Handpainted Pumpkin Patch Sign

I just love how creative my blogging friends are.

Every day when I visit their blogs or browse around on Pinterest, I always have one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. Given the same canvas or the same materials to work with, creative people will each put their own spin on it and make something unique.

Give a group of bloggers a wooden pumpkin, for instance, and no two will look the same.

My friend Sara from Major Hoff Takes a Wife challenged a group of us to makeover a humble wooden pumpkin from the craft store. The results ranged from retro to modern, with themes spanning fall to Halloween to Thanksgiving. Heck, one pumpkin even got a Texas-sized makeover, y’all!

You can check out all the smashing pumpkins at the end of this post. But first, let me show you what I did with mine.

I started out with a large wooden pumpkin from the craft store. I think these are sold out, now that retailers are moving onto Christmas decor, but you can find a similar wooden pumpkin here.

I ruminated over what to do with my pumpkin for a while, trying to come up with a different idea. I was worried my pumpkin would look like someone else’s!

I finally decided to make a pumpkin patch sign, with a layered crackle finish.

To achieve the crackle finish, I started out by painting my pumpkin with DecoArt Americana Chalky Finish paint in Heritage. Then, I layered on the DecoArt Weathered Wood crackling medium, allowing it to dry before adding a thin topcoat of DecoArt Americana Chalky Finish in Lace.

For step-by-step instructions on how to achieve a crackled paint finish with chalk paint, check out this tutorial.

Normally, when I make signs, I use my Silhouette Cameo to make a stencil for the lettering. But honest-to-gosh truth, when I was working on this pumpkin, I was too tired/lazy to go upstairs to my computer to make the stencil. So, I ended up freehanding the lettering.

I sketched the words out on a piece of paper first, then flipped the paper over and traced them in pencil on the backside of the paper.

Next, I taped the paper to the pumpkin, and used a pencil on the front to go over the letters once again. I made sure to press firmly. By doing so, the pencil marks from the back of the paper transferred to the wood.

Then, I filled in the letters with paint.

First, I used DecoArt Chalky Finish paint in New Life, a perfect fall green, to paint the words. Then, I used a thin paintbrush to add a bit of ivory paint to center of each letter. Finally, I used a fine paint brush to outlined the letters in orange.

To finish off my pumpkin, I wrapped the stem in jute twine.

I love how it looks on my hearth for fall.

Be sure to visit my blogging friends to see how they transformed their pumpkins!

Disclosure: As a part of DecoArt’s Core Blogger program, and I receive compensation. But I only recommend companies whose products I use and love. Read my full disclosure policy here.