We’re coming up on Halloween and most years I like to try out a new technique with my pumpkin carving and decorating. I’ve seen ton’s of scary faces, black cats, and ghouls in the past, so this year I’m ready to go non-ghoulish with my pumpkins. I’m in love with the non-traditional white and colored pumpkins for this years decor and can’t wait to try out some new tricks this Fall. Today I’ve put together a collection of great new pumpkin decorating and carving ideas to get your creative juices pumping for the upcoming holiday:
Mum Flower Pumpkin
Begin carving as you would with a jack-o-lantern. Carefully cut a lid (keep the stem!) and remove the seeds and pulp. Using a drill or nail, poke small holes around the shell, just wide enough to insert flower stems. Select mums in oranges, reds and golds. Cut the stems about a half inch from the flower head, long enough to poke into the hole. Space holes so adjoining flowers cover the pumpkin flesh. Start at the top, and work your way down until the pumpkin is covered. The number of mums you need depends on the sizes of the blooms and your pumpkin. Keep the inside of the pumpkin moist; flowers will last two or three days.
Nail Head Pumpkin
Use white, gray or spray painted pumpkins. Make dots on your pumpkin where you would like your nail heads to be in the pattern of your choice. Push in your decorative nails or tacks. Decorative nails available at DIY Upholstery.
House Number Pumpkin
Stack small, medium and large pumpkins (remove stems, except for the top one). Then use a stencil and crafts knife to trace the outlines of your address numbers. Scrape the pumpkin skin out of the stenciled numbers, revealing the lighter pumpkin flesh underneath.
Industral Chic Junk Pumpkin
Use bits and bobs found in the odds and ends bins at flea markets, garage sales, or even your own home. Old keys, finials, wheels, hooks, hinges, washers, tools, upholstery tacks, wire, etc. Tack items around the outside of white or painted white pumpkins.
Gold Place Card Pumpkin
Spraypaint miniature pumpkins and a place card written in gold ink.
Glitter Pumpkin (My Top Pick)
Use a medium-size paintbrush to spread a layer of white glue over the surface of a small pumpkin. Hold pumpkin over a paper plate or a sheet of newspaper to catch excess glitter. Sprinkle powder glitter over pumpkin in several colors covering completely. Let dry for about one hour; shake off excess glitter. Coat stem with brown acrylic paint; let dry. Pumpkins will keep for months.
Leaf Pumpkin
Set leaves between paper towels and flatten them under a book for at least five days. Then brush decoupage glue on a white pumpkin. Arrange the leaves on the pumpkin’s surface. Cut small slits along the edges of the leaves as you go, so they’ll fit the pumpkin’s contours. To finish, coat the decorated surface in decoupage glue.
Textured Silver Pumpkin
To make the speckled effect, spray the pumpkin with a mist of water and then immediately spray paint the pumpkin with silver spray paint. Make sure to mask the stem before painting.
Painted Pumpkin
For each version, start by brushing the entire pumpkin with a coat of white flat acrylic craft paint and let dry for 20 minutes.
SPIDERWEB
1. Using a black fine-tip paint pen, draw a circle around the top of the pumpkin, about two inches from the stem. Keep drawing a continuous line, spiraling around the perimeter of the pumpkin, as shown, until you reach the base.
2. Draw vertical lines in the pumpkin’s crevices, starting from the circle near the stem and going to the bottom.
3. Let the paint dry for 30 minutes, then place one or two plastic spiders on the “web.”
BEETLE
1. Print the template from countryliving.com. Use a copier to resize the image so it fits your pumpkin.
2. Cut out the stencil as directed on the template and center it on the pumpkin; affix with stencil adhesive
3. Paint the beetle within the stencil using three coats of black flat acrylic craft paint. Let the paint dry for 30 minutes and remove the stencil.
WOOD GRAIN
1. Mix a small amount of clear glaze with black flat acrylic craft paint.
2. Demos applied this knotty-wood design freehand. Using a fine-tip brush and this photo as a guide, begin painting several irregular circles around the pumpkin, as shown, spacing them at varying heights.
3. To complete the pattern, fill the rest of the pumpkin’s surface with curving lines. Let the paint dry for 30 minutes.
Faux Bois Pumpkin
Use the carve-by-color technique from Martha Stewart or have fun with a freehand faux bois design. Improvise to create much of the wood-grain pattern. Trace Martha Stewart’s knot templates onto the pumpkin in several spots, scrape the rings with a linoleum cutter, and then make free-form lines to fill in the design. Make the eye of each knot by piercing the pumpkin wall with a ceramic hole cutter (for small eyes, use a pushpin).
Candle Pumpkin
Use a stencil and crafts knife to trace the outlines of your shape. Scrape a bell-shaped squash skin out of the stenciled area, revealing the lighter flesh underneath.
Tea Light Pumpkin
Miniature pumpkins become perfect candleholders when hollowed out for votives. Safety note: Never leave burning candles unattended.
Tags: 2010, color, Decorating, Fall, Halloween
