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

Make your own paint pour pumpkin DIY

November 2, 2017 by Alexa Leave a Comment

paint-pouring-pumpkin

Have you seen the latest trend in painting? Simply pouring paint on canvases is the latest big thing. I wanted to give a twist on this idea and make it a pumpkin instead…and the results were so, so fun!

I created this project for the Darby Smart app, watch the video above to see how easy it is to do this project, there’s literally NO skill involved to make this project. If you are looking for other fun projects like this one with the holidays coming up, download the Darby smart app and get inspired to create you own holiday DIYs for sell or gift-giving!

Here’s a pin you can save to keep this idea for next year!

paint-pour-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.

Save

Fall Shimmer Glitter Pumpkin Tutorial

September 2, 2013 by Alexa Leave a Comment

This pumpkin project is one of those that will last you from September to Thanksgiving! The colors and glitter shimmer just scream fall and all it takes are some of your favorite puffy paint colors and a steady hand.

What you need for this project:
– Pumpkins (any size will do)
– Tulip 3D Fabric Paints (gold metallic, gold glitter, pomegranate, copper, and red glitter)
– Foam Brush
– Plate or palette
– Soft cloth

Start off by squeezing some of the Tulip 3D paint in metallic gold onto the pumpkin and stem. Rub it off with a soft cloth. This will give the entire pumpkin a pretty metallic sheen.

Now make a flower shape on top of the pumpkin using your Tulip 3D Glitter paint.

In between each “petal” squeeze out another petal

Repeat this over the entire pumpkin. This will create a cool “scalloped” effect on the surface.

For added visual drama, I added vertical and horizontal paint strips inside each petal.

For the red mini pumpkin, I painted it with a coat of copper 3D paint mixed with pomegranate 3D paint. I love adding metallics to add sheen to my paint colors!

I then covered the surface with red glitter 3D paint leaves. The funny thing is that this pumpkin actually looks like a pomegranate too me (which means my fiance will like it…he’s obsessed with pomegranates!)

Here’s some photos of them when they dried. They turned out so shimmery!

Don’t forget to glitter your stems so they match the rest of the pumpkin!

I love the way the glitter dries!

This is so easy and has an amazing impact on display. I think the tone on tone effect really works here!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

30+ Swell & Fun Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

October 10, 2012 by Alexa Leave a Comment

Pumpkins continue to be my very favorite thing to craft! I really could decorate them all year long, it’s too bad the season is only a few months long. I thought I’d share some of my favorites in this handy dandy list, everything from my most popular of all time – the Crayon Drip pumpkin to some of my sentimental favorites like the Pumpkin man box. I think there’s a little something for everyone, from traditional to wacky! I hope to even have more to add to this list by season’s end, so check back 🙂 See any ideas you’d like to try? Until next time Swellions!

[Read more…]

Crayon Drip Art Pumpkin Tutorial

August 12, 2012 by Alexa 39 Comments

I was so inspired by all the pumpkins and Halloween stuff I saw at Michaels this past week, that I decided to go ahead and get started on my Halloween crafting! With the popularity of the crazy crayon dripped canvases, I decided to do my own version using a pumpkin instead of a canvas. I think it turned out funky, abstract, oh-so-colorful, and fun. Here’s how you make one of your own!

Looking for more fun pumpkin ideas, check out my new pumpkin site…EASY PUMPKIN IDEAS!

[Read more…]

A foody Friday

November 14, 2008 by Alexa 3 Comments

I am going to be going “home” tonight to visit my parents. I have a couple of special projects I’m going to do with my mom. If she let’s me, I might even profile her for my blog. A lot of who I am is a result of watching her over the years. She’s the most awesome seamstress I know. I didn’t inherit any of her sewing skills, but we share a fond interest in all things crafty.

So, with Thanksgiving coming up, I have had a few requests for my pumpkin dip as shown above (Thanks Retta for letting me use your photo). At every party/get together I’ve attended, it has been a huge hit! And it is soooo super easy to make! I have to give credit where credit is due, I got this from user Tiera Lesley at All Recipes. I have a huge craving for pumpkin flavors this time of year…I really would like to make a pumpkin roll sometime, but for now, this is a recipe that I feel confident in making and satisfies my sweet tooth at the same time.

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

INGREDIENTS
– 1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
– 1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
– 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
– 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.

This makes about 30 servings. I recommend the generic (not Nabisco) gingersnaps to dip with it. The Nabisco are really hard and don’t get chewy. The off-brands tend to be a little bit snappy/a little bit chewy and that is what I like. I also tried honey Teddy Grahams once and they were good in it too. I’m sure regular graham crackers would be swell as well!

Let me know if you end up making this dip and how it turns out. I promise, It’s really good!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Wednesday is Lensday: Pumpkin Patch Edition

October 22, 2008 by Alexa 7 Comments

Yep, that’s me above getting some air in the pumpkin patch at Evan’s Orchard outside of Lexington towards Georgetown. Much love to my friend Chris Garris (the most fabulous photographer I know) who shot this using his wide angle lens. I’m in actuality only 3 or 4 feet off the ground. His low viewpoint + that lens makes it look more like 10 feet. Probably one of the coolest pictures of me to date!

I got some pics of my own including a jumpy shot of Chris too! Here’s him!

We had a very amusing time filled with lots of photo taking….there was a petting zoo, patch, kettle corn (I got pumpkin spice), bee exhibit, apple orchard and of course lots of piles of pumpkins & gourds!

These are Chris’s shoes. Aren’t they super cool and very appropriate for this time of year?

This camel was shuttling children around. He kept mooing/yelling (what kind of sound do camels make anyway?) whenever a kid got on. I think he was a disgruntled camel. I think I would be too if I had to go around the same path time and time again.

Chris insisted that I make this shot black and white, because the sun created a lot of contrast that day!

He ended up buying one of these pumpkins/gourds. He thinks that they should be clearanced because inevitably, they are the ones that aren’t going to be sold. He liked it cause it was diseased (he thought it looked like something else that is rather communicable) and because it had more character than a regular pumpkin.

To me, this picture says fall.

Man, he can be so corny. I can be even more, just by using that bad pun.

Gourds really do have a lot of character.

And so does Chris. He insisted on riding in the wagon while I got a workout. I think the parents at the place thought we were a wee bit crazy. Such is life.

Hope you enjoyed my pics. I plan on posting later the winner of this little guy!

So check back tonight (and get your comment in here to win him if you haven’t done so already)!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

The Swell Designer

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

Rainbow Rhinestone Pumpkin DIY

Make your own paint pour pumpkin DIY

How To Paint Your Own Pennywise Pumpkin

Fall Shimmer Glitter Pumpkin Tutorial

30+ Swell & Fun Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

Crayon Drip Art Pumpkin Tutorial

A foody Friday

Wednesday is Lensday: Pumpkin Patch Edition