I wanted to do something different to decorate the front porch this year. I’ve always been so disappointed watching pumpkins that I’d spent hours carving, rot away before the holiday is even here! After a few hours of scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration, I decided not to paint my pumpkin at all, but instead only paint on our family last name. You can use stencils or freehand paint, I chose to use my Cricut so I could try an adorable witchy font.
ETC: 1HR
Supplies:
– Pumpkin/gourd
– Paint
– Stencil (optional)
I don’t know why I expected vinyl to easily stick on a pumpkin but I was sorely mistaken! It applies well in small pieces but refuses to stick, especially after one coat of paint. Fortunately, that worked to my advantage since I love the distressed-witchy-antique aesthetic. It took 4 coats of paint over the stencil, and then 1 coat of painting freehand to achieve the opaque black lettering. Another thing I didn’t expect, how difficult it was to actually paint a pumpkin!
Once I was happy with how the paint looked, I used a q-tip dipped in nail polish remover to clean up some of the letters. I thought about adding some spider webs or drips of red paint for dramatic effect; but ended up preferring the simple, welcoming. homey look of the pumpkin just as it was. Since our front porch is covered with an overhang, I didn’t bother sealing the paint.
I adore the vintage look of this pumpkin on our porch! The autumn leaves that are falling from the trees really brought my whole imaginative idea together. If you decide to paint your pumpkin this season, tag me on Instagram or Pinterest @paxtonlanedesign! I’d love to see other versions.
Blessed Samhain,
Kendra
paxton lane design 