Painted Pumpkin DIY

Pumpkin spice has nothing on painted pumpkins, there I said it. Today, I am sharing a festive DIY! If color is your jam and non traditional pumpkins make your heart sing...well then this is the project for you!  This painted faux pumpkin is super easy, I’m rating it a 2 on a scale of 1-10, and it’s animal print, need I say more?? Alright, let’s get to business.

You can purchase all of the materials above at your local craft store. Faux pumpkins come in many sizes, the one I used was 10inches. It was already “white” but was more of an off white, so I primed and sprayed it white. Trust me true white looks way better, and your acrylic paint will work better on a primed and painted pumpkin (so don’t skip this step) I use a 2-in-1 paint and primer, I like rust-oleum. 

Once pumpkin is dry, paint your stem gold. I used two different golds because my metallic gold is very transparent and would need like 20 coats to look good. I used an opaque gold first to cover all the white, and then I went back on top with my metallic gold paint to make it shimmer and sparkle. 

Now the fun part! Pick two colors, I started with pink and orange, and paint irregular shaped spots around your pumpkin. Make them different sizes, some high, some low - the more random the better. Then pick a third color, (I used dark blue) and you are going to paint around some of those spots, not all. When you paint around the spots, make sure you don’t make a complete circle. I also alternate the placement of these shapes and vary the thickness. Again, the less “perfect” these shapes are the better.

Using that same dark blue, I added smaller spots randomly around the pumpkin. You can see in the image above some of the outer spot shapes are painted on two sides of the center spot, some are just a half moon shape- switch it up so they are not all the same. Pick your fourth color ( I used teal) create more outer spot shapes, remember I said not to use the dark blue on all of your original spots ;) I also made some smaller spots in teal to fill in some blank spaces. Now you can use your last color, (I used lime green) I added pops of green around the pumpkin, making outer shapes on some of the small spots, and layering it into some of the larger spots. Last, I added my metallic gold on the stem and painted on a clear sealant to keep my pumpkin lookin’ fabulous for years to come.

   There is no wrong way to paint this colorful animal print, so use mine as an example and have fun painting your own! If you create one, I would LOVE to see! Tag me on Instagram @katiehermanart 

Make your home happy, add more color!

Katie