Metallic Jack-o’-Lantern from a Dollar Store Pumpkin

I love, love, love Halloween.  And I love decorating for the holiday.  But I’ll be honest, I don’t want orange all over my house.  There are more subtle ways to decorate for Halloween, like cobwebs and white pumpkins.  I also try not to get too serious, however.  I have a black and white portrait that I hang on my gallery wall that turns into a skeleton when you look at it from from certain angles.  And I try to make fun handmade decorations like this this dollar-store pumpkin makeover.  It turns a cheap orange and black plastic pumpkin into a metallic Jack-o’-lantern with a gilded shine that I can’t help but smile at.

 

You can personalize the Jack-o’-lantern based on your decor or whatever paint you have on hand, too.  Paint the features black, or paint the pumpkin gold with silver features. 

Note: if you don’t use a leaf or gilding paint for the base color, your paint may not stick to the plastic.  You can get around this by first applying a primer, but that just seems like a lot of work for what should be an easy project 😉 Splurge on some leaf paint, it’s great stuff!

What you’ll need:

a cheap plastic jack-o-lantern
1 or 2 colors of metallic leaf paint (I used silver Brush ‘n Leaf) for the base
1 or 2 colors of all-purpose craft paint for the features and stem
1 medium paint brush and one small paint brush

What to do:

1. Test your paint on the pumpkin.  If it doesn’t coat it, you’ll need to apply a primer first.

2. Paint the pumpkin with the leaf paint and the medium paint brush.  Let dry and touch up any areas.  Let dry again.

3. Paint the features and the stem with the smaller paint brush and your second metallic paint color.  Let dry.

p.s.  The more times you type the word “Jack-o’-lantern,” the more curious you are to learn where the name came fromt. 

One year ago: one of our most popular posts, Nutella Cappuccino.  All you need is hot milk, nutella, espresso powder and a blender to make this delicious and decadent treat.