October 2008 - A Storybook Life

Decorating Pumpkins Without Carving

Picture by Joy – stop by her Flickr page!

Today I wanted to share some more ideas for using pumpkins to decorate your home & garden without having to carve them.

There are so many ways that you could choose to decorate your home for the season. For some reason, when it comes to fall decorating, many people think about the “dreaded” carving day, when they will have to display their talents (or possible lack thereof) for the whole neighborhood to see. Thankfully, there are many beautiful options available to you, where you will never even have to take out that knife 😉

Look at the beautiful displays that some of my creative friends have put together!

From (Joy), the same gal who shared the above picture. I love how her friend has used so many different fall items such as; pumpkins, guards, bittersweet vine, colorful leaves and sunflowers, to fill this vintage baby carriage. This display is so “storybook dreamy”!

By pulling together some of your favorite bits of Autumn, you can make your home & garden the talk of the town! The best part? Most of these items can be found free by using things from your garden, and your decorating closet.

Here are some items that you could add to your fall display

Indian corn

leaves

bird houses & cages

clay flower pots

dried flowers

wreaths

watering cans

baskets

garlands

mums & other fall flowers

pumpkins, gourds & other squash

rusty things (don’t you just love rusty things 😉

branches, twigs, and vines such as grapevines & bittersweet

acorns, pinecones, moss, seedpods, and other dried bits from the woods

A simple scattering of pumpkins & goards here and there makes everything feel so festive!

The newer white pumpkins that are showing up at farm stands around the countryside are simply stunning! They are great for decorating with, because the eggshell color goes with just about anything… even this cute little doggie 😉

How about a pretty ribbon around the stem of the pumpkin to make is even more dazzling!

And… I think these girls are enjoying the newer white pumpkins as much as I am 😉

Painted pumpkins are becoming very popular, and although they are a great project for those who are to young to carve, they aren’t just for kids anymore 😉 I have seen some absolutely stunning examples of painted pumpkins, that would be a beautiful addition to any home. You can do something very simple or extremely complex, it’s totally up to you. These painted pumpkin ideas are not only easy, but they will also allow you to use your creativity and put together something unique & inexpensive for your fall display.

Before you paint your pumpkin, be sure that it is clean & dry.

Deciding what to use to “color” your pumpkin is rather easy. Simply ask yourself… what do I already have around the house? You can use just about anything, as long as the color will stick 🙂

Here are some ideas

spray paint

acrylic paint

permanent markers

nail polish

henna

ink

Choose colors that you love, and that will match your home decor. I happen to love the colors of fall, but some people wouldn’t put red or orange their homes at any cost 😉

Here are some color combinations to spark your imagination.

pink & chocolate

turquoise & chocolate

blue & chocolate … do I sense a need for a quick chocolate morsal 😉

white & black

white & silver

gold & black

yellow & red

mustard & red

When thinking about what types of designs to use, don’t stop at what would be considered “normal” fall decorating. Use your creativity to come up with all sorts of ideas!

Designs for Painting Pumpkins

Here are a few ideas that you might want to try.

Paint the whole pumpkin one solid color
I once saw a display that someone created, where they used several pumpkins all painted in shiny deep jewel tones. Then they were arranged into a Cinderella theme display! It was surprisingly beautiful!

Pumpkin Stencils
Decide what type of designs you would like to have on your pumpkin, then cut that shape out of paper. Tape the piece of paper onto the pumpkin, then paint over it. When you remove the stencil, you will see the stencil shape in either the color of the pumpkin itself, or the base color that you decided to use.

Stamp Designs
Why not use your stamps to put designs on your pumpkins? That way, it’s quick – easy – and you can get as intricate as you’d like… without having to have much design talent 😉

Here’s a very pretty example of how you can use stamps to decorate your pumpkins.

Painted Pumpkin Designs
Tape a paper cut out of any shape that you would like onto the pumpkin, and trace around it with a fine tip marker. Then, fill in the shape with your desired color. The sky is the limit when choosing your design, but here are a few ideas to get you started:
leaves, acorns, dots, stars, pumpkin faces, saltbox houses, barn, etc.

You could also paint the design free handed if you’d rather as in this example.

Aren’t these sweet! Such a creative idea! And you thought argyle patterns were just for socks 🙂

Look how beautiful these pumpkins are! Although they are dressed in henna, it almost looks like toile!

If you didn’t want to actually paint your pumpkins, you could simply add stickers, or bits from your scrapbooking supplies. Look at this sweet example!

Instagram

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Painted Pumpkin Ideas