We’re going to play a game today!
Are you ready?
On your mark – get set!
Find the faux pumpkins in this picture.
How about this one?
And this one?
Did you get it right?
How about now?
Ok, I wasn’t fair here – there wasn’t even a real pumpkin in the pile!
I had so much fun this past weekend. In fact I had a double fun! I tried my hand at making chalk paint and used it to paint faux pumpkins. I was happy with the way they both turned out.
How to Make Faux Pumpkins
You will need:
Pumpkins
Paint – in a variety of colors
Plaster of Paris
Primer (if you chose to prime your pumpkins)
Paint brushes or sponge brushes
Sea sponge
I started out by gathering together some faux orange pumpkins that I had in my “stash”, along with a few I had recently found at a thrift store.
I primed some of them and left some of them as they were. I wanted to see the difference in the finished product.
Once I had the pumpkins primed, I mixed together my chalk paint using one part water and one part Plaster of Paris to three parts paint. As I was only using paint on a small project and not a large piece, my mix amounted to about two tablespoons of water and Plaster of Paris and 6 tablespoons of paint.
I combined the water and Plaster of Paris together first. Once the mixture was well formulated, I added the paint and stirred until it was nice and smooth.
I do have to admit, I had to add a bit of water to the mixture as I worked. Other than that the paint worked beautifully.
Once the paint was ready I applied it to my pumpkins. As I was trying to create the white pumpkin look, a creamy white paint was perfect. I used one of the small Valspar Color Samples from Lowe’s and the best part of all – I found it on the clearance rack for just 50 cents!
Here are some of my pumpkins with their first coat of paint. It took two coats on each of them – It didn’t matter if they were primed or not.
The pumpkins I had primed had a gray undertone to the painted pumpkins which I liked.
Once I had given them a second coat of chalk paint, I began sponge painting additional colors onto the pumpkins with a sea sponge. I layered several colors until I reached the look I wanted. Some had more green tones, some more brown and some more orange. I highlighted the outer portions of the pumpkins to add dimension.
I was having such a good time painting I forgot to take pictures along the way, but you can see some of the results in the pictures below.
To make the faux pumpkins appear more “real” I added stems from real pumpkins.
Don’t tell anyone but I went to a couple of stores that sold pumpkins and rummaged through the piles of pumpkins to find stems that had fallen off and gathered them up to use on mine! I hope no one was watching me – I can’t imagine what they would have been wondering!
I simply removed the plastic stems from my faux pumpkins and glued the real ones in their place.
I loved the way they turned out.
Now I can’t wait to work them into my vignettes!
If you enjoyed this Faux pumpkin tutorial I invite you to pin it to your Fall Pinterest Board. You can see all of the wonderful things I am pinning HERE!
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Love your painted pumpkins, Debi! Thanks for sharing. You are one of the fan favorites at the Sunday Showcase from the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link so you can check out your feature. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2014/10/sunday-showcase-from-make-it-pretty_19.html Hope to see you again tomorrow at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Color me impressed! Wow! You did a great job on those pumpkins! Thanks for sharing at my Creative Ways Link Party! I hope you’ll be by tonight to party with us again!
Blessings,
Nici
Thank you Nici! I will be joining you again this week at your party.
Debi
You had me fooled! I thought the two large white ones might be, but wasn’t sure. They turned out fantastic and so real looking! Thank you for sharing these and your cute Halloween lampshade at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a great weekend! ~Deborah
Thanks for hosting your wonderful party Deborah! It’s always a fun to share with you.
Debi
Nothing like a good painted pumpkin. Thanx for sharing at THT.
Thank you for hosting your wonderful party Pamela. I love your blog and your special creations.
Debi
Lovely! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop. Watch for your feature on Monday xo
Thank you so much Katherine. I love joining your parties and all of your wonderful posts!
Debi
I will be re doing ones I painted by using a sponge to add depth. loved that about your pumpkins.
Wow! Gorgeous work…you are so talented! I just cannot get enough of the autumn posts! Thanks so much for sharing with the Thursday Blog hop. Hope you will join us at http://www.over50feeling40.com. Have a great weekend!
Pam ~
I just hopped over to your site and it looks like I will be visiting often.
Glad you enjoyed the autumn posts. It’s such a fun time of year to decorate for.
Enjoy your weekend!
Debi
Absolutely beautiful! They all look so real . . . . you did a wonderful job on this project. Thanks for sharing at the Favorite Things Blog Hop at Katherine’s Corner. Glad I found you! Nina @ mamas*little*treasures
Thank you for stopping by Nina! I hope to see you again at the Hop.
I am new to blogging and your encouragement made my day!
Debi
These look fabulous! going out to look for faux pumpkins to paint. The real ones are too expensive and then they rot!
I totally agree with you Ann Marie! Good luck with your painting.
I would not have thought about painting a pumpkin!!!
They look nice!
Thank you Evelyn ~
I love the look of the painted pumpkins. I am working on another project using them in a wreath.
Stop back soon!
Debi
Debi…these are absolutely beautiful!!! I am not at all creative but I do love what you have shown here. I might be able to do something like this so I will just have to get up the gumpsion to try. After all, I have learned to quilt so I could learn to do some of these things too!!! Thanks for showing how to do this!!!
Thank you Jaynne! I am sure your can do it. I have no idea how to quilt so you are already a step ahead of me.