Pretty Up Pumpkins With Paint

To mention that my husband doesn’t enjoy carving pumpkins is a understatement. We’ve got a 7-year-old, so Halloween is a big deal in our house, and every year we bring home a carload of bulbous orange beauties from the pumpkin patch. As my son and I gladly pick the best ones to become jack-o’-lanterns, I can see the look of dread in my husband’s eyes. Last year he just mutinied, giving me the knife reappearing only after he detected the odor of pumpkin seeds roasting in the oven.

Needless to say, I’m now the designated pumpkin carver in the house by default. However, I will mix it up somewhat and try painting a few of them, which can be neater, less tedious and a whole lot more child friendly than hacking at them with a chef’s knife. Onboard with the idea? Follow my lead and check out these pretty painted pumpkins for inspiration.

Rikki Snyder

Metallic paint autumnal orange lends gentle shine to these tiny pumpkins. This is a good way to highlight their beautiful curves and ridges while staying true to their natural colour.

Hint: Pick the most straightforward, firmest possible pumpkins for painting — dips, soft spots and knobby growths will make it trickier to get an even coating.

FOCAL POINT STYLING

A mini pumpkin in gold gowns up a drop place setting and echoes the brass candlesticks.

Pullga

A ruddy bronze hue and playful polka dots give these pumpkins the appearance of upside-down toadstools.

Hint: Gently wipe pumpkins using a moist cloth or sponge to remove dust and dirt (you might need to wash them under a faucet or hose should they have caked-on sand). Towel dry or air dry them entirely.

Rikki Snyder

Do not be afraid to use unexpected colors. Light blue is not a color you usually think about for Halloween, but it makes such a perfect partner for orange that I wonder why we don’t see more about it.

Pick a colour that blends with the scheme of the space to create a sleek effect. Within this darkened area, white painted pumpkins seem strikingly sculptural against the pristine backdrop.

Hint: Before you paint, apply a coating of multipurpose sealer, which helps to preserve the pumpkin and assists the paint to adhere. Permit the sealer to dry thoroughly.

Rikki Snyder

In a similar way, these ghostly pumpkins comparison with spare black branches to get a stripped-down group that’ll delight minimalists.

Seaside Interiors

Keep it easy by painting a little design onto each pumpkin rather than covering the whole thing. Letters on this trio spell out a spooky message and perform up the black and white palette.

Hint: Spray paint works best if you are painting the pumpkin a single colour. If your layout is much more complicated, brush acrylic paint for better control.

Silver pumpkins shine in this trendy display, but that’s not the only notion here. Consider embellishing a painted or unpainted pumpkin using nailheads — used here as a monogram — or hammering it with metal studs. Happy Halloween!

Hint: Keep pumpkins in a cool spot away from strong sunlight to preserve them as long as you can. Depending upon your climate and whether you display them indoors or outdoors, they’ll last at least two or three weeks, and sometimes more.

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