Pumpkin painting time!!!

I wrote this post a few days before I had Blakely and forgot to publish it.  But I wanted to share my pumpkins with you all so I am publishing it now :)


Have I ever mentioned that I love fall?  I really love spring better but it is pretty close.  My friend Sarah and I started painting pumpkins a couple of years ago around this time.  We have gotten progressively better at it each year.  This is because we learn new and easier ways to decorate the pumpkins.

We have such a great time doing it.  We spend forever going to buy the pumpkins...they have to be perfect and all go together!  Oh and we always paint real pumpkins.  Then we come to my house and decorate them...this is an all day event.  Well this year I wasn't sure if I was going to be up for painting pumpkins.  I thought about just letting her paint one or two for me.  But I was at Walmart 2 weeks ago and the pumpkins just kept calling my name.  So I bought 5 of them.  I thought I would try to paint them but if I didn't then I could just set them up outside, unpainted, and that would be that.  Well I got crazy and decorated them.  I swear my version of nesting is crafting.  I have been all over some crafts!  

So I want to show you some pics of what I did but first I will show you my pumpkins from 2009.  That way you can see what I mean by we get better at it every year!  I did these the fall that I was redecorating our living room.  The colors in my living room are brown and turquoise...not quite as bright as these pumpkins but that was my inspiration.  I don't know why I didn't take any pics of the pumpkins when they were set up everywhere but oh well.  I did keep these inside on my shelves and as a centerpiece for the kitchen table.   

2009 Pumpkins

So a few things that I learned that year

1. Spray paint your pumpkins!

2. Ribbon is so much easier than trying to paint a strait line!

3. Glossy paint looks so much better than flat paint.  The brown and cream are glossy and the blue is not.  Looks ok but just doesn't pop as well.  

So in 2010 I really wanted to do Halloween pumpkins.  We change our theme every year and I was really into Halloween and I wanted to do the arrangement outside.  

2010 Pumpkins

A few things that I learned that year.

1. Bigger bows are better.

2. Stickers rock!  (The bats are stickers and that is my fave pumpkin....maybe of all time)

3. Hot glue is your best friend.  (The rhinestones on the little black pumpkins are hot glued, the black dots on the yellow pumpkins, and the orange dots on the silver and black pumpkins are hot glued on and so are all of the bows)

4. The crazier the pumpkin stem the better.  I also like to paint the pumpkin stem but if you wanted to leave it au naturale then you could just cover it with foil while you spray paint.

This year I have really been into fall colors and decorations.  So I wanted to do my pumpkins that way!  I also saw some pumpkins on pinterest that were done using mod podge so I decided to try that as well.  I think they turned out pretty good.  There are things that I would add or do differently but I was just worn out and wanted to be finished with them.  

2011 Pumpkins

A few things I learned this year

1. I want to decorate some fake pumpkins in the fall colors to put around my house every year.     Then I can paint real pumpkins however I want

2. Mod Podge is super awesome and so so easy...I think I will try to do more things with it next year.  

3. Even though the pumpkin is already orange...paint it anyway...it looks better!

So there you have it!  All of my pumpkins :)