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Where has the time gone? Just a few weeks ago you were perfecting your beach-themed decor for summer, and now suddenly it’s October. The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter (and the nights longer). Most importantly, Halloween is on its way- and witches, skulls, bats, and black cats have invaded the decor of every home. Halloween decorations can range from gruesome to adorable, from disembodied to skulls to googly-eyed spiders.
But none of these represent Halloween, and the entire fall season, more than the humble pumpkin.
Any pumpkin can be easily transformed with an easy coat of paint- and you could end there. Smaller pumpkins and gourds can be great for subtle interior accents, but their bright orange hues may not fit in with the rest of your decor. Black, white, purple,silver, gold, and/or varying shades of orange are all great choices for painted pumpkins. If your pumpkin is going to be just a solid color, matte offers a more mature look than a glossy sheen.
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Once painted, it’s time to really express yourself! You can add polka dots or stripes, or even paint through a piece of lace to create an interesting pattern. A white pumpkin is a great way to highlight words and messages, or individual letters (using multiple pumpkins to spell out an entire word). Halloween scenes and shapes pop against the canvas your pumpkin provides- and if you doubt your freehand artistic skills, there are plenty of stencils and patterns available.
Going a step further, you can event paint the pumpkin (or coat it in glue) and then cover it in glitter!
With some ModPodge glue and your favorite fall images, you can even decoupage your pumpkin.
For the kids:
Most kids may not find as much joy as you do in the perfectly decoupaged pumpkin- they want scary faces or goofy grins on their jack-o-lanterns. But you can still find creative ways to incorporate their desires into the decor.
These instructions from Martha Stuart help you create adorably scary vampires, using the popular (and painful) plastic vampire teeth seen in every dollar store.
A small black pumpkin painted black, with some googly eyes and 8 pipe-cleaners suddenly becomes a friendly spider.
By painting pumpkins a glossy black and stacking them on top of each other, you can create a family of eerie black cats to protect your porch.
Gauze bandages and googly eyes suddenly transform your pumpkin into a mysterious mummy.
There are countless ideas and tutorials on the internet to spark your imagination. Just remember this: If you end up carving your pumpkin, don’t forget to keep the seeds for a healthy and delicious roasted treat!
Featured Image Courtesy of Craftberry Bush via Interior Decor Now
