob it on like your peanut buttering toast. I was a little careful along the edge to try and make the line straight. Let dry overnight on a paper plate

Polka Dot Pumpkin: I sprayed an orange pumpkin with white primer spray paint and then used a stencil brush to put on the dots. Pick any color you like, acrylic paints worked great.

Painting a polka dot pumpkin

Pantone Pumpkins: These were my favorite. I bought small ones and gave them a light spray with the white primer first, taping the stems with blue painters tape. Then I picked a paint that had a lot of pigment for the first one. For the second one I added some white to the paint. I added even more white for the third. For the fourth and fifth I just added some of the color from the previous pumpkin to a bunch of white. I found it tough to see much of a difference in color on the sixth pumpkin so I stopped.

Pantone Pumpkin Painting

 Owl and Deer Pumpkin: This one was the easiest of all! I painted a spaghetti squash with glossy white spray paint. I chose a spaghetti squash because it is smooth so stickers adhere better. I used my silhouette cameo to cut the owl and deer out of black adhesive vinyl however you could use any stickers that you like. I have seen some cool modge podge examples too that I would love to try.

Has anyone else painted their pumpkins? I would love to see them!

Happy Painting!

Heidi