Chalk Painted Pumpkins
Ready to decorate for fall, but the pumpkin patch isn't open yet?
In my town we have a minimal selection of fake pumpkins. You know the ones.. out of styrofoam with a plastic shiny coating. They usually come in bright orange or stark white. I wanted to decorate for fall early this year but the only thing in my way was the lack of pumpkins!
I picked up a few from Lowe's, before they were all gone, because that's what happens when Starbuck's releases the pumpkin spice latte....the beginning of "fall" and everybody buys up all the fall decor! Seriously! I have been to Hobby Lobby, Kirkland's, and Homegoods and everything is already looking picked over....and it's only September!
Good thing I grabbed these pumpkins, even if they were so shiny I could almost see my face in them. I'm much more into moody blues & greens & neutrals this year... So I'd thought I'd give this pumpkin family a makeover with some leftover chalk paint!
The chalk paint I had was called Rustoleum Chalked in Linen White from Home Depot. I have also used Valspar chalk paint from Lowe's and Annie Sloan chalk paint.. they all seem to work the same to me. I mixed and experimented with adding different acrylic paints to get the colors I wanted. When someone asks me what color lipstick I'm wearing, I usually say "three colors to get the one I wanted." That's true about me and paint... I'm always mixing up my colors!
The acrylic paint colors I used were basic black, burnt umber brown, a tan called honeycomb, cloudy sky blue, basil green, and warm white. You don't have to have these exact colors! I just used what I had and if it was too light I added some black..if it was too dark I lightened it up with white.
I painted the pumpkins a coat of either tan mixed with the white chalk paint or light blue and green mixed with the white chalk paint. I used the brown to paint in the lines between the bumps of the pumpkins while it was still wet with the first coat. Then I just blended, blended, blended till I thought it looked good!
Also, I used black and brown on the stems. The chalk paint is great because it leaves a dusty texture! I took a photo of the Martha Stewart clear wax but I ended up not using it. You can certainly use wax to seal the paint but it might take away from that dusty look.
I realllly like how the blue/green pumpkin color turned out! And it goes so well with all of my other fall decor I picked out for this year!
I'm so glad the vision I had for my fall porch is coming together! The hay bales are also from Lowe's. I wasn't sure about them at first but once I mixed in the greenery they seemed to blend in.
Stay tuned for next week's reveal of the whole porch ready for crisp autumn weather! I will be posting a video of the setup AND how to create an apple cider station!
I still can't wait for the pumpkin patch to open. I will add smaller pumpkins around the chalk painted pumpkins. Do you prefer real or faux pumpkins? Have you started decorating for fall yet?
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