For some reason, the Fall and Holiday Seasons always have me in the mood to be extra crafty. I think it's primarily because I will get specific decor visions in my head for how I want to decorate the house for Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas, but then I can never find those specific items I need to achieve that exact vision. So of course this translates to spending an obscene amount of time perusing the aisles of Michaels. (*FYI- if you have yet to visit a Michaels, get ready. Every aisle is chock full of the most fabulous craft items for anything from baking to painting and they even have a fabulous framing section.)
Anyway, the most recent DIY project I have been working on is "glamming up"my pumpkins. Last year I went for a more natural/organic Fall decor look with lots of browns, whites and greens. This year I wanted to create a slightly more glitzed/glam look by incorporating an array of metallic colors into my decor starting with my pumpkins. Here is what I used to create these lustrous gems:
- White Pumpkins (Stems and Stemless in an array of sizes)- Trader Joes has a great selection of pumpkins at very competitive prices.
- Foam Brushes- If using the Martha Stewart Craft Paints, these brushes are great for application.
- Paper Grocery Bag or Newspaper
- Krylon Leafing Pens- for painting pumpkin stems quickly and with excellent precision.
- Krylon Premium Metallic Spray Paint- This is the quickest and easiest method for painting and drying your pumpkins. Only drawback is that this spray paint has a potent smell, so you need to apply this paint either outside or in a well ventilated space.
- Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Metallic Acrylic Craft Paint- Non-toxic/no smell alternative, but requires a little more work painting multiple coats on each pumpkin with an hour of drying time in between each coat. For my pumpkins, I used Gold, Rose Gold and Rose Copper.
If I am going to be honest, the Krylon products are my favorite because they make pumpkin painting super easy and very quick. The Martha Stewart paints work just as well and are definitely easier on the nose, but painting the pumpkins was more of a process. With that said, I am totally in love with my newly glammed pumpkins. The array of metallic tones is very reminiscent of the fall foliage and I have been having so much fun trying to figure out where to place these lovely little gourds throughout my home. Taking matters into my own hands and creating the exact pumpkins I had envisioned for my Fall Decor was totally worth it!
