Every fall I enjoy finding simple ways to update seasonal decor I already own rather than starting over with something new. This year, I found a collection of faux pumpkins tucked away in storage and decided they were perfect candidates for a painted pumpkin makeover.

Instead of traditional fall orange, I painted the pumpkins in a palette of deep burgundy, sage green and warm ivory, then added delicate botanical details and touches of antique gold. Some received a little more embellishment while others were left beautifully simple, and together they created exactly the rich, elegant fall look I had envisioned.

If you have old faux pumpkins that no longer suit your decor, don’t get rid of them! These painted pumpkin ideas are easy to recreate with paint and a few decorative details, and they’re a wonderful way to give inexpensive or outdated pumpkins an entirely new look.

Supplies for Painting Pumpkins

The supplies required for this project are very simple and if you don’t have them on hand, you can find most of them at a dollar store:

• faux or real pumpkins
• acrylic paint – you can use whatever colors you like but I used ivory, deep burgundy, sage green and metallic gold
• botanical stencils or rub on transfers
• sponge brushes and a stencil brush

How to Paint Faux Pumpkins

Start by giving the faux pumpkin a very light scuff sand. Do not press hard because you could sand right through the exterior material.

Wipe the pumpkins clean until they are free from dust.

Using a sponge brush or a regular paint brush, dip your brush into the paint of your choice and then either brush on or dab the paint onto the pumpkin. Brushing will require many thin coats, whereas dabbing with a sponge brush will require fewer coats but will result in a more textured look. It isn’t too textured. I did a mixture of both and I can barely tell the difference.

You will likely need to do three coats at least, always letting them dry completely in between.

Set aside to fully dry.

7 Beautiful Painted Pumpkin Ideas

Now that we have all of the pumpkins basecoated, let’s finish them in unique ways.

1. Burgundy Pumpkin With Handpainted Antique Gold Botanicals

With a very thin brush paint on random vines onto your pumpkin. Sometimes I started at the top like the vines are cascading down the pumpkin and other times I started from the bottom like they were growing up the pumpkin.

Then add little groupings of dots like as if they are buds waiting to open or seed pods.

Then add leaves and tendrils.

Lastly paint the stem gold to finish off the pumpkins.

This was a set of three pumpkins of different sizes that I glued together to form a topiary.

I think this is a very elegant stack of pumpkins that looks great on a little rustic urn. Who would ever know that these were dollar store pumpkins to start?

2. Sage Green Botanical Pumpkin

This one is just like the topiary above but with fewer vines and the vines are cascading from the top rather than coming up from the bottom.

Varying the amount of vines or details with each pumpkin will result in all your pumpkins looking unique rather than carbon copies of each other.

The one below is much like the first topiary but with a base coat of light avocado paint. This was one of the larger pumpkins that started out as a bright orange. It was also from the dollar store and I am quite amazed at the detail of this pumpkin given it random shape and beautiful stem.

3. Ivory Pumpkin With Gold Details

For this ivory pumpkin I used a floral stencil. Stencilling on round or uneven shapes like pumpkins is challenging.

First start by dabbing a rough thicker paint brush into the gold paint and then dab off the excess paint. You will want to start light with this and add if you want a denser coverage.

The stencil tends to move with the crevices and it is hard to get an even coat. Good thing I really didn’t want anything perfect!

Because it was so uneven and I could barely tell where the design was, I went in with a paint brush and finished it off. I was not happy with this one as I felt the paint ended up being too even and did not look old world. I learned my lesson on this one and tried to do better on the next one.

For this one I used a finer stencil which worked better for a very bumpy pumpkin. After I was finished with the stencil design, I went in with a thin paint brush and touched up missing vines and added tendrils.

As you will see below, the paint was not as thick and it ended up being much more of what I was looking for being a wild, willowy vine that looked a bit old and weathered.

4. Burgundy and Gold Botanical Stencilled Pumpkin

This time I used a very small leaf stencil and moved the stencil around to have some vines going up and some going down randomly as vines do in real life.

Then I tried two other stencils on other pumpkins and it was fun to end up with so much variety.

5. Ivory Pumpkin Stencilled with Rose Design

This was definitely the most challenging stencil. It is a rose with green leaves around it. The leaves were fairly easy to stencil but because the rose itself is quite large it was hard when the stencil bent into the grooves of the pumpkin. With stencils like this it is best to go with a lighter hand and finish off the details with a thin paint brush to get more defined and precise edges.

It was a little boring with just the roses and leaves so I added dots of gold to tie into the gold pumpkin stem.

The dots added whimsy which I loved. This one is my son’s favorite which surprised me but I think he like all the detail and color.

6. Antiqued Painted Pumpkin

This version of the pumpkin is the second easiest version. All I wanted to do was add an antiqued look to an ivory pumpkin. For this, use a light brown acrylic paint if you don’t have antiquing wax.

Fill a cup with half an inch of water. Place a paper towel into the water and let it soak up the water.

Then dab into the light brown paint and cause the paint to become quite watery. Then rub it onto the pumpkin.

Let the paint settle into the creases of the pumpkin and wipe off the more prominent areas. Let dry thoroughly.

This technique results in a subtle finish which is pleasing with some of the other pumpkins being so detailed.

7. Simple Solid-Color Painted Pumpkin

I bet you were wondering what could get easier than the antiqued pumpkin? Well just leaving the pumpkin with the solid color and painting the stem in gold to match the other pumpkins is the easiest!

A few solid-colored pumpkins are perfect to work in with the more elaborate pumpkins.

Tips for Painting Faux Pumpkins

Here are a few tips that will help you to achieve a cohesive, elegant grouping of pumpkins:

• pick a maximum of three body colors and one accent color;
• pick matte colors for everything except the detail gold color;
• always allow the paint to dry in between coats;
• keep the stems all the same color;
• when stencilling start with a light hand and add in missed details after removing the stencil;
• when painting vines, make sure your thin brush is clean and slightly damp. Just put the tip of the brush into the paint and lightly glide along the surface of the pumpkin. Don’t press down or you will get very thick vines;
• when antiquing, do not go in for a second round because your wet paper towel will remove the original round of antiquing and it will just become messy and uneven.

How to Make Painted Pumpkins Look More Elegant

Restraint will be key to making these pumpkins look elegant such as:

• keep the styling of the pumpkins to a minimum. Do not layer in loads of foliage. Let the pumpkins take center stage
• incorporate a number of solid-color painted pumpkins rather than all of them having designs
• use a warm white or ivory rather than stark white
• always pick matte finishes except for the accent color
• use a variety of pumpkin shapes and sizes

Decorating With Painted Pumpkins

I created these pumpkins as part of a larger fall makeover for our greenhouse, where I will be pairing them with faded hydrangeas, burgundy foliage, natural textures and rustic furniture. Once it is complete, I will link it here.

For now, look how beautiful they look on my china cabinet on beautiful risers with gold candlesticks, an elegant mirror and a few sprigs of burgundy faux stems in a natural rattan jug.

In Closing…

One of my favorite things about a simple project like this is seeing how something I already owned can be transformed with a little paint. The pumpkins that had been sitting forgotten in storage now feel completely different in their rich burgundy, sage green and warm ivory finishes.

I especially love how the delicate botanical details and small touches of antique gold dress them up without making them feel overly formal. And because I chose colors that work with the rest of my fall decor, I can move the pumpkins from room to room and use them in different ways throughout the season.

Sometimes seasonal decorating doesn’t require buying something new. A little paint, a few pretty details and an afternoon of creativity can be enough to make an old piece feel beautiful again.

If you like this post, you may like these posts…

If all these colors are not to your liking you may love my gold and white ideas for fall or Thanksgiving table setting. Just click here.

Or how about an all natural table setting for fall with flowers gathered from your garden. Just click here for this post.

Thank you

As always thank you for staying to the very end. I appreciate your support so very much. Please leave a comment below if you would like to see me try a new design or project.