THE LETTERED PUMPKIN

Yesterday, I showed this pumpkin from our front porch.  I have painted it this color - it was originally orange.  I just used white acrylic paint and let it dry.  Then I wiped it down with Old English Scratch Cover - but any stain would do. 

I also mentioned that it looked a little plain, so today I got out the paints again and made some changes.

 I decided to paint the date of this fun holiday - but the possibilities are endless.  I also think it would look great with a crow, or a bat, or a face . . .  I printed out these numbers from the Graphics Fairy at about 350% so they'd be large enough to fill the front of the pumpkin, and taped them together.  What would bloggers do without that website?

Using just ordinary carbon paper, I taped it on the pumpkin.  Be prepared to make some paint repairs after pulling off the tape because the white paint comes right off with it!

You can see the orange spots at the top of the pumpkin.  I fixed those later - but first, I traced the numbers onto the pumpkin.  Then I went over the tracing marks with a black magic marker to make the painting part easier.

 Then, just fill it in with black acrylic paint. 

 Here is where I did some touch-ups in the areas where the paint came off with the tape, or little blips happened with the black paint.

Once the touch-ups are dry, rub the pumpkin all over again with Old English Scratch Cover or a dark stain.  Then a good coat of clear satin polyurethane is a good idea for protection against the elements.

Now it's sitting back outside as an ominous reminder of the spooky day ahead!

And here is a little peek at something else I'm working on for Halloween.  With a group of friends coming over next week to put together some "Insect Dishes", things need to be a little creepy around here . . . this should help.