Happy Thanksgiving lovies!

As the temperature starts dropping, the leaves start changing, and the infamous pumpkin spiced lattes come rolling around, visions of fall decor begin to dance in my head. October is one of my favourite months of the year hosting both Thanksgiving and Halloween, and what better way to add some seasonal flare to your home than with pumpkins.

Growing up I remember carving pumpkins with my parents and siblings, and as I got older I enjoyed putting a creative spin on my pumpkin decorating through paints, pompoms, gauze and a myriad of other craft supplies.

While enjoying this Thanksgiving long weekend with my loved ones, I managed to sneak in some time for pumpkin decorating. Creating unique pumpkins is easier than it looks, and while certain designs can require a lot of skill and patience I’ve prepared some quick and easy pumpkin decorating ideas for you to enjoy!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

1. Pumpkins
2. Acrylic paint – I used the Pebeo Studio Acrylics High Viscosity Paint and the Craft Smart Multi Surface Premium Satin Acrylic Paint from Micheals, both of which are excellent.
3. Paintbrushes – I picked up the Craft Smart Assorted All Purpose Brushes from Michaels for $6.99. You don’t need anything fancy, but try to get a few different sizes if you don’t want to purchase an assorted pack. You’ll need the bigger brushes for painting the entire pumpkin or larger areas of it, and the smaller brushes for the details.
4. Spray paint – The Design Master Colortool Spray is a great option for pumpkins. I used Brilliant Gold which is quick drying and leaves a metallic finish.
5. Misc craft supplies – Paper towel, tape, googly eyes, gauze (~10 yards), wet foam bricks, sewing pins and fall decor branches. You can pick all these pieces up at Dollarama or Michaels.
6. Fresh flowers, or fake flowers if you prefer they last longer.
7. Clean, even surface/ newspaper – For spray painting, I recommend doing this outside/ in your garage because of the fumes. I also advise on laying down newspaper to protect your surface.

PREPARING TO DECORATE

Step 1 – Get pumpkins, duh ;). Try and select pumpkins with minimal blemishes, but if your options are limited don’t worry, the paint will cover bruised areas but the pumpkins may not last as long.

Step 2 – Take a damp cloth, wipe down your pumpkin(s), and dry off with paper towel or let it air dry. This will remove the excess dirt and allow for a smooth painting surface.

Step 3 – Prepare your supplies and get ready to decorate!

 

PUMPKIN #1 – THANKSGIVING BOUQUET

This is one of my favourite pumpkins as it makes for a great gift if you’re heading to family or friends for Thanksgiving, and also serve as a great centrepiece for your own home.

1. Cut a circular shape (or as close as you can get) from the top of the pumpkin. Gut the pumpkin (I love saving the seeds for roasting) removing as much of the inside as possible. Ensure the circle you cut from the top is wide enough to fit the wet foam brick. Give your pumpkin a quick wipe.
2. Take your spray paint, shake well, hold around 12″ – 18″ from the pumpkin and apply in even parallel strokes. Make sure you’re doing this in an open area, and also ensure your pumpkin isn’t too cold.
3. Leave pumpkin to dry.
4. Get your wet foam brick and soak it in water.
5. You can now start preparing your bouquet. I chose to use roses, cutting the ends on an angle. After gathering the roses I tied them loosely with string and then lodged them into the wet foam brick. You’ll have to play around with how much of the flower stem you cut (start off conservative) to ensure the flowers peak out from the pumpkin hole.
6. Insert the wet foam brick (with the roses) into the pumpkin and you’ll notice the flowers will start to naturally disperse due to them being loosely tied. Fill the gaps with your artificial fall branches, using as many or as little as you desire.

 

 

PUMPKIN #2 – THE DONUT

The donut …need I say more? Not only is this design super cute, but it’s fun & playful for all ages. You can create this look with a white or orange pumpkin (my personal preference is white). For this design you’ll need several different paint colours for the sprinkles.

1. Take a pencil and draw a line around the circumference of the pumpkin.
2. Grab your tape and line up the top of the tape with your pencil line. As pumpkins are round (startling revelation, I know) and not always even, you’ll need several pieces of tape to make your way entirely around the pumpkin.
3. Decide on the colour of ‘frosting’ (pink in my case, surprise surprise), take one of your thicker paintbrushes and go to town. The tape will prevent the paint for dripping, and will allow for a clean line around the pumpkin Leave a circle around the top of the pumpkin to serve as the donut hole, but if you forgot just take a cream coloured paint and paint a circle on top.
4. Let the paint dry (~30 minutes).
5. Remove the tape to reveal your clean line.
6. As I mentioned above, you’ll need a variety of different paint colours to showcase the sprinkles. Use a smaller paintbrush, and make strokes in different directions for the sprinkles. I recommend doing one colour at a time.

 

PUMPKIN #3 – POLKA DOT PARTY

There are so many ways to make this design your own. I opted for a white pumpkin and as it had some blemishes I used a natural paint colour to coat and conceal the pumpkin. You can choose not to paint your pumpkin, or you can use any colour of your choice for the base.

1. Paint the pumpkin with your base colour, or leave the pumpkin in its natural state.
2. Select the colour for your polka dots and using a fine tipped paintbrush start painting circles on your pumpkin. I used blue for my polka dots, and accented this with small gold glitter dots.

Tip – when selecting which paintbrush to use, try testing your options by pretending to paint polka dots and watch to see how the bristles fall. If you notice the bristles spread out quite a bit, test another brush until you find one that gives you more control.

 

PUMPKIN #4 – THE MUMMY

Once painted, this was the fastest pumpkin to decorate.

1. Paint your pumpkin black, or use an orange pumpkin if you don’t want to paint it. I don’t recommend white pumpkins for this design because it blends too much with the white gauze.
2. Glue, or tape on the googly eyes.
3. Take the gauze and fold it so it becomes thick (just a couple layers should be fine). By doing this the sewing pin can push through the gauze without tearing it. Use two sewing pins to pin the gauze to the pumpkin, on the opposite side of the googly eyes. If you don’t fold the gauze it will likely ear and fall apart. Another option is to use tape, I however personally prefer using pins.
4. Start wrapping the gauze around the pumpkin, above and below the googly eyes. Easy peasy.

 

 

Wishing you all a beautiful Thanksgiving. May your lives be filled with both thanks and giving.

xo, Kiki