Jack-o’-lanterns are fun. But they do have a limited shelf life.
The first of November rolls around and the grinning or grimacing face that you’ve carved into that big orange orb seems to be either mocking you or begging for extermination.
So why not do something a little different this year? You know, less flash in the October pan, more enduring fall glam.
Sure, you could leave your pumpkins just as they are: uncarved. They look OK like that and will last through the season.
But with a little creativity and a few simple, inexpensive supplies, you can turn an ordinary gourd into a gorgeous, boutique-like accessory that’ll last from the start of fall through November.
I created these particular pumpkins after browsing the Internet to get inspired. Websites like Pinterest, Houzz.com and Better Homes &Gardens are full of great ideas for decorating and displaying pumpkins.
Then I stood around in a craft store staring at little bottles of acrylic paint and spools of satin ribbon for, oh, about 23 minutes, until I came up with color schemes and a concept that I like to call Painted Pushpin Pumpkins.
I could go on and on about what I did next, but you can look at them and pretty much figure it out on your own. Nevertheless, here are the simple steps:
- Paint the pumpkins.
- Wrap satin ribbon around pumpkins and attach with tacks, hot glue or an adhesive.
- Stick pushpins, upholstery tacks and linoleum nails into pumpkins in various patterns.
I tied pieces of gold ribbon and twine around some of the tacks on the biggest platinum pumpkin to give it a textured look. Then I spread moss on the candle and cake pedestals and plopped some of the pumpkins on top of them.
How much easier can a craft project get? It’s inexpensive to boot.
Pushpin pumpkin supplies
- Pumpkins
- Krylon Brushed Metallic paint in satin nickel (for the biggest pumpkin)
- Krylon ColorMaster paint in white gloss (for the black and white pumpkin)
- Folk Art Extreme Glitter blue acrylic paint (It automatically created the streaky opaque pattern on the orange pumpkin.)
- Folk Art Metallic paint (for the green pumpkin with brown ribbon)
- Apple Barrel matte acrylic paint in pewter gray (for the pumpkin with the gold horizontal ribbons)
- Offray satin ribbon in varying widths, colors and patterns
- Crown Bolt yellow zinc linoleum nails (tiny heads) and antique brass upholstery nails (darker heads)
- Brass thumbtacks
- Loctite Stik’n Seal
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