This is my tutorial on DIY heirloom plastic pumpkin painting.
This post should be titled “Why I Love To Paint Plastic Pumpkins 10 Times Over”. Because I don’t! But I did.
It was for research and development to find the perfect paint combination to turn those plastic ugly dollar store pumpkins into those gorgeous sagey-green heirloom pumpkins.
You are welcome!
I’ve never seen so much sage green paint combinations in my life before.
I honestly could work on it for another year and find more combinations but I am done with it. I just have to let it go before I start dreaming green.
Although that’s not a bad thing. It is the color of my new rebranding logo!
Let me share with you my tutorial and also all the color combinations along the way.
Here is a before shot of the dollar store pumpkin. I practiced a lot on these ones that looked more like gourds but stuck with the more round ones for the final product.
I used Fusion Mineral Paint as they have the dreamiest colors for this project. I also had a ton of little sample pots from various conferences I’ve been to so it was the perfect time to try them out.
Here are just some of the color combinations I tried:
Heirloom + Ceramic = pretty but way too blue
Inglenook + Heirloom = too blue
Inglenook + Ceramic = too turquoise
Inglenook + Lilypond + Upper Canada dry brushed over top = too green
Then Inglenook + Heirloom mixed with a dab of Ceramic and dry brushed with Champlain and a bit of Upper Canada on top.
No!
Okay, I’ve tried it all!
I practiced on mini pumpkins before testing them out on the big pumpkins but I still painted the big pumpkins many times over because they would dry so much differently.
Supplies:
- Paint colors (see below for specific recipes)
- Paint brushes or sponge brushes
- Hot glue gun
- Drywall filler
- Polyurethane semi-gloss spray
Directions:
- Take the tops off the plastic pumpkins with pliers. Using a finger, fill holes with drywall filler before painting (I took the stems off after but I wish I took them off before!).
2. Paint a coat of primer or paint you have lying around for first coat. I used sample pots leftover from my house renovation.
Pumpkin #1 Recipe (Light sage green pumpkin)
Mix equal parts Inglenook + Upper Canada together and paint on pumpkin. May need two coats. Let dry.
Dry brush Upper Canada over the high parts of the pumpkin
Splatter a bit of Bedford on top (see tutorial below)
Pumpkin #2 Recipe (Dark sage green pumpkin)
Mix equal parts Inglenook + Algonquin together and paint 1-2 coats on plastic pumpkin
Paint Algonquin in grooves while paint still wait
Mix Inglenook + Upper Canada together with just a bit of Algonquin and paint over the high parts of the pumpkin while still wet
Splatter texture:
Many heirloom pumpkins have dots of lighter color on their surface.
To achieve this effect, splatter Bedford over top and with a wet paper towel or wipe, dab the paint spots all over while wet.
3. Once dry, spray entire pumpkin with a semi-gloss varathane.
4. Hot glue real pumpkin stems to plastic pumpkin.
Pumpkin #2 are on top step and on floor and pumpkin #1 are on middle step. There are two real heirloom pumpkins in the mix.
They aren’t perfect but heirloom pumpkins are pricey and can be hard to find.
If you paint a bunch of these pumpkins and add them with a couple of real ones it will extend your decorating budget and won’t lead you on a wild goose chase like I did trying to find heirloom pumpkins in the beginning of September.
I’ll now use them every year with my fall decor.
Adding real stems is the perfect touch to making them look real. I took them off some small white pumpkins I had and they easily snapped off. 
Here are just the painted ones together.
My favourite green!
Why not make your own?
Click in Case You Missed:
French Fall Home Tour with Purple and Green (No Orange Allowed!)
French Country Fall Dining Room
The green color results are lovely! The mantel arrangement is so elegant. Being able to pile and arrange lots is a great benefit for us who watch our seasonal decorating dollars. Have a good day. Linda
So beautiful!
Thanks Maureen!
Say, what?? You had me fooled! Such a good idea. I look at those faux pumpkins and cannot bring myself to do it. Now you have me thinking. Brilliant!
Thanks so much, Shauna. It’s great to pair them with the real thing to extend the budget.
Hugs, Jamie
You did such a beautiful job with these!
I’ve been playing around with painting some of my pumpkins this year, but you made yours something special! Pinning!
Thanks so much, Linda! Def a labour of love, lol.
Hugs, Jamie
These turned out great! Such a clever idea too. Well done!
Thanks 😉
Oh my gosh, they look incredible! I can’t believe you mastered that so well!!!
Thanks so much, Jen!
Hugs, Jamie
They look fantastic ! I think when you mix a couple of the real ones in it’s hard to tell if they are faux or not. Thanks for the tutorial. I have been exprimenting with different paints to come up with a pleasing neutral tone and this is just perfect.
Thanks so much, Marijean! That’s the idea, mix the painted ones with real ones.
Hugs, Jamie
This is great! I love this tutorial, and the painted pumpkins look very nice. Pinned!
Thanks Kristen!
Hugs, Jamie
These are ahhhhh – mazing, Jamie! I’m sharing them tomorrow for my weekly roundup of “a few of my favorite things”!
You’re so sweet, thank you so much, Doreen!
Hugs, Jamie
Jaime- Thanks for this!! I LOVE it!!
Thanks Gina!
Hugs, Jamie
This is actually a great tutorial for those not familiar with color theory. Sometimes, subtle is the hardest to achieve. Amazing what $1 pumpkins can become. Sandi
Yes, it was a bit difficult lol. Thanks for appreciating that 😉
Hugs, Sandi
Great job on these pumpkins! I would like to share on photo with a link back for a favorites post I am writing. If you do not want me to share, let me know and I will be happy to remove the image. xoxo
Thanks for asking! Not a problem.
Hugs, Jamie
These came out so pretty! you can’t tell the real from the faux! Pinned & sharing! Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Hope to see ya next week!
Kim
Thanks so much, Kim!
Hugs, Jamie
Oh boy do I love that specific green you created, so soft and pretty, very believable, you went to lot of trouble to get just the right color. Pretty sure I won’t go to that much trouble to get correct color but will look at acrylic paints or spray paint to find something close. Will be painting a few $ store pumpkins for my interior decorations. Some in very light green and white. Love how you combined the seeded eucalyptus with your pumpkins, perfect touch. Where do you get seeded eucalyptus?
I won’t be buying any real pumpkins so will have to make do with sticks covered with jute string. Is just two of us so exact isn’t needed.
Will be creating decorations for front porch but not til next week, hopefully our wind will go away. When we get wind it’s really strong, blows anything away. Always enjoy your wonderful posts. Happy rest of week
Thanks so much! You definitely don’t have to go through all the trouble I went through. The key is using a couple of similar colors to get great dimension. I always find seeded eucalyptus in either Whole Foods or a local florist shop near my home. Once you find a place that carries them, they’ll probably always carry it. Mine was $6 CDN a bunch. Good luck!
Hugs, Jamie
These pumpkins turned out gorgeous!!
Thanks Marci!
Hugs, Jamie
These are beautiful! I pinned them. Thanks for linking up to our party!
xoxoxo
Thanks so much, Jennifer!
Hugs, Jamie
So real looking! These are some of the best faux pumpkins I’ve seen! I’m pinning this for sure, and thank you!
Thanks so much, Carol!
Hugs, Jamie
They look way better painted! I will definitely be pinning this for next year (I’m done this year!).
Thanks Cherryl!
Hugs, Jamie
Love the final green color so much! You put a lot of work in just trying to create the perfect green and the results are awesome. Thanks for sharing with us at #HomeMattersParty
Thanks Donna! It was a lot of work but fun to do 😉
Hugs, Jamie
Beyond gorgeous! Where is that mirror above your mantel from? I need it 🙂
Hi Amy,
Unfortunately I bought it locally on clearance 🙁
Hugs, Jamie