Decorating just the surface of your pumpkins, rather than carving them, allows them to be left intact for eating later.
These three methods also use more delicate designs in various botanical themes than most home crafters could accomplish with carving kits.
Here are three quick and easy ways to decorate your pumpkins this season.
Materials:
- pumpkins (grow your own or buy them from a farmer's market)
- brushes
- sealer
- flexible stencils
- acrylic paint
- chalkboard paint and chalk
- rub-on sheets of botanical art
Steps:
Cover your work surface with newspapers and gather your materials.
Method 1: Lay the stencil on your pumpkin and dab gently inside the stencil with black paint using a foam brush. Go slowly and carefully. Pick up the stencil and wipe off any excess paint outside your design with a damp paper towel.
Method 2: Cut out the designs you like from the stencil sheets and lay them on the pumpkin. Use a popsicle stick to rub the design on to the surface. It can take a while to get all the edges and fine details adhered. Carefully lift off. Continue all around the pumpkin as desired.
Method 3: Use painter's tape to mask off a square or rectangle area on your pumpkin. Paint inside the area with chalkboard paint and let dry. Then do a second coat. Wait until that coat is full dry, then write a message in chalk.
Tip: Don't carry your pumpkin by the stem as it can snap off. Carry it from the bottom.
Optional: Paint on a coat of sealer before your designs and then after they are dry so another coat of sealer. This will help your designs last, especially the chalkboard paint, which is a very fragile layer on the pumpkin's surface.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a few pennies from Amazon.
This is a monthly blog series on DIY projects for the beginning home gardener. Look for the other installments in this DIY blog series by putting "DIY" in the search box here at washingtongardener.blogspot.
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