Terracotta Painted Pumpkin Craft
I’ve seen this viral painting craft take the internet by storm recently. People take thrifted vases that aren’t the most appealing color, and give them new life with a fresh coat of paint. The trick to make them a bit more unique rather than just painting them, is this beautiful clay looking paint. It looks a little intimidating, but it’s truly so simple. I was so surprised! So, rather than giving vases or jars a new life, I decided to make this project my kick start for fall and applied the process to a few Target dollar store pumpkins!
When I was walking around Target the other day for some necessities, I popped into the dollar section that Target SO brilliantly placed at the entrance of their store, and saw some cute and inexpensive decorative pumpkins. I am not a fan of the bright orange and the majority of our home decor isn more whites, browns and blues. So I thought it would be incredible to take this DIY I’ve seen online and try it on a fall project. The worst that could happen was I wasted a few bucks on inexpensive decor and could even just wash it off and keep the pumpkins as in. Win/Win, and I how would I know if I didn’t even try!
Once I made that decision, I made my way to the craft section in the store, for some other supplies. I needed to grab paint and brushes, which I knew were available. The last thing that was required for the desired look, was baking soda. Which, I knew that I had at home. So overall, very simple list of items needed and you may even have something already in your kitchen pantry!
The next day, Max went over to Grandma’s house, so I took that as the perfect opportunity to complete a little creative DIY project that I was really looking forward to. I set up my station, Matt grabbed the camera, and we took some time for ourselves. It’s been fun thinking of things that I can do for myself in this transitioning stage of life. I have always loved being creative, but the last few years I’ve really lost site of my creative side. I’ve been so business focussed and put others’ needs or desires before my own. Matt’s been embracing his creative side, too! We recently (more like FINALLY) got our own camera and it’s been awesome seeing Matt excited about learning something new. I won’t lie, I’ve also been selfishly loving the photographs of Max and I.
So back to the DIY clay painted pumpkins… I went with some neutral tones with taupe, brown and a misty blue. I decided to start with the taupe color first, and mix that with the baking powder. It seriously is so easy. Pour the paint into a bowl, and add some baking powder. Mix that little combination up and voila! You’ve got your clay looking paint ready to go. I would recommend starting with little by little of the baking powder. Once you start to stir it in with the paint, let it sit. You’ll see that the baking powder starts to almost bubble or fizz in the paint, and it will get thicker the longer it sits. I actually added a little bit of water after my paint mixture sat for a bit.
I decided for my next color, out of curiosity and for the sake of SCIENCE (lol not really), I used baking soda instead of baking powder. I will say, I really liked the texture or consistency of the the baking soda over the baking powder. It didn’t make a HUGE difference, but I liked the way that the baking soda mixture went on the pumpkins compared to the baking powder mixture.
Once the pumpkins were painted, I set them to dry on the cardboard. The next day, they were done and ready to go! I decided to spruce up our entry table which usually just holds toys, mail, water bottles and any other item that we don’t know where to put when we walk in the front door. I also was really trying to think of a spot that was high enough where Max couldn’t reach. It was perfect!
Overall, I am thrilled with how this little project turned out. The colors look great with our home decor, it’s subtle fall right at the point of entry to our home, and Max can’t tear it apart. I loved exploring a craft and expanding my creativity this week. What are ways that you can expand your creativity?
