31+ Pumpkin Painting Ideas That Are Creative Alternatives To Conventional Carving (2024)

FAQs

What is a good substitute for pumpkin carving? ›

Aside from peppers, Murray says gourds and squash vegetables are other great alternatives to classic pumpkins. Choose ones with smooth fronts to carve your spooky faces into.

Start by drawing a design on your pumpkin using pencil — whether it's simple or intricate. Trace your pencil lines with puff paint and let dry completely for a few hours. Cover the stem of the pumpkin with masking tape and spray your pumpkin with matte spray paint or chalk paint, and let dry.

Carving pumpkins may be a traditional Halloween activity, but trading your X-Acto knife for a paintbrush has its benefits: Painting pumpkins is easier and safer for young kids, presents more design freedom for adults, and leaves you with an autumnal decoration that lasts until you trade your fall décor for holiday ...

Carving pumpkins are bigger and easier to cut than culinary pumpkins, with thinner, watery and more fibrous flesh. Culinary pumpkins are smaller and trickier to carve, with sweet, robust and flavoursome flesh. However you plan to use your pumpkin, it should have smooth skin and be firm to the touch.

Watermelons are a great alternative to pumpkins for a jack-o'-lantern. Start out by cutting off a thin slice of what will be the bottom, so the fruit can sit upright without rolling away. The smooth shell makes it easy to draw your desired face and cut, and a spoon was powerful enough to scoop out the insides.

Elvis Pumpkin

Cut and glue the craft fur on top of the pumpkin and paint the stem black. Pins can be used to hold up the sunglasses and Elvis pumpkin can be balanced on a roll of ductape covered in glitter. Also apply the glitter to cardstock, glue to the pumpkin and flare out to look like a collar.

It's a great way to save money on decor. The paint pens work equally well on faux pumpkins for creating detailed patterns. However, I would recommend a spray paint rather than a brush-on acrylic craft paint for painting large areas. And hey, you can do this to any size or color pumpkin you want!

Here's what you need:

acrylic sealer (spray or brush on) acrylic paints.

Step 2: Prepare Pumpkin

It's not necessary, but might preserve the pumpkin for longer and help the paint to stick to the surface better. Make sure you let it dry completely if you choose to do this step. If you choose to do a hybrid carved-painted pumpkin, carve before you paint.

In your case I would try an epoxy primer to coat the surface of the pumpkin. Epoxy primers are water resistant. But before applying your acrylic paint you need to first coat the dried expoxy primer with a sealant. Once the epoxy primer is sealed you can then apply your acrylic paint.

What is the best pen to draw on a pumpkin? ›

POSCA paint markers are a brilliant multi-surface, creative pen – so they are great for Halloween. The pens are non-toxic and water-based so they are great for kids activities.

While you can gut your gourd with a kitchen knife and spoon, pumpkin carving kits make the experience easier and safer—for more on the latter, see our pumpkin carving safety tips.

A Serrated Vegetable Knife

“You want to saw through the pumpkin with it,” says McMahon, explaining that the motion should be a slow back and forth — not a pushing one. This way, the knife has a better grip on the pumpkin and makes easier cuts, which means you're less likely to have an accident.