Whether you’re looking to paint real pumpkins or faux pumpkins, hand painted pumpkins are a surprisingly easy fall decor DIY!
White pumpkins can be all the rage come fall, but white pumpkins are not the easiest to come by. However, painting pumpkins white is such an easy DIY fall project!
During the fall, I love using white pumpkins as indoor and outdoor fall decor. This year, we were able to score numerous beautiful creamy white pumpkins from our local pumpkin patch, but for the rest that were bright orange, I knew I wanted the pumpkins painted white… well, white and green. I knew I wanted to create some fall floral pumpkins, along with some other painted patterns. I’m so happy with how they turned out!
I was recently gifted a beautiful two tiered scalloped garden etagere in a soft sage finish, and I’ve been waiting to use it as the foundation for a lovely fall pumpkins display in front of our home. Painted white pumpkins (as the main color) with some sage green pattern, is exactly the look I’m going for this year!
*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions and recommendations are my own.
Where To Find The Best Pumpkins
The good news is that once fall rolls around, it seems as though you can find pumpkins everywhere, from grocery stores, to farms, to hardware stores, to pumpkin patches.
You can find all different sizes of pumpkins: mini pumpkins (which are perfect for a hand painted pumpkin DIY project where you stick to one color), small to medium baking pumpkins (which are a great choice for painting the entire pumpkin and adding on a design like a floral pattern), and of course large pumpkins (which will require a bit more paint, but will allow you more space for your pumpkin painting ideas!).
Every year, we buy most of our pumpkins from a nearby church (fun fact: it’s the church in the movie Home Alone!)- they fill the front grounds with rows and rows of beautiful pumpkins sprawled across the block.
Each year, funds are donated to various charities, including food pantries and feeding missions. I love how in the spirit of giving, we can teach our kids about giving back and helping others while picking out our favorite pumpkins for our family- one of our favorite fall family traditions.
(For more of our favorite fall family traditions be sure to check out: The Ultimate List of Outdoor Fall Family Activities )
AND, not only do these pumpkin sales go to a great cause, but the actual pumpkins are purchased from pumpkin patches in New Mexico that employ over 100 Native Americans, and that give back to their local community groups for philanthropic efforts.
So be sure to do some research in your own community, because you might be able to find something similar, where pumpkin sales go to a good cause!
And of course, it’s nearly impossible to shop through Trader Joe’s without scooping up some of their beautiful pumpkins and gourds when they’re on display.
How pretty are these Heirloom pumpkins the kids and I picked up at Trader Joe’s?!
Since halloween pumpkins are so popular across the United States, UK and Canada, faux pumpkins tend to sell out early, but real pumpkins tend to go on sale right before halloween. You can always stock up on those discounted pumpkins and use them as a pretty Thanksgiving display too!
Here are some of the best places to find pumpkins:
- Pumpkin Patches (If there are kids rides/activities/petting zoos, these pumpkins will tend to be on the pricier side)
- Farms (This year we also found a great carving pumpkin from Wagner Farm, a sweet little historic farm nestled just outside the North Shore suburbs)
- Trader Joe’s (they always have beautiful heirloom pumpkins)
- Whole Foods
- Local Grocery Stores
- Costco (especially if you want large pumpkins for cheap!)
- Churches (great way to give back- read above!)
- Hardware Stores (like Lowe’s and Home Depot)
Choosing The Right Pumpkins
When searching for pumpkins to paint, I think a variation of sizes and shapes looks best! Sure, pumpkins have generally the same shape, but when you dig a little deeper, you’ll notice that you can really find some beautiful variation.
There are Heirloom pumpkins that may be large and “flatter”, carving pumpkins that are large and round, tiny pumpkins that are ribbed and textured, and baking pumpkins that are ribbed or smooth.
Those tiny pumpkins that can fit in your hand are going to be the least expensive option, and the larger Heirloom, or larger/heavy carving pumpkins will cost you more. The baking pumpkins, cost-wise, are somewhere in between.
So a mix of sizes is also a great idea if you’re hoping to not spend as much on pumpkins, but still end up with a beautiful pumpkin display!
There’s no need to worry about marks on your pumpkin, especially if you’re planning to paint them!
Prepping and Painting Pumpkins White (and Green)
The best part about this fall DIY project, is that painting pumpkins white requires very little prep work! If your pumpkins are filthy, then by all means, wipe them down and get them clean, wait for them to dry and you’re good to paint.
There are many tutorials out there that require scrubbing down each pumpkin in a soap bath, having them dry for a full day, and spraying with sealants prior to painting. Well, with 6 kids and the chaos of Halloween around the corner, I opted to go the easy route. I simply laid out some paper towels, spread out each pumpkin, and began to paint.
But just in case you need a little more prep work here are the steps for how to paint pumpkins white:
- Wipe any dirt off of the pumpkins and dry off with paper towel
- Spread pumpkins across paper towels/newspaper to prep for painting
- Use any painting/craft brush you have lying around the house (use a very small brush if you plan on painting designs/patterns on top of the initial layer of paint)
- Pour a small amount of craft paint (I used the ‘antique parchment’ color) into a small paper cup (*Note: when I said little prep work was the best thing about this DIY craft project, I lied… the best part is that this amazing craft paint is literally the cheapest thing you’ll ever buy on Amazon, ever! And it’s GREAT. I’ve used it on so many craft projects and a little goes a long way!)
- Paint the pumpkins, starting at the edge of the stem, and paint downward (so paint doesn’t splash up onto the stem) (NOTE: the amount of paint you use is one of personal preference. As you can see, barely brushing the white paint onto the pumpkin lets a little muted orange come through, whereas a single thicker layer of this craft paint is enough to turn it white. I used only one coat.)
- Next step, if you feel like a second coat of paint would be worthwhile, wait for the first coat of paint to dry and then repeat. (Again, I only painted the pumpkins with one coat and found it sufficient!)
- IF you plan on keeping the pumpkins outside throughout the fall and weather the elements, and the pumpkins aren’t on a covered porch, then I’d recommend a coat of sealer. (I did this project late in the fall season, and since I knew we would end up tossing these pumpkins, I didn’t even bother with the sealer and they’ve lasted for a couple weeks now! I’m so used to painting projects where everything needs to be done “perfectly”/”properly”, but knowing the pumpkin display will eventually end up in the trash almost allows the project to be a little less “perfect” and a little more easy-breezy! Make sense?).
- Optional: If you decide to add a different color on top of the white paint to create a design or patterned painted pumpkin, make sure the white paint is dry, and use a very small tip paint brush to paint on your design. (Or you can use a paint pen in the color of your choice). Then seal, as mentioned in step 7.
** If you’re a bit intimidated to design your own pattern with paint on your real or faux pumpkin, you can use some mod podge to add a thin layer onto the are of the pumpkin where you’d like a pattern, add a cut strip of a pretty napkin with a beautiful pattern onto the pumpkin, and then another layer of mod podge to seal.
** If using faux foam pumpkins or craft pumpkins, one helpful tip to make the pumpkin look more “real” is to cut of the stem at the top of the pumpkin using sharp tools like a pumpkin carver or a serrated knife, remove the faux stem off of the faux pumpkin, then use hot glue to glue on the real stem. These stems dry out and save well for the following year- so if you want to do this faux pumpkin idea, then save your stems this year for next year’s fall DIY hand painted pumpkin project!
*(Spray paint is fine to use here too, if you’re painting a ton of pumpkins, but I actually prefer the simple craft paint and paintbrush technique- as it is easy, more controlled, doesn’t take a long time to dry, and there are so many colour choices).
** FUN TIP: While the craft paint is inexpensive and versatile, I actually found that painting pumpkins is a great opportunity to test out nicer interior paints that I’ve been eyeing!
I’ve been debating using green paint for our boys room closet project and possibly our side exterior doors, so I picked up a sample size of Farrow and Ball Breakfast Room Green and went to town on those white pumpkins! Painting the pumpkins white and adding some pattern in this lovely soft sage green color created the pretty pumpkin display I was hoping for!
TIP: You can find so much inspiration for designs for hand painted pumpkins by browsing your favorite wallpaper designs, fun and whimsical designs by Rifle Paper CO. for example, or using patterns such as stripes, plaids, dots, scallops, etc. I love the look of a softer paint, but you could also use a bolder black paint for a checkered painted pumpkin theme- like a DIY Mackenzie Childs Pumpkin!
Pin For Later!
Other Posts You’ll Love:
The Ultimate List of Outdoor Fall Family Activities
Hanging Witch Hats And Floating Candles For Halloween
The Cutest Baby Halloween Costume Ideas
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