Painting Pumpkins

“That’s a Wrap: No Mess Pumpkin Mummy”

Supplies 

• Pumpkin

• Gauze (Amount depends on the pumpkin, one roll perfectly covers a small pumpkin) 

• Tea

• Paintbrush

• Googly Eyes (any size) 

• Hot Glue 

First, plug in a hot glue gun and set aside to heat up. Next, prepare the gauze strips that will soon cover your mummy by cutting different lengths of the material varying from approximately 6-12 inches. Once the glue gun has finished heating, lay the lengths of gauze flat on the table. Cover the length of one side of the gauze with hot glue and fold in half across the length. In other words, fold it hotdog style! Complete this task with each length of gauze. Once eat strip is dry, begin wrapping them around the pumpkin. To do this, place glue at one end of each strip, attach it to the desired location, then wrap it around the pumpkin until it is stretched to another side. Place glue on the other end of the previously attached gauze strip and glue it in place. Complete this task until the desired amount of pumpkin is covered. Next, attach the googly eyes. Find a location on the pumpkin to glue the eyes. Then, after placing a dot of glue on the back of the eye, lift up a piece of gauze and glue the eye under it so just the top of it is covered. Repeat this with the second eye. While the pumpkin is drying, make a cup of dark tea (black works well!). When this is finished, grab a paintbrush and lightly brush areas of the gauze with the tea to create an aged look. For a final spooky effect, create hot glue cobwebs on the pumpkin by attaching a dot of glue to the pumpkin’s stem lightly bringing the glue gun to the surface the pumpkin is resting on and then back again. Repeat this until thin glue webs surround the pumpkin. Now, step back and enjoy the adorable, festive pumpkin you have created! 

Sparkle and Shine

Supplies 

• Pumpkin

• yellow paint

• gold paint 

• school glue

• gold glitter

In contrast to other spooky pumpkins, a glittery pumpkin might be up your alley. The eye-catching glitter is great if you want to add a little shine to your decorations. First, using dabbing motions, sponge a thin layer of yellow paint on your pumpkin. This will create a smooth, bright base for your gold paint. Once dry, sponge a layer of gold on your pumpkin, concentrating more heavily near the top. When your paint dries, you're ready to start using your glitter. Draw designs with your school glue, and immediately sprinkle each new glue drawing with glitter. When your designs are done, put glue on the entire stem and sprinkle with glitter. Carefully shake the extra glitter off your pumpkin when it is dry. To have less mess, do this over paper or newspaper. Once you're satisfied with the amount of shine, you're done with your glittery pumpkin!

Mr. Spooky

Supplies 

• Pumpkin

• black paint

• white paint

• larger paintbrush

• small paintbrush (for detail)

If you enjoy Halloween and all things spooky, you may want to decorate your fall pumpkin as a skeleton! This Spooky (and Scary!) Skeleton Pumpkin is easy, and it involves hardly any mess! Begin by choosing a pumpkin. Once you have found your favorite model, prepare a safe space for painting. Gather your white paint, and use a wide brush to paint your pumpkin. Depending on the size of your pumpkin, you may want the brush to be of a medium or large size. Then, paint white all over your pumpkin, but avoid the stem—leave it as it is. Paint in vertical strokes from the stem to the bottom of the pumpkin. If the coat is light, you may consider giving the pumpkin another coat of white paint. Once your paint has dried, prepare your black paint. Find a small brush that will be useful for detail. With it, paint rectangular circles for the eyes. They do not need to be perfect circles; make sure your shapes mimic those of skeleton eyeholes. Next, paint the nose. The nose will be two vertical lines with slightly wider bottoms. After this step, paint the skeleton's mouth. You will need to include the jaw and teeth. Refer to an image to properly paint these features. If you would like to add an addition to your spooky skeleton, dot each of your eyes with one small circle of white. This way, the skeleton appears to be looking in a certain direction. After this, you’re finished! Allow your paint to dry, and enjoy your pumpkin!