As the seasons change one of my favorite things to do is decorate the house. In February of 2017, we moved into our home and I have worked hard to be very picky when it comes to home decor. I really want to love the pieces we add, even if it takes time. As I pulled out the Fall/Halloween boxes this year I realized that there was an empty spot on our fireplace. Determined to find a fun item to put there I got to brainstorming – and that is how we ended up here. Time for a fun DIY – Halloween Decor project, Wooden Pumpkins!

One of my favorite stores is the Home Depot, during a recent trip I dug through the cull lumber (scrap/damaged/warped woodpile). In the cull lumber, I was able to find some 2×10 and 2×12, because cull lumber is not suited for building it is usually for sale at a deep discount. For my particular items, they were discounted 70%! 

Once I decided on my plan to make wood pumpkins I had Aaron assist me in cutting down the wood.

I cut the wood into three different sizes:

• Large Pumpkin: 12 x 16
• Medium Ghost: 10 x 12
• Small Pumpkin: 10X 12

After cutting each piece I sanded the fronts, sides and edges using 60 grit sandpaper. This cleans up the wood, cleans up the cuts and removes the markings from the factory/store.

**Be sure to sand out any paint or stamp completely before moving on. The stamp will bleed through the paint.

I used craft paint from Michales, foam brushes and paper plates. For my pumpkin colors, I mixed different combinations of orange, brown and yellow.

Once they were painted and dry it was time to move on to adding faces. Normally I would have just free handed the faces, I believe that would be just as great. But I ended up making multiple sets so I chose to make a stencil. To make the stencil I used Stencil Blanks I found at Michaels (see above).

1. Print out pictures of the faces you like.
2. Place them under the Stencil Blank and trace with a Sharpie.
3. Using a wood burner/soldering iron, cut out the design. (You can also use an Exacto knife.) 
4. Pop out inside pieces and blue tape into position on your piece.
5. Using a foam brush fill in the stencil area, being careful not to get too much paint around the edges.
6. As soon as the design is painted remove the stencil.

See traced design on the Stencil Blank.

See Soldering Iron, cutting out design.

See final design placed on painted wood.

Use blue tape to lightly position stencil. 

Allow drying for 24 hours before stacking. 

 

I chose to paint the backs of the pumpkins so I can use them as fall decor in addition to Halloween decor! I love dual-purpose or reversible decorations!

 

I do plan on adding a stem to each one, but I ran out of time. Perhaps a piece of wood or maybe even some rusty re-bar. 🤔 I love anything rusty!

 

Thanks for stopping by, if you try these out let me know!

 

Also, in making this blog I did make multiple sets.

Love the idea, but not a DIY-er? Email/DM me for details on purchasing a set!

Will ship in the US.

xo,

Carolyn