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Garden Sanity by Pet Scribbles

Painted and Glittered Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover

This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through any link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Any supplies used may be given to me free of charge, however, all projects and opinions are my own.


October 27, 2019 By Laura

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Painted and Glittered Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover: Match up glitter paints with similar base color paints for understated elegance! A beautiful tone-on-tone effect perfect for rustic Fall decor!

Painted and Glittered Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover

It’s time for another dollar store pumpkin makeover!

Ever since I transformed a dollar store jack-o-lantern into something pretty, I’ve wanted to make over more pumpkins.

dollar store pumpkin makeover

Click here to see my pink pumpkin DIY: My pretty pink pumpkin makeover from a cheap plastic jack-o-lantern!

I finally had a chance play again this week!

Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover Tutorial

This makeover doesn’t require many supplies.

Here’s what you need:

  • Small fake pumpkins
  • Craft paints in Fall colors
  • Glitter paints in matching (or similar) Fall colors
  • Paint brush
  • Finishing touches:
    • E6000 craft adhesive
    • jute twine
    • decorative furniture tacks
    • decorative fake (faux) Fall leaves

Helpful tip: If you want to easily order small fake pumpkins online, click here to see pages of small pumpkins for decorating on Amazon.

I also found this wonderful set of small pumpkins with fake leaves which could be fun to paint and display:

Dollar store pumpkins

These pumpkins are so much fun to paint, and such an easy transformation to create!

Here’s what I started with:

basic orange dollar store pumpkins

Make sure to wipe these pumpkins with a lightly damp paper towel to get off any dust before you begin to paint.

First step: paint colors

I chose these paint colors from DecoArt, as these colors are perfect for the entire Fall season through Thanksgiving: Brown Sugar, Dark Scarlet, and Paprika.

three bottles of DecoArt brand multi-surface craft paint

I painted two thin coats onto each pumpkin. As this paint dries so fast, it didn’t take long at all until this step was done and dried:

painted pumpkin trio

Second step: matching glitter paint colors

Next it was time for glitter! I matched up some Martha Stewart Glitter Paints from my craft stash to go with my chosen paint colors.

matching paints and glitters

Painting glitter paints over matching (or similar) base colors of paint makes a pretty tone-on-tone effect that keeps the glitter understated. It’s a very different look from just applying sparkling glitter.

Again, I simply painted on two coats of this glitter paint. I did a combination of painting and dabbing to get the glitter thicker in certain areas. Let dry thoroughly. I let mine dry overnight.

Third step: jute-wrapped stems and fake leaves

For the stems, I wrapped jute twine around each stem, using E6000 Craft Adhesive to make sure the string won’t be coming off anytime soon. The finishing touch was a furniture nail tack stuck through a decorative glittered fake leaf.

tone on tone painted and glittered dollar store pumpkins

Helpful tip: You can paint craft store fall leaves in the colors of your pumpkins, then add some glitter paint. But everything does not need to be matchy-matchy either. Variety is the spice of life, or in this case the spice of Fall!

Painted and Glittered Dollar Store Pumpkins

I like the tone on tone colors of the leaves, paint and glitter, which keep the pumpkins looking understated and not too glitzy.

Painted and Glittered Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover

When the glitter, base color, and embellished leaf all match, you get a nice tone on tone effect highlighting the different textures used.

These pumpkins look great on our mantel next to my vintage mason jars and fake Fall flowers. (Say that ten times fast!)

Fall mantel with antique mason jars and pumpkins

You can see more pictures of this floral arrangement I put together here: How to update your Fall floral arrangements.

Outdoor pictures on a sunny day

Because it was such a sunny day, I went outside to take pictures of these pumpkins in the front yard . . .

First stop was our short ornamental grasses, which this time of year are a mix of half-green and half-tan colors.

orange glittered pumpkin in ornamental grass

You can really see the glitter paint clearly in the close-up image above.

glittered pumpkins and ornamental grasses

Behind these pumpkins and grasses are three Lantana plants still blooming even though it’s the end of October.

glittered pumpkin with lantana in the garden

Lantana’s very long blooming season is the main reason I love using this plant in our gardens. You can read more about Lantana in my article here: Lantana: A flower garden rock star!

Here is what these pumpkins look like displayed with my DIY Mercury Glass Pumpkin — which is simply another dollar store pumpkin makeover with paint!

DIY Mercury Glass Pumpkin tutorial using three colors of metallic paint!

I even decorated our cement kitty statue for the Fall season with a cute ribbon bowtie.

Fall outdoor porch vignette of cement kitty with pumpkins

One of my favorite Fall shrubs is Blue Star Juniper, which — as you can see below — has outstanding blue-green color. The shrub’s color is a great background for these small pumpkins.

Blue Star Juniper shrub with small pumpkins

Indoor Use Only

Despite playing with these pumpkins in the garden, I would not keep these pumpkins outdoors, unless on a covered, sheltered porch or front entrance.

So I returned the pumpkins to their featured place on our Fall mantel . . .

dollar store pumpkin makeover in Fall colors
DIY painted and glittered dollar store pumpkin makeover

Have you jumped on the pumpkin decorating craze yet?

Happy pumpkin crafting!

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Filed Under: Crafts & DIY, Fall Crafts Tagged With: Autumn decor, Craft Pumpkins, Craft Tutorials, Dollar Store Crafts, Fall decorating, Halloween Pumpkins, Pumpkin Decorating, Pumpkin Tutorials

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Welcome to Garden Sanity by Pet Scribbles. I’m Laura, an artist and self-taught gardener. Gardening is therapeutic for me, peaceful and calming. I write articles and film videos centered around my own gardens, with plenty of plant suggestions and gardening tips. I’m glad you’re here and happy to share my garden inspiration with you!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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