This painted buffalo plaid pumpkin is such a pretty DIY Halloween decoration! It’s SO EASY and fun to paint pumpkins with a buffalo check.
Painting a Pumpkin Ideas
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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure policy for details.
It’s almost October so that means it’s time for some painting a pumpkin ideas!! These are great for those who detest carving and cleaning a pumpkin out! Plus they look much better!!
Find out the proper way to paint a pumpkin, what kind of paint to use on pumpkins and some great painted pumpkin ideas!
Table of Contents
What Kind of Paint Should You Use for Pumpkins
If you plan on spending a long time decorating and painting pumpkins it is important to use the best paint!! No one wants their artistic design to be a disaster as a result of flaky paint.
Acrylic paint is the best paint for pumpkins! Two of the great things about this type of paint is the fact that it dries quickly (we all know how impatient kids are waiting for paint to dry) and it is water based so you can wash any mistakes off quickly and start again!
Proper Way to Paint Pumpkins
I always try and pick a pumpkin with a smooth surface to make it look better when painted. Next make sure you clean any dirt or grime off the outside. Dry it off and plan your design carefully. Sometimes you might use a stencil or you might do it freestyle.
Then pick a narrow head brush and get started!! You may also wish to use a sealant so that the paint does not come off (I always need to do this because my kids are constantly picking up the pumpkins)!
Materials Needed:
- Fake pumpkins
- Paints (gray, green, peach, or cream)
- Wax (light or dark brown)
- Paintbrushes (chip brushes work best)
- Sandpaper or primer (for high gloss pumpkins)
- Real pumpkin stems
- Glue gun and glue sticks
Start by removing the plastic stems from the faux pumpkins. If you have a really high-gloss pumpkin, use light-grit sandpaper to remove the sheen. You can also easily use a spray primer instead of sanding.
Apply paint to the pumpkins. You will probably need 2 coats to get the proper coverage. If using chalk-type paint, I would recommend blending a few different shades of the same color paint. This will give more variation in the paint finish.
To get different shades add a small amount of white, brown, or black paint to your base paint color.
After the paint is completely dry, apply the brown wax. I like to use both light brown wax and dark brown wax so each pumpkin varies in color. After applying the wax to the entire pumpkin, begin to wipe off the wax. Be sure not to remove the wax in the crevices of the pumpkins.
After the wax is completely dry, hot glue on the REAL pumpkin stems. This is the best way to make a faux pumpkin look real.
What type of paint is best for painting pumpkins
I would recommend using chalk paint, mineral paint, spray paint, or acrylic paint. These paints are created to adhere and they are easier to use without having to do much prepping. If you want to use latex paint, I would recommend that you make your own DIY chalk paint. Click on the link to see how to make your own DIY chalk paint.
Here is a list of my favorite paints and colors to use to get a beautiful heirloom pumpkin color.
- Rustoleum 2x paint and primer – I like this one since it has the primer already in the paint. I would use the colors Heirloom white, Stone Gray, Cinnamon, and Moss Green.
- Country Chic paint – in colors Happy Hour, Vanilla Frosting, and Persimmon.
- Deco Art Americana Acrylic Paint in colors Warm White, Silver Sage Green, and Peaches n Cream.
The wax that I used is no longer available, my recommendation would be Antique wax from Country Chic. They do not have a light brown color, however, you can mix in some white or pearl to lighten the dark brown color.
Sourcing real pumpkin stems
I save my real pumpkin stems and have done this for years. Ask your friends and neighbors to save them for you at the end of the season.
Always look at the bottom of the pumpkin crates. Whenever I am out shopping and see a pumpkin crate, I always peek inside to see if I can find pumpkin stems at the bottom. Yes, I will dig to the bottom to get them. The stores will not care if you take the ones that are already off, but please do not remove any that are attached!
If you do not have time to find real pumpkin stems, you can purchase some from this online shop.
Where is the best place to buy a craft pumpkin?
We recommend checking your local craft stores so you can see what the pumpkins look like and what their exact size is. We bought our pumpkins at Michaels, using a coupon, which made them quite reasonably priced!
You can also check the dollar store for craft pumpkins. The pumpkins at our dollar store were plastic-y feeling and they weren’t quite big enough, but sometimes they do sell decent pumpkins.
If you can’t find nice foam pumpkins locally, you can also buy buy them online on sites like Amazon.
What type of paint is best for making a plaid pumpkin?
We used a matte acrylic paint to paint our plaid pumpkins. We used the DecoArt Americana brand in snow white, cherry red, and cranberry wine.
This paint is inexpensive and it sticks to the pumpkin quite well, though it does require a few coats to create nice coverage.
This buffalo plaid pumpkin is such a fun decoration for fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving! Use two shades of red, or choose whatever colours will match your autumn decor.
We love the bold pattern on this painted pumpkin decoration and the rustic farmhouse vibes it has. It can take some patience to wait for all the layers to dry, but we think it’s worth it to make this festive project.
Here’s even more fall craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
