This simple DIY painted pumpkin tutorial will have you running to the nearest Walmart or Dollar Store to snatch up all the plastic orange and green pumpkins you can find like the ones I started with below.
A SOFTER PALLETTE
I actually really love the traditional colors of fall but each year when I head to the pumpkin patch, I find myself drawn to the more expensive softer palette of the blue and green cinderella pumpkins. Do you know what I’m talking about? I mean, every year I would spend $100 or more on pumpkins just for the front porch and decided that was crazy and I’m not going to do it any more. So I started playing around with some different colors recently by mixing paint colors and figured out how I could transform the Dollar Store version into something that I will use over and over every year and you can too.
LET’S BEGIN
The SUPPLIES I used for this project are:
Apple Barrel Granite Gray
Apple Barrel China Blue
Apple Barrel White
Waverly Celery
Spray Primer
Flat Artist Brush
Liner Brush
Waverly Antique Wax
Paper Plate
Start by using a can of spray primer and giving each pumpkin a good coat. I don’t know that this step is absolutely necessary, however, I did want complete coverage over the pumpkins and I knew that would give them a good start without having to layer multiple coats of color when I began painting. I even sprayed the cream-colored pumpkin with the primer to get a bright white finished look.
So, get out your paper plate and paint and
squirt a small amount of each
of the four colors onto your plate.
Make sure your pumpkins are completely dry from the primer before you start painting. Grab a pumpkin, Celery paint color, flat brush and let’s get to painting the first one. I am here to tell you that I’m probably the messiest painter there is so wherever you’re painting, lay down the proper drop cloths for protection. Don’t worry about getting the paint on the stems. We will fix that in the end. In fact, when I’m spraying on the primer in the first step, I don’t worry and spray right over the stem.
Make sure you cover the entire pumpkin with your paint and once it’s completely painted, we need to highlight the ribs, or the crevices. I do this by mixing a tiny bit of the Granite Gray into the leftover Celery that’s on my paper plate. You want the color a little darker to bring out those areas. Once your pumpkin is dry, start this step by turning your brush vertical and literal painting a line from the top of the crease to the bottom until you’ve done each one. Now, set that aside to dry.
Create the blue pumpkin by repeating the steps above by using the China Blue AND Granite Gray colors. I mixed 2/3 China Blue and 1/3 Granite Gray. You can add a little more of each until you find the right color to your liking. I wanted a subtle blue and mixing that with the Granite Gray helps achieve that.
The white pumpkin is simply that, painted with the
Apple Barrel White. I then mixed 1/3 Granite Gray and 2/3 White
to highlight the crevices.
FINAL TOUCHES
To add the final touches, we need to add those warty spots that you sometimes see on the real pumpkins and paint the stems. For this step I took my pumpkins outside because it can be a bit messy. I mixed 2/3 Granite Gray and 1/3 White and loaded up my liner brush, and I mean REALLY loaded it up. You want to literally flick the brush all over your pumpkin so that the paint splatters until you have as many warty spots as you want. Use the same mix of color for all your pumpkins’ warts for this step.
FINALLY, to paint the stems I grabbed my Waverly Antique Wax. Any brown paint will do for this step, but I’m hear to tell you, I LOVE this stuff. I use it on everything. You can find it in the craft section at Walmart and it’s so much cheaper than other wax. I took a picture of the lid simply because the bottle is so messy, the only way to tell what it is is to read the top! I told ya I was messy…
Use the wax just like paint and cover the stems with one coat using your flat brush.
So how did you do now that your pumpkins are complete? Easy peasy, huh? Make sure they are completely dry before you start adding them to your decor. I added faux greens, cotton stems and The BoHo Beads to give the space more texture. Happy Pumpkin Painting friends.
Was this tutorial helpful? Leave a comment below. Don’t forget to tag The Pickled Rose when you do your DIY and post them so I can see all your GORGEOUS pumpkin creations.
