This weekend I found these adorable little pumpkin and skull decorations at the Dollar Tree! Naturally, I bought a bunch of them. There are some flaws but they have so much potential and I could not wait to get them home and get started on a makeover!
I started by painting everything white because I love a blank canvas.
I used this sponge applicator (also found at Dollar Tree) and applied the paint in a pouncing motion because I like the texture it adds.I started to use a paintbrush but the visible brushstrokes were driving me crazy!
It took two coats to get the coverage I wanted using the Apple Barrel paint.
Next, using a small paintbrush I outlined the details, and then using the sponge again I applied the main colors to the pumpkins. I chose burgundy and black for these ones.
Then, using the detail brush again, I added color to my flowers.
After several coats, I got the coverage and colors I wanted.
Finally, once that dried I sealed it with a Mod Podge glossy finish. If you are using glossy paint you can skip this step, but if you are using matte paint you will definitely want to go over it with the glossy finish. It looks better sitting on the shelf, plus it will be so much easier to dust!
Side note about the Mod- Podge… I got tons of bubbles in my final result. Perhaps I am applying it wrong? I used a brush and applied it fairly slowly. If anyone has advice on this leave a comment below!
Anywho, here is the final result of the pumpkins. I could not decide on a color scheme for the skull yet but I am happy with how these turned out.
Bonus!
My kids also enjoyed doing this with me. Here is a picture of what my son came up with for his pumpkin and skull.
The air is getting chillier and leaves are beginning to change.
Fall is in the air! Which means spooky season is right around the corner.
Halloween crafts are some of my favorites because there is so much room for creativity!
I kicked off my holiday crafting with this spooky but cute haunted graveyard pumpkin wall hanging.
Here are the materials I used:
1 wooden pumpkin board
1 Package of metal words
Minwax wood stain (jacobean)
Apple Barrel paints (black, white, and yellow)
Paintbrush
This was super fun and easy to make. Once the wood was stained, it took me all of 45 mins from start to finish.
Since I tend to try different things and end up needing to buy supplies often, I like to keep my projects as low-cost as possible. The pumpkin board and metal words both came from Dollar Tree. The rest of the supplies I already had around from previous projects, but the paints can be bought at Walmart for about fifty cents, and the wood stain can be found at Lowe’s for around bucks. The stain could also be substituted with watered-down paint if you don’t think you will use the stain again for any future projects.
The fact that this is so low cost and quick, makes it a great project for a craft night with friends or just someone who wants to flex their creative muscles, but doesn’t have a lot of time!
Alright, enough of my rambling, here’s what I did:
To start, I stained the pumpkin.
Note: I did this before deciding to make this post. The pumpkin did not come in this color.
To apply the stain, I simply dip a rag into the container and rub it on by hand, but you could also use a brush or sponge applicator if you prefer.
This process is messy so I recommend gloves. Also, the fumes can be strong so do this in a well-ventilated room or outside.
Let it dry according to the instructions or until it no longer feels tacky. I typically leave a stained piece overnight before working with it just to make sure it has had plenty of time to fully absorb into the wood and dry.
Next, I traced the outline of the pumpkin on a piece of paper and made a rough sketch of what I wanted my haunted graveyard to look like. (If you can’t draw, you can find plenty of free printables to trace online).
Then, using black, I painted my silhouettes. As you can see I made a slight change to my design, but the tree felt like it belonged there so I went with it.
After that dried, I used white to block out the space for my windows. It is important to color block with white before using lighter colors, because otherwise you’ll need to do a lot of layers to make it show up, and the colors will still end up looking dull.
With that done, I went over the white with yellow and added the details.
I also decided last minute that this picture needed a gravestone so I added that in as well.
Then, all that was left was to attach my metal words.
The package I bought came with 3 options: Spooky, Beware, and Haunted. Any of them would have fit with the theme but I finally settled on haunted.
To secure it to the sign, I used Gorilla wood glue (again, something I had laying around from previous projects). Super glue would also work if you don’t have wood glue, or perhaps some type of craft glue. I don’t recommend using hot glue for this. In my experience hot glue is not effective on metal, and thing test to fall off.
To apply the glue, I used an old paintbrush. The brush will not be able to be reused once the glue dries so make sure it is one you don’t care about tossing afterward.
Paint the glue onto the back of the wording and place it carefully onto the pumpkin. If excess glue seeps out, you can gently wipe it away with a damp rag or paper towel.
Thats it! The haunted pumpkin is complete. From here you can hot glue ribbon or twine to the back for hanging.
