Painting Pumpkins and Gourds
Painting pumpkins and small gourds makes a fun and easy project all year round, not just in the fall. A great alternative to carving, and it’s quite colorful! So these make really nice crafts for the elderly. Plus, you can eat prepare and eat it as usual when you’re done displaying…if you want to. I like to use the small sizes and any smooth gourd works great too. (Not the lumpy kind we used in our other gourd crafts ideas). The sample here is free-hand painting in acrylics. But you can easily use stencils for a quick design. (I like to keep a variety of stencils around for all kinds of easy craft ideas). We also have templates you can use, and just transfer them onto the pumpkin or gourd, as with old-fashioned carbon paper. See our pages at: Flower Templates and Designs, and Free Leaf Template and Pattern Ideas. Here are the basics of what to do. You Will Need:
Next, I painted the large flower -- on top of the vine in the center of the pumpkin. I painted it in red-orange, in a basic daisy formation. The longer petals were painted on first. When dry, I added a second layer of shorter petals on top. Then I highlighted the petal edges with a little purple to give it a shaded look. Finally, a yellow dot for the center, and also a yellow line down the center of each petal, to form a vein.Next came smaller flowers done in magenta at various areas off the vine, with stems connecting them. These were made with just three strokes, joining together at the base of the flower. Lastly, I painted in easy leaves here and there along the vine, and by the large flower. Just a few so as not to clutter and over-do it. When painting pumpkins like this one, I like to use two colors on the brush at the same time, to give a two-tone effect to the leaves and petals. For instance, for the leaves drag one side of the brush in white paint, and the other in green. Then stroke on the leaves. This is sometimes called one-stroke painting. I used the same technique for the small flowers, using magenta and white on the brush.
The painting to the right was done on a yellow squash, but could just as easily be for painting pumpkins. These flowers were very simple to do. You would use the same types of materials as above. First choose your color scheme of acrylic paints. I always use acrylics in the tube, but they do come in jars also. The easiest way to make these flowers is to dip a stiff round stippling brush into your paint then stipple (dot) on large round circles. You can add another color on top to give a two-tone look. Then take a pointed brush and draw free-form squiggly stems coming down from the top of the pumpkin to each flower. Add a few leaves to each if you'd like. You could also have the flowers growing up from the bottom of the pumpkin, toward the top. These types of round flowers are extremely easy to paint, and I use them on all types of projects, including painting on clay pots and painting on glass. 
Using just silhouette shapes can be very striking when painting pumpkins. It's especially good if you want to keep it really simple – in all black, for instance. Or purple. Birds, leaves, vines and flowers all make good designs. This sample was done in black acrylic paint. If you want a really simple project, just make fewer leaves and make them larger. You may find you need to put two coats of paint on, for silhouettes. Again, you can get some leaf ideas on our page at Free Leaf Template and Pattern Ideas. 
Large Autumn LeavesThe example to the right was made by using a very large leaf. Although I painted this on free-hand, you can definitely use a pattern. Keep the three leaves in a group and overlapping them results in a nice, tight design, rather than a scattered feel. These kinds of leaves could also be made smaller and painted all in black for a silhouette look. This pumpkin was very smooth, and I applied three coats of thin paint.
Halloween is an especially great time for painting pumpkins with fun faces, and they don't all have to be scary! Why not add a little autumn cheer. Making faces is very simple if you think in terms of using basic shapes -- like circles and ovals, as with the eyes, cheeks, and nose. A crookedy mouth and a few swooshes for the hair will do just fine. The less "perfect," the more amusing it is, in fact. You could also glue on very large googly eyes from the craft store. You could also glue on a little moss on the top of the head for hair, and even add an old straw hat.
Easy Halloween Crafts
-- This page consolidates various Halloween and fall ideas throughout our web site and has several new ones too! Easy to change out the colors and theme for other seasons and holidays. Lots of ideas! 
For lots more ideas and patterns -- That you can use for painting pumpkins or other items, we have a couple of great idea books that may be of interest to you. Check out Easy Crafts and Gifts You Can Make and find out about additional easy yet quality craft ideas for many seasons, reasons, ages and ability levels; plus free templates you can use for a variety of projects.
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