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Every year, I love l all the beautiful pumpkins that are available at farmers markets and pumpkin patches. Some of my favorites are the Shamrock and Jarrahdale (sage green colored), Porcelain Doll (peachy-pink) and the Casper’s (white).

Unfortunately, here in the south, it is usually hot through October and I hate to waste money on real pumpkins that are just going to sit outside and rot. So a few years ago,  I decided to paint my own version of the ones I love! I gathered all my faux pumpkins that I have collected over the last few years- most of them are from Walmart or Hobby Lobby. 

Once I gathered all my pumpkins, I then decided what paint colors I was going to use and I divided the pumpkins I had into three different piles. I tried to have a variety of sizes and styles mixed in to each of the three piles. 

I used paint that I had on hand.  The colors I chose were: Fusion Mineral paint in Casement, Enchanted, Lichen and Buttermilk Cream. I also used a couple of craft paints… in the color Apricot and medium brown shade.

I used the color Lichen (a mossy green shade) on one third of the pumpkins. 

The second color I mixed up was the pinky-peach shade. I mixed Casement with a little of the Apricot and a little of the Enchanted. I mixed it up and it ended up looking like thousand island dressing. 

The third color was the white shade. I mixed casement with a little of the Buttermilk Cream to warm up the white a little. I didn’t want the white to be too creamy, but not quite a pure bright white. 

First, I prepared the work space and laid out three large sheets of freezer paper. You can either remove the stems or take them off.  Then I began painting the pumpkins. I painted the bottoms first then flipped them over and painted the rest. 

Once all the pumpkin bottoms first coat was dry, I applied the second coat (if necessary). I let them totally dry and then flipped them over and did the exact same thing to the top side of all the pumpkins. I applied 1 to 2 coats total (on the tops and bottoms) depending on the coverage needed and let them totally dry.

To add a little more dimension and make them look as realistic as possible I did a white wash on the green and peachy pink ones. I made the white wash by mixing Casement and watered it down. It was probably 1/3 casement to 2/3 water mixture. To apply it, I took a paper towel and dipped it in the watered down white and then just wiped it over the entire pumpkins surface of just the green and the pinky ones. This gave them a slightly more subdued color and make them look like they have been sitting outside. 

Then, I used a craft brush and a medium brown craft paint that I watered down and applied it to the grooves of the pumpkins and immediately wiped it back off. The I took an old toothbrush and the same medium brown craft paint and watered it down a little. Then I splattered it over the surface of all three shades of the pumpkins. Some I spattered a little more heavy, some I did a little less heavy. This just gave them the look like they might have had a little dirt on them.  Again, I wanted them to look as realistic as possible.

Once all the pumpkins were done I let them all dry. While they were drying, I moved onto the pumpkin stems. Some of the stems on the pumpkins were OK but some of them looked very plasticy and fake. So I took a craft brush and two colors of brown and tan craft paint. I randomly brushed the two colors onto the stems and then blotted it off just a little bit so it wasn’t solid coverage. 

Once everything was dry, I used my hot glue gun to glue the stems back into the pumpkins. Then I moved them outside and I sprayed the entire pumpkin with two light coats of a Satin finish clear coat spray paint. Let them dry between coats. 

And voila! You have some beautiful pumpkins that you can use year after year. 

This is the third year I am using mine. They have been used outside and exposed to the elements each year and still look as good as the day I painted them! 

Come follow along with me over on my Instagram and Pinterest pages. 

I hope you’ll come back soon for more DIY’s (big and small), home decor, and all the in between!