Rainbow Rhinestone Pumpkin DIY

September 13, 2018 by Alexa 3 Comments

Forget the orange and black pumpkin decor this year and really do it up BIG! Cause nothin’ says BIG like unloading a freakin’ rainbow of color onto a mini pumpkin. I’m kinda obsessed with this little DIY cause it combines both sparkle and color together for an absolute feast for the eyes. And this is something you can make in just under and hour. Let me show you how it is done!

What you need (links below include affiliate links)
— Mini pumpkin
— Paint in a rainbow of colors
— Mini rhinestones (with adhesive backing)
— Paintbrush and paint palette

I have to admit something before I begin telling you how to make this pumpkin……it is so insanely easy to make. The majority of the work involves painting on the paint and letting it dry. I went around the pumpkin, separating the colored sections by the ribs. Go around the pumpkin once, then go around it again to get two solid coats. Let dry thoroughly. Make sure to turn over and finish off the bottom (or don’t worry about it if the bottom isn’t going to show).

Next, use the coordinating color rhinestone sticker and position in the coordinating color section. This is literally a pull off and stick process, but you will want to make sure you space them in random polka dot style all around around your pumpkin.

And here’s the finished result. SWOON!!!!!!

This is a super fun craft to make for your rainbow-obsessed friends to give as a fall gift for their office or home.

If you aren’t a fan of rainbow, consider painting your pumpkin a solid color, then adding tone on tone rhinestone dots. You could also use a complementary color for fun contrast!

I’d love it if you checked out my other rainbow pumpkin creations…

How to Make a Rainbow Glitter Pumpkin
Rainbow Crayon Drip Pumpkin
Crayon Scribble Pumpkin
Glitter Drip Pumpkin

How To Paint Your Own Pennywise Pumpkin

October 16, 2017 by Alexa Leave a Comment

This Halloween season, Pennywise, from the movie IT is the go-to movie to see. I’m seeing all kinds of articles on how you can rock this clown custom for Halloween 2017, but I thought I’d turn Pennywise into my kinda craft- a pumpkin, of course. Let me just tell you, taking the above pic was pretty amusing. Instead of scouting for models, I went scouting for gutters in my neighborhood. LOL. I think the end result turned out pretty sweet. And fun fact, I’ve never seen this movie or the original that all my friends were scared of when I was a child of the 90’s. I do recognize a viral character when I see it, and knew I had to get on the clown action.

What you’ll need:

– White medium-sized pumpkin
– Red, black, and white acrylic paints
– Tacky Glue
– Paintbrushes
– Red feather marabou boa
– Scissors

Before you begin: I painted the off-white pumpkin with white acrylic paint to give the clown a more pale complexion.

Next pull up a pic of Pennywise for reference…I did my project freehand, but you can plot yours out with pencil if you’d like.

I then painted my pumpkin as shown below…I started with a liner brush drawing the red on the lips, I then went back in around the lips adding outlines and shading. Around the grin, I added lines to accentuate.

Next I drew the red lines that go from the grin to above the eyes. After I did that, I added in more additional shading detail and started to draw the eyes and frown lines.

I finished up the face with additional shading and red eyes. For finishing touches, I added some chin and face shape definition. Also clean up any messy details with white paint after everything has dried. My last step was to mix a little glue and paint to make faux cracks and gritty details to the forehead and face. The final step is to cut, then glue on the feather boa to the top of the pumpkin in a horseshoe fashion.

This turned out pretty fun (and creepy). When I get into the zone painting, I realize how much I enjoy it.

Taking photos of this pumpkin may have been more fun than actually painting it. For this one, I hid the pumpkin in some bushes and peeked through to get this shot. Nothin’ quite like a creepy clown lurking in the shadows.

And I thought the dead grass and wooden fence at sunset made for a nice backdrop as well.

Let me know what you think of my pumpkin and if it creeps you out. And fun fact, I actually like clowns…I grew up with paintings of them in my room as a toddler. They were mainly the hobo and circus clowns type. I don’t know if I should watch this movie or not and change my perception.

If you love this project, share it with your friends, and check out this cute stop motion video I did using the steps above to create this DIY project. I made this little vid for the Darby Smart app! If you want ot make your own DIY vids easily using only your phone, give this app a try. Available now in the app store.

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Galaxy Art Pumpkin DIY

October 5, 2014 by Alexa Leave a Comment

Here’s a fun and different idea for making a super cool DIY pumpkin this year! Create a pumpkin that’s out of this world and looks like a galaxy nebula! This look is fun and abstract and no two pumpkins will turn out exactly the same, but they are guaranteed to be super cool!!

FYI If you like this post, you’ll love my DIY Halloween page called Easy Pumpkin Ideas where you’ll find 10+ project DIYs! Check ’em out!
10-diy-pumpkin-no-carve-ideas

What you need:
– Black Pumpkin (Mine is a Funkin from Hobby Lobby)
– Various Tulip fabric paints (mine have some definite messy/crafty love on them)
– Tulip Fabric Spray in black and white (not shown)
– Tulip Fashion Glitters (in coordinating colors to your paints)
– Paper plate or palette
– Cut sponges
– Brushes for making stars (optional)
– Image printed out or pulled up on your phone to go by.

Here’s a quick stepout of my process. Since this process is very loose and abstract, you can literally spend 10 minutes on it -or- and hour to get it “just right”. I want to show you my basic tips, but I encourage you to read up on some more processes for success.

Before I began, I pulled some images of “Galaxy Art DIYs” up on my phone to see what other folks have created. You can also look up “Galaxy Nebula” for various space telescope photos for inspiration for your design. I used these images as inspiration for my design, but I didn’t copy them exactly.

I started by sponging on a light blue base color on the top of the pumpkin, then I sponged in other colors around it blending them slightly. I had no initial rhyme or reason for this, but I did know I wanted to keep my colors seperated a bit and not too blended together. Next, I experimented with some fabric sprays. First I spritzed on some black fabric spray, which gave it a cool, organic look. I then went over top and added a few splatters of the white. Do this sparingly, because you don’t want too many as they will take away from your colorful design.

Note, you can also add “stars” by using the back of your paintbrush to dot on stars randomly all over the pumpkin. In my opinion, I liked the fabric spray look a lot better than the dotted stars look, but dotting on the stars will work perfectly if you don’t have fabric spray.

Admittedly, after I spritzed on the fabric sprays, I went back in and sponged a little of my pinks and blues back over. This is where I talked about getting it “just right”. You are going to have to judge what looks right to your eye! For a final touch, I sprinkled on glitter over the coordinating color of wet paint. It really made my galaxy pop!

If you are still feeling unsure and want some more painting advice before you begin this process, I found this video tutorial very helpful by Tutorials by A (she’s awesome).

Here’s a few closeups of my finished look. I think it turned out so cool!

What do you think? Do you want to give this galaxy art pumpkin a try??

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Glitter Drip Pumpkin DIY

September 30, 2014 by Alexa Leave a Comment

Hey everyone! Since the Halloween and pumpkin season is upon us, I thought I’d show you how to dress up a plain black pumpkin with some super sparkle! You know you want to!!! All this project takes is glue & various colors of glitter to make a sparkletastic pumpkin in no time!

Watch the project below via the Darby Smart app! I’m a part of the #DarbyStars program where I share video projects on the Darby Smart app. You can download the app from the app store on your phone.

FYI If you like this post, you’ll love my DIY Halloween page called Easy Pumpkin Ideas where you’ll find 10+ project DIYs! Check ’em out!
10-diy-pumpkin-no-carve-ideas

What you need for this project:
– Black pumpkin (mine was faux and from Target)
– Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
– Tulip Fashion Glitters in a rainbow of colors
– Small paintbrush (For moving glue drips)
– Large bristle brush (for sweeping away excess glitter)

Squeeze a big glob of glue on top of the pumpkin and spread it out with an old paintbrush. You will need to guide the drips a little at first.

Before you know it, you’re pumpkin will look awesome like this and ready for the glittery goodness!

Grab your glitters and start shaking them over top to cover all your glue!

Tilt your pumpkin up to get the drips on the side!

After an intense glittering, session, your pumpkin will look like this!

Let your pumpkin dry, then take a large bristle brush and sweep off all the excess glitter! Also, you may notice that you have a few dried glue clupms here or there. You can use your scissors to help “define” your dried glue drips. You’ll also be able to just peel off any dried glue smudges!

And here’s the finished pumpkin! Doesn’t it look fun?

Here’s a look at the back. The glue sagged a little bit after the glitter was applied but I still think it looks super cool!

And a view from the top!

Do you think you’ll be trying out this fun pumpkin!!!! I love how it turned out!

And here’s a finished graphic for happy pinning and sharing on your fave social media site! Happy glittering everyone!

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Candy Corn Chevron Pumpkin DIY

September 23, 2013 by Alexa Leave a Comment

These days, I can’t seem to get enough of candy corn! You may have seen one of my other candy corn projects…the vases, the wreath, button pumpkin, or even the onesie. I just love orange and yellow in general, so that explains my fascination with the motif.

Fun random fact: As a child I would always press the candy corn on the plate or table and flatten out the white part of the candy before I would eat it. I know that isn’t THAT fascinating, but I do recall liking to eat them as a 3 or 4 year old. So I guess you can say that’s where this all began…

Here’s what you need to get started:

– White pumpkin (real or faux)

– Tulip Slick paint in orange and yellow

– Painter’s tape

Using the masking tape, make your chevron stripes and press firmly in place. I eyeballed mine, but you may want to be a little more accurate by using a ruler and cut pieces of tape. I tried to make the stripes at a 90 degree angle, each about 1″ tall/wide.

Test out your Tulip slick on a piece of paper to get all the air bubbles out. Now do quick squiggles back and forth on the first chevron stripe. It’s ok if you go over the tape. There will be a fine edge when the tape is removed.

You may prefer to do just half of you design during one part of the day to let it dry, then return to it later in the day to do the other side. It can get tricky to hold if you do all at one time.

Next use the Yellow Tulip Slick and do the bottom chevron stripe.

While my paint was still wet, I carefully removed it to reveal a clean, raised paint design! Let dry completely!

I love the dimensional look this paint gives to this project. It adds a nice pop of color and texture to the pumpkin!

It looks so cute bunched together with my other pumpkins…

…and my candy corn bottles. I really hope no one steals them off my front stoop!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

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Swirly Gold Gilded Pumpkin DIY

August 27, 2013 by Alexa Leave a Comment

I’ve always loved swirly things, especially at Halloween time! Swirls remind me of Halloween whimsy and Tim Burton movies. I’ve done a few Halloween projects in the past including this swirly doily purse and this Halloween swirl vase. This year, I was once again inspired by all things swirly and created this elegantly distressed pumpkin covered in swirls. Here’s how you make it…so easy and fun, just requires patience while waiting for the glue to dry!

What you need for this project:

– Pumpkin (real or faux)

– Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue

– Black paint (I used Tulip Soft paint)

– Rub ‘n Buff

– Soft cloth

– foam brush

The first step in this process is to paint the swirls on with your Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. I did this in sections and set it aside with the swirls facing up for a couple hours to dry before I moved onto another section. This glue is the best, cause it doesn’t run down the pumpkin like other glues might!

After I covered my entire pumpkin with glue swirls, this is what it looked like! Yes, the glue does dry clear

Now I painted over my pumpkin with black paint using a foam brush. I had to put on a first coat, let it dry, then add a second coat.

Once my black paint was dry, I squeezed out some Rub ‘n Buff on my finger and also onto my pumpkin. This stuff is cool, cause it’s a paste rather than a paint.

I wasn’t super strategic when it came to rubbing this stuff on, but my best advice is to rub it on with a soft cloth in circular motion for best results. Let me just say this, once you rub it on, it does not come off, so if you want to just do the swirl areas and leave the rest black, you need to be more accurate than I did.

And here’s the finished result and some detail shots!

Woohoo! Finally got to use my Anthropologie napkins for something! I’m not organized to use them actually for napkins! LOL.

As you can see, only a little of the black is still showing, but I still love how it turned out!

I also rubbed the Rub ‘N Buff on another little pumpkin I picked up for a dollat at Dollar Tree.

It added a nice sheen to it, that made it look less plastic-y and more upscale.

Check out my other fun DIY pumpkin ideas! I’d love it if you stayed awhile and got inspired by all the spooky ideas!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

How to make an Instagram Photo Pumpkin

September 3, 2012 by Alexa 4 Comments

Whoa! I’m doing a lot of Halloween tutorials as of late. I guess the Halloween season puts me in a creative mood! So without further ado, here’s my latest…an Instagram Photo pumpkin. I’m super addicted to Instagram and playing with fun photo filters, so this pumpkin was a no-brainer project for me. If you are wanting a totally unique, totally you pumpkin or a special pumpkin to give as a gift, this is the pumpkin for you!

What you need:– Small pumpkin
– Laserjet printouts of your instagram photos (I just tiled mine up in my Preview program on my mac)
Note: I tiled up about 20+ images to cover my small pumpkin
– Scissors or paper cutter
– Collage Pauge Instant Decopauge Medium
– Plate to pour your Collage Pauge onto
– foam brush (if desired)

1. Cut out each of your images from your laserjet sheet. Laserjet works best for this project as the ink doesn’t smear. Apply a little Collage Pauge to the back of your image.

2. Apply the image onto the pumpkin and adding another coat of Collage Pauge with your finger (or foam brush). Do your best to smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles.

3. Continue randomly applying your images to your pumpkin, overlapping as you go. I didn’t want to leave any pumpkin areas exposed. I also covered the stem for a cohesive look, but you could also use glitter or paint to embellish the stem. Let the Collage Pauge dry (this will take an hour or so).

Can you believe this pumpkin was that simple? Yep, you can make and display it in a couple hours. Notice the little girl in the photo above? Yep, that’s me circa 1984. And the skull at bottom is a piece by my friend Crafty Chica.

You can use photos of people, things, or your pets. The ideas are endless. You could also just do it entirely in black and white. It’s up to you!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

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The Swell Designer

Random musings of a crazy, crafty, pop culture-obsessed girl!

Rainbow Rhinestone Pumpkin DIY

How To Paint Your Own Pennywise Pumpkin

Galaxy Art Pumpkin DIY

Glitter Drip Pumpkin DIY

Candy Corn Chevron Pumpkin DIY

Swirly Gold Gilded Pumpkin DIY

How to make an Instagram Photo Pumpkin