3 Fun Ways to Paint your Faux Pumpkins for Fall

Showing you 3 fun ways to paint your faux pumpkins for Fall to make them look like they came from an expensive store. From hand-painting florals to aged terracotta, let’s take that old decor and make it new again!

I absolutely LOVE Fall! I love the crispness in the air and the way the colors pop when the leaves start to turn. They are so vibrant and beautiful that I can’t even believe that the colors are actually real.

I love the crunching leaves under children’s feet as they play in the streets, hanging on to the golden sun as it starts to set.

I love being able to finally wear jeans and cardigans and boots.

I also love the sweet decor of Fall in preparation for Thanksgiving and coveted family time.

Recently I have shifted from decorating with the bright vibrant colors typical of Fall decor to a more neutral and sophisticated palette. I love browns and soft, muted colors now but that means that my old decor doesn’t really work for what I want now.

But what was I going to do with my old decor? I usually like to let things go that are no longer serving me and let them bless someone else’s life, but I didn’t want to get rid of my Fall decor if there was something I could do to update it.

So, I challenged myself to update my old pumpkins to work for me in a new way. And I love what came out of it!

Here are 3 fun ways to paint faux pumpkins.

• Faux Heirloom Pumpkins
• Pottery Barn Terra Cotta Pumpkin Dupe
• Block Art Pumpkins

4 easy steps to create faux heirloom pumpkins:

I LOVE the colored pumpkins that I have been seeing around at the grocery store recently. You know that pumpkins I am talking about. The ones that are the prettiest, softest colors that are so unexpected of pumpkins.

 

I knew I could recreate the heirloom pumpkins with the pumpkins I already had. They are similar in shape and would make the perfect craft.

I have had these pumpkins for almost 20 years! They were white when I bought them, and over the years I have used them here and there adding a dark wax and crackle to them. But I haven’t used them in my decor for a few years because I no longer loved them.

 

I didn’t want to just get rid of them so I decided to recreate those heirloom pumpkins I love so much!

To turn those….into these!

Don’t they look like they came right off the farm?

The secret to success? Flour.

Supplies needed to paint your faux heirloom pumpkins:

• Faux pumpkins
• Various colors of paint (I chose to buy samples from Lowe’s at $5 each instead of craft paint) Colors I chose were: Sherwin Williams Coral Island, Grassland and Quietude.
• Chip brushes
• Flour (yes, flour from your kitchen)
• A small glass of water

How to create faux heirloom Pumpkins:

1. Paint your faux pumpkin in your desired colors and let it dry. Wrap up the brush to use it later.
2. Once dry, take the same paint brush you used to paint the pumpkin and dip it into water.
3. Lightly brush water down the ridges on the pumpkin.
4. Sprinkle flour all over the pumpkin and work the flour down into the grooves and ridges. Do this as many times as you need to get the desired look. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Never too much or too little. It just depends on how you want it to look.
5. Shake off excess flour. That’s it!

You are going to use the flour to highlight areas you want to standout/be different. The flour will stick to the water on the pumpkin so just brush water anywhere you want to highlight with the flour. It is kind of amazing to see the transformation.

 

 

How to Make Faux Terracotta Pottery Barn Pumpkins:

 

I bought these faux pumpkins and gourds a few years ago for a centerpiece and no longer love them. And I know I could just get rid of them, but I knew I could make them into something else. Does this ever happen to you?

So I wanted to recreate the ones I saw in Pottery Barn and make them look like they were made out of terracotta.

And this is what I got! I absolutely love them and even though they look a little different from PB, I still think they look like the real deal.

The secret to this rich texture? Baking soda.

Supplies needed to make faux terracotta pumpkins:

• SW Paint in Pottery Urn
• Chip brush
• Baking soda
• Flour

How to get the faux terracotta look with paint in 3 steps:

1. Paint pumpkin or gourd with the Pottery Urn in a nice thick coat.
2. While the paint is wet, sprinkle baking soda on the pumpkin and work into the paint to create a rough texture.
3. When almost dry, sprinkle flour all over the pumpkins and gently brush downward around the pumpkin towards the base.

 

Add Hand-Painted Flowers to Glass Pumpkins

I was inspired by these hand-painted pumpkins at Joanne’s and knew that my tired glass pumpkins could be something like this. I thought they were cute and a way to not have to change them completely.

 

So I got my supplies and got creative on a Sunday afternoon. I will be the first to tell you that I am NOT an artist in any way so this doesn’t take a lot of skill.

I just kind of imitated what I saw and I think they turned out cute!

 

Supplies you need to paint flowers onto glass pumpkins:

• Craft paint in your desired colors
• Inexpensive small artists brushes
• Craft paint tray or paper plate
• Small glass of water
• Papertowel
• Spray top coat (if desired)

How to paint flowers on glass pumpkins:

1. Find an inspirational pattern that you want to imitate or just come up with a design on your own if you are really creative!
2. Add paint to tray or paper plate.
3. Figure out which paintbrush you need to use to achieve your desired look. Each brush does something different.
4. Just start painting! If you mess up it will just wipe right off with a paper towel and you can start again.

I did not do any kind of protective topcoat because I actually want to use these again and do something different with them. By using just regular craft paint I will be able to just scrape off the paint from the glass. I also didn’t use any primer.

 

But if I wanted it to last and be protected then I would spray a topcoat over the painted parts.

They turned out really cute!

Ok, so which pumpkins are your favorite?

I love them all for different reasons. But I think my fave is the terracotta.

Shhhhh….don’t tell the others.

I hope you love these 3 fun ways to paint your faux pumpkins and this inspires you to take your unused and outdated decor and give it a little makeover to work for you NOW. Or make that new decor look like it has some character. I don’t think it’s necessary to always buy new decor and I love to take a chance and upcycle when I can.

Need some more Fall Inspo? Check out the following posts for more creative ideas!

This spooky tree for Halloween 

This Black Crow Wreath for your front door

These 30+ Amazon Fall Finds

These pretty Fall wreaths

These simple Thanksgiving table ideas 

Have a great week!  Until next time, stop waiting. Start creating.