DIY Heirloom Painted Pumpkins (Dollar Store DIY)

I went out looking for pumpkins the other day and couldn’t find any – in fact, the cashier at one of the grocery stores I checked was like “pumpkins in September, that’s crazy! It’s so early!” *and gave me side eye*, um girl, don’t you know the minute pumpkin spice lattes are out and it’s chilly enough to bust out my chunky scarves it’s definitely time for pumpkins! So instead of the real things, I turned to a DIY and made some pretty heirloom style pumpkins out of some cheap bright orange Dollar Store pumpkins!

I love how these turned out and would love nothing more than to make 10 more haha, but I’m holding out to add in some of the real thing. The key to getting some good Dollar Store fall decor is to head out early, because these kinds of items get snatched up so quickly (at least in my town).

^^ These glossy eye sores were my starting point

This DIY was so simple, I gathered a few different paint colours (a creamy light grey, a few blues, brown and some sage green – but you could use any soft blues or greens you have on hand, or mix a darker shade with a lighter paint), then popped the stems off of the pumpkins and set aside. Then I painted the pumpkins with a layer of the light grey (cream or white would work great, I just didn’t have any on hand). Then poured a bit of the light grey onto a plate and mixed in a teeny dot of blue. I painted the pumpkins roughly with this and added another coat once dry.

To add a little depth to the pumpkins, I used a small amount of the brown paint mixed with a little light grey, and with a very light hand, I brushed the paint on to the crevices on each pumpkin. This creates a little shadow and makes the pumpkin look ‘less foam’ and more realistic. Kind of play around with it and add more or less if you want to.

I added some dark brown to the pumpkin stems, but using some wooden sticks as stems would be even cuter. I finished this DIY at like 9pm (which is super late for me haha) so I wasn’t about to hunt down some twigs. I might upgrade them down the road.

But didn’t they turn out so cute??

I just love the pretty blue wash of paint and how lovely they look all stacked up.

I also painted a few mini pumpkins (from the Dollar Store) as well – again, super cute! I’m planning on adding a bunch of pretty white pumpkins to this shelf, and think that everything will tie in so nicely together. I love fall decor so much!