Painted Pumpkin Ideas..

Happy Halloween
These small pumpkins, decorated with a welcome sign and swaths of glitter paint, are perfect as party favors or table decorations.



Pretty Patterned Pumpkins
Using brushstrokes of metallic paint adds a contemporary touch to this beauty from the pumpkin patch.

What You Need:
* Acrylic metallic paints in teal and purple
* 1-inch flat paintbrush
* Pumpkin
* Metallic gold permanent marking pen
* Pencil with round-tip eraser


Instructions:
1. Paint checkerboard. Paint a teal checkerboard design on the pumpkin. To begin, start with the center of the pumpkin. Paint 1-inch squares around the center of the pumpkin. Continue making 1-inch checks over the entire pumpkin, alternating the positions as shown. Let the paint dry.

2. Decorate checkerboard. To add squiggles, draw them on top of the painted checkerboard as desired. Let it dry. To add dots between the painted checks, dip the eraser end of a pencil into purple paint. Carefully dot on the surface where desired. Let the paint dry.


Wire-wrapped Pumpkin

Colorful plastic-coated wires seem to grow on the miniature pumpkin. Holes poked in the pumpkin anchor the vertical wires and separate wires twist around the stem.



What You Need:* Ice pick
* Miniature pumpkin
* Plastic-coated wire in desired colors
* Old scissors


Instructions:
1. Poke holes for wires. Using an ice pick, poke tiny holes at the top of each pumpkin crevice around the stem. Repeat on the bottom of the pumpkin.

2. Insert wires. Cut lengths of wire to reach from a top hole to a bottom hole, adding 2 inches. Bend over 1 inch at the end of a wire length. Push the short folded-over end into a hole at the top of the pumpkin. Gently pull the wire down the crevice of the pumpkin and firmly push the remaining wire end into the hole at the bottom. Repeat for each set of holes.

3. Add decorative top. Cut a 3-inch piece of each color of wire. Twist together at one end. Wrap around stem as desired.

Boo Pumpkins
With a little glue and glitter you can make these glistening beauties quicker than you can say, "Pretty, Pretty Pumpkin!"

What You Need:* Newspapers
* Miniature pumpkin
* Small paintbrush
* White glue; glitter
* Rubber alphabet stamps
* Black stamp pad
* Metallic thread or ribbon
* Scissors

Instructions:
1. Cover the work surface with newspapers.

2. Stamp the word BOO randomly on a clean, dry pumpkin. Let dry. Put a dab of glue in the center of the Os and sprinkle with glitter. Let dry.

3. Cut 12-inch lengths of metallic thread or ribbon. Tie around the pumpkin stem. Trim ends as desired.

Painted Patchwork
Inspired by a quilted patchwork design, begin by painting the pumpkin with latex primer; let dry. Base-coat with cream-color latex paint; let dry. Use masking tape to mask off squares, or download our free pattern below. Paint an overcoat of khaki-color latex paint; let dry.

Download Patchwork Pattern: http://www.bhg.com/servlet/securePdf.dyn?file=/bhg/securepdf/paintedPatchwork_PmknStncl.pdf

Black and White
For striking graphic contrast, make a statement in black and white. If you can't find a white pumpkin, paint an orange one with several coats of white latex paint, letting it dry between coats. Use an artist's brush and black acrylic paint or a paint pen to freehand-paint or stencil the simple design.

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
A popular nursery rhyme cleverly adorns this carve-and-paint pumpkin.

What You Need:
* Large pumpkin
* Pencil
* Knife
* Scraper
* Wide paint markers in purple, turquiose, and black
* Air-dry clay, such as Crayola Model Magic
* Acrylic paints in blue, white, orange, black, gray, and red
* Paintbrush
* Raffia
* Straight pins
* Thick white crafts glue
* Foam
* Drawer pull
* Fencing staples
* Miniature garden hoe


1. Wash and dry the pumpkin. Use a pencil to draw the lettering and door where desired. Make the lines wavy.

2. Cut out door shape. Cut out windowpanes. Scrape out the insides of the pumpkin.

3. Draw the words boldly using paint markers. Alternate the colors on each row. Add a black shadow to one side and to the bottom of each letter.

4. To make clay birds, shape a round head with neck and attach it to another round body shape. Form a small cone and cut down the center for the beak. Attach to the head. Let dry. Paint birds blue, eyes white, and pupils black. Paint beaks orange.

5. Wind a handful of raffia into a nest and place on top of pumpkin. Pin and glue nest and birds in place.

6. For the chimney, cut a piece of foam into a small rectangle. Paint gray, let dry, and paint in red bricks. Let dry. Pin in place on top of pumpkin.

7. Press drawer pull into door. Insert the ends only of two staples, one on the door and one on the pumpkin wall. Insert hoe through the staples.

Frosted Pumpkins
Frost is on the pumpkin -- and your awaited guests will know winter is near when this glistening pumpkin greets them at the door.

What You Need:
* Clean pumpkin
* White dimensional fabric paint
* White glitter

Instructions:
1. Choose a pumpkin with a shape you like and a long, interesting stem. Clean and dry the pumpkin.

2. Using a bottle of white dimensional paint, apply a generous amount of paint to the raised ridges of the stem and some of the lines extending down from the stem. Paint the lines on the pumpkin at varying lengths, about one-third of the way down the pumpkin. Add more white paint around the pumpkin stem, if desired. Work fairly quickly so you can complete all painting before any of it dries.

3. Draw as many snowflakes as you wish. To make a snowflake, first draw an X shape.

4. Add a third line horizontally across the center of the X to make a six-sided snowflake. Begin all snowflakes this way, then add dots and smaller lines, or whatever you wish to make the flakes look different. After painting snowflakes, add random white dots between the snowflakes.

5. While the paint is wet, sprinkle white glitter over the painted areas. Let the paint dry. Brush off excess glitter.



2 More Ideas
For a Halloween version of this pumpkin, use black paint and glitter and make spiders and webs instead of snow.
For a quick centerpiece, place a frosted pumpkin on a large white paper doily sprinkled with artificial snow.

Pretty Polka Dots
Halloween pumpkins don't have to be scary. Create a festive pumpkin with polka dots made out of glitter.

What You Need:
* Newspapers
* Miniature pumpkin
* Pencil with eraser
* White glue
* Small paintbrush
* Glitter
* Metallic embroidery thread
* Scissors

Instructions:
1. Cover the work surface with newspapers.

2. Using the eraser end of the pencil, make dots of glue on the pumpkin. Use a paintbrush to paint the stem with glue. While the glue is wet, sprinkle with glitter. Let dry. Shake off the excess glitter.

3. Cut four 12-inch lengths of thread. Tie into a bow around the pumpkin stem. Trim the ends if needed.

Spell It Out
Red painted dots decorate the outside of this pumpkin that's also been embellished with painted pasta spelling out Happy Halloween, Trick-or-Treat, and Boo!

Decorate a spooktacular pumpkin with words made from alphabet macaroni.

What you will need:

* Pumpkin

* Alphabet macaroni

* Paintbrush

* Glossy decoupage medium

* Acrylic metallic paints in copper, green, purple, gold, or other desired colors

* Pencil with round-tip eraser

Instructions:
1. Decide what words or phrases to add to the pumpkin. Find those macaroni letters. On the pumpkin, paint a 1/8-inch line of decoupage medium where you want the words. Place the letters on the decoupage medium. Let it dry.

2. Paint the top surfaces of the letters lightly, using metallic paint. Use only one color on the entire word or phrase so it stands out as a unit. Let the paint dry.

3. To make dots, dip the eraser end of the pencil into copper paint. Carefully dot the paint onto the pumpkin where desired. Let dry.

Bead-Decorated Pumpkin
Holiday garland and star decorations make these pumpkins easy to decorate in a hurry. Have more time? Try embellishing the pumpkin with some painted dots, stars, or swirls.

Avoid the mess of a carved pumpkin while adding a note of sophistication to your Halloween or fall decorating. These elegantly decorated pumpkins are easy and quick to make, and will last longer than a carved pumpkin.

See below for complete instructions.

What You Need:
* Large and small pumpkins
* Beaded garland
* Straight pins
* Wide wire-edged ribbon
* Star sequins
* Quilting pins
* Beading wire
* Beads


Instructions:
To make the large beaded pumpkin, attach one end of the beaded garland at the top of the pumpkin at the base of the stem.
Hold the garland in place with a pin. Loop the garland down approximately half way and bring back up to the stem and pin in place. Continue making loops around the entire pumpkin top. Tie a generous bow made from wide wire-edged ribbon around the stem.

For a variation, use a star garland instead of a beaded garland.

To make the small beaded pumpkin, attach star sequins randomly using quilting pins to secure. Make three beaded strands by threading beads on lengths of wire. Add a star sequin to the end, if desired. Secure one end of the wire to hold the beads in place. Leave 1 inch of wire at the opposite end to poke into the pumpkin next to the stem.

For a quicker version of this project, delete the beaded strands and use only the star sequins.

Web-Laden Pumpkin
When the light falls upon this decorated pumpkin, the glitter paint and faceted gems will sparkle with vibrant color. The web effect is simple to achieve using an inexpensive craft pen.

What You Need:
* Pumpkin
* Metallic paint pens in purple and gold
* Gems in oval and rectangular shapes
* Small metallic beads to match gems



Instructions:
1. To draw the spider web, use metallic purple paint pen. Start by following the vertical crevices in the pumpkin. Use the photographs as guides, making the lines different lengths. When all of the vertical lines are painted, draw the horizontal lines, making them slightly scalloped and about 1 inch apart. Let the paint dry.

2. Decide where to add the spiders. Using the pen, place a small amount of metallic gold paint on the back of the gem for body. Use an oval gem for a large spider or a rectangular gem for a small spider. Place onto the pumpkin. If making a large spider, use a rectangular gem for the head. Apply paint to the back of the gem and place it above the oval body. Outline the spiders using metallic gold paint pen. Press two bead eyes to the top of the head. Paint on legs and let dry.

3. Paint the stem of the pumpkin using metallic gold paint pen. Let the paint dry.

I really wanted to do some of these .. this year! I am not sure I am going to be able to get around to it though!