DIY Tutorial: No Carve Polka Dot Pumpkins
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:42AM 
With a boatload of pumpkins and very little spare time, I needed a project that would be fun, fast and cute to boot!
So when I stumbled upon this idea from Better Homes + Gardens, I just knew I'd have to do my own take on it and share it with you. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with my findings.. as happy as a pumpkin rollin' in manure... (and here, you were under some misguided delusion that only pigs liked the stuff)
pffft!
Before I get carried away with horrifcly bad pumpkin puns, let's go gather some supplies.
© Christy Hydeck -Don't tempt fate, karma or my lawyers by stealing.
You'll Need:
- An Apple Corer - I have this one. I love the dotted edges.
- Paintbrushes
- Acrylic Paint- I love Claudine Hellmuth's paint line. Fun colors, great consistency, easily portable... love 'em.
- Optional: Staz-On Ink (I used timber brown)
- Pumpkins. I dig the white kind.
© Christy Hydeck -Don't tempt fate, karma or my lawyers by stealing. Creating Them:
1) Press ye ol' apple corer to the pumpkin; hard enough to leave a visible mark.
2) Do this over & over ...allll over (how many times can one use that word?) until ye ol' pumpkin is covered in polka dots that are pleasing to the eye.
© Christy Hydeck -Don't tempt fate, karma or my lawyers by stealing. 3) Grab the paintbrush and paint inside the circles. They can be all one color, multiple colors, it's just up to you. Whatever your choice, enjoy it. Claudine's paints made it oh-so-joyously-simple for me to choose a color palette. Simple = good in my book. Not like my literal book (almossst finished!) ... just that proverbial one.
anyway.
© Christy Hydeck -Don't tempt fate, karma or my lawyers by stealing. 4) If desired, press ye ol' apple corer to the ink pad, just like it's a stamp.
© Christy Hydeck -Don't tempt fate, karma or my lawyers by stealing. 5) Gently place the inked up corer it on the circles you made before. I just like adding that bit of definition around the circles and emphasizing the cute dotted pattern. The fact that it covers slight painting mistakes is an added bonus.
© Christy Hydeck -Don't tempt fate, karma or my lawyers by stealing. 6) Repeat on all your circles.
You're done! Yay you!
How cute is that?
You could turn the circles into flowers, add gems or beads to embellish them... endless possibilities! You'll love them til the end of vine...
(groan) That's my cue..
Happy pumpkin painting!
Chrysti
Psssst..... (did you see my easy-peasy textacular pumpkin project too?)
Reader Comments (6)
I LOVE it, Chrysti! These are so darn cute and since you're not carving them they should be able to hang around a little longer... maybe even for Turkey Day... I think I may have to try some GLITTER :)
xoxo
jul
This is also a kind of art, that we should respect. And when the result is so wonderful, we can only admire it!
The idea is so creative and interesting and results are just gorgeous, but unfortunately I am not handy at all and maybe will not be able to make pumpkins like this...
All the while I thought that pumpkins are only for trick or treat events. Those are so cute pumpkins. Nice job.
Love this idea! I am a big fan of colored dots ... I wonder what else this would work on ...
I admire this artistic decoration cause it is simple but yet, effective. I am thinking of more and more ways to develop my little daughter's talent so that she could feel even more confident and comfortable with her skills, making her believe that she has the sparkle and you just added one more into my list.