Hydrangea Inspired Pink Pumpkins

Some plants failed in my garden this year and some had an over abundance of blooms. One those was my hydrangea. They have so many blooms they are bending over onto the ground. I love how they change from white to gold to rose gold. All of a sudden it hit me – with so many blooms, I could make my whole fall decor hydrangea inspired! How pretty would that be? Well I thought amazingly pretty, so off I hustled to the dollar store to pick up pumpkins that would be transformed into hydrangea inspired pink pumpkins!!!

First, let’s take a look at all these gorgeous hydrangea I have. See what I mean about so many blooms!

Before we go one step further, this week I am so honoured to be a part of Wendy of WM Design House’s diy pumpkin blog hop. You have to check her out because she is the real deal!

If you are coming over from Cindy of DIY Beautify, weren’t her textured lace and rope pumpkins amazing?

So let’s get crafting…

Materials

Materials required:

• dollar store pumpkins
• sandpaper
• white, champagne metallic and green metallic paint
• gold leaf and pink gold leaf (you could try rose gold gold leaf which I ordered too but it was too orange and didn’t pick up on the pinky/purples of the hydrangea)
• adhesive
• dried hydrangea
• paint brushes
• gold leaf brushes

Sand and base coat

First give the pumpkins a scuff sand if they are shiny and then basecoat with white. I did this because I felt the strong orange color would show through the gold leaf and change the look I was going for. Let dry until completely dry – no tackiness. Approximately 2 hours as I did a very thick coat to cover the orange.

Apply adhesive

Follow the instructions on the adhesive. Mine said that I had to add 10% water to the amount of adhesive I would need. I kind of eye-balled this and it worked out fine. The key is to apply a thin coat and apply to all areas that you want to apply the gold leaf to. I decided to have the gold leaf primarily on the top of the pumpkins and fade as it cascades down the pumpkin.

Let dry one hour, or until the surface is dry but very tacky.

Option 1: White pumpkin with pink gold leaf

I tried three different ways of achieving my hydrangea inspired pink pumpkins. Some of my hydrangea has white petals and pink. The white petals did not fade to a golden color so I tried one pumpkin like that.

Lay your pink gold leaf on the top of the pumpkin and lightly brush the gold leaf until it is adhered to the pumpkin.

In my photos, the gold leaf takes on more of purple color which is unfortunate because I know this isn’t an exact match to real hydrangea. They do look better in real life, I promise.

Next step – brush off the excess gold leaf for a smooth finish.

I chose to stick with a whole metallic theme so I found a beautiful complimentary green metallic paint (DecoArt Dazzling Metallic Festive Green)

A few pumpkins in a beautiful vintage white bowl my mother gave together with the hydrangea makes for a beautiful twist on our typical fall decorating.

Option 2: Champagne pumpkin with pink gold leaf

The next version I tried was to match the pale creams of the hydrangea. I used FolkArt 2484 Champagne Metallic and I felt it really matched the pale petals.

Paint the entire pumpkin in the champagne color and leave to dry completely.

Apply the adhesive in thin coats. For this pumpkin, I had more solid coverage at the top and faded into strands ending about 2/3 of the way down the pumpkin.

Option 3: The triple threat

For this one, I used a combination of rose gold, gold and pink leaf for a really interesting effect.

To start, basecoat the entire pumpkin in DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Rose Gold metallic acrylic paint. For this one, I was trying to bring in more of the rose gold color.

Then apply adhesive all over the pumpkin and let dry for one hour.

Next apply randomly and no so precisely gold leaf to the bottom 2/3 of the pumkin.

Then layer starting at the top, apply the pink gold leaf to the top 1/3. In some areas I applied a little more adhesive so that the pink gold leaf would cascade down over the gold leaf.

Paint the stem in the metallic green.

As you can see, the undercoat of rose gold pops through hear and there providing more interest and depth.

The Final Reveal

But we are not done yet…

Creating a hydrangea inspired tablescape

Let’s finish off the experience and create a whole dining experience around our pretty pumpkins.

First, I chose a sage/grey table cloth. For the table settings I used a pink charger, green and white antique china plates, a white Mikasa china smaller plate, topped with the matching green and white china bowl. I placed a white cotton vintage napkin with a pink sequin napkin ring on an angle across the bowl.

Gold matte cutlery together with goldish purple stemless wine glasses finish the setting.

Down the center of the table I scattered dried hydrangea, real pro white sunflowers in crystal vases, gold candlesticks, silk sunflowers and a few smaller pink gold leaf pumpkins and white velvet pumpkins.

At one end of the table, I placed a basket filled with ornamental cabbages and dried hydrangea.

At the other end was a grouping of white dinner plate dahlias.

Simple and understated, but heavy on pretty!

Next up on the blog hop

Next up is Missy from Sonata Home Design and wait until you see her extraordinarily beautiful pumpkin vase!

Make sure to check out all the wonderful projects as seen below!

Looking for more inspiration?

If you are looking for more fall inspiration, please check out my earlier post about how to add various styles of pumpkins to your home decor this fall.

Shopping links below!!!

If you would like to try this project or are interested in any of the decor, I have provided links below – just click on the bolded description.

Disclaimer: Should you wish to purchase something, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!

• FolkArt Champagne metallic acrylic paint
• DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Rose Gold
• DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Festive Green
• Pink gold leaf
• Gold leaf
• Gold leaf adhesive and brush set
• Wood riser/pedestal
• Tablecloth
• Gold candlesticks
• Matte gold cutlery
• White pampas grass
• Stemless wine glasses

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