65 Cool Pumpkin Painting Ideas Way Easier Than Carving
From cute to scary, and everything in between.
When fall arrives, we can't wait to decorate the home with pumpkins — whether they serve as beautiful fall centerpieces, cozy fall porch decor or festive Halloween decorations. There's nothing wrong with simple orange pumpkins and classic jack-o'-lanterns, but there are endless ways to use pumpkins to infuse personality into your space this year. From spooky skeletons and crawling spiders to happy and quirky pumpkin faces, we've rounded up creative pumpkin painting ideas that are so fun and easy to recreate.
As much as we love carved pumpkins, they aren't always the best option: they require a lot of clean up and can be a dangerous project for children. Painted pumpkins are a much more kid-friendly craft, plus they tend to last longer than their carved counterparts. The easy no-carve pumpkin idea is a perfect way to show off your style, you'll just have to decide what to paint.
Consider one these adorable ideas like pastel faces, pretty rainbows and glitter pumpkins or a creepy creation like spider webs, floating ghosts and flying bats. Draw inspiration from your favorite characters, keep it simple with painted stripes or go for a vibrant, solid shade. Start with full-size or mini pumpkins, then pick up a few cans of spray paint, bottles of acrylic paint and some paint brushes. Hint: Before painting your pumpkin, clean it gently with soapy water and dry it completely.
Black and White Striped Pumpkin
Keep it simple with black and white stripes. First, paint your entire pumpkin white and allow it to dry. Use the natural grooves in the pumpkin as a guide for your vertical stripes, painting them as thick or thin as you'd like. You're welcome to add more stripes in between until you're happy with the look. Lastly, paint the stem black and allow time to dry before moving.
Skeleton Pumpkin
Create a slightly spooky scene with a skeleton made from two stacked pumpkins (a wide shape for the head and rounder one for the body). Spray paint the pumpkins white, then draw black circles and ovals to create the skeleton bones. Just make sure to remove the stem from the bottom pumpkin before stacking!
Black Bat Pumpkin
Make a statement with a neon painted pumpkin (we're loving this pink hue). Then decorate it with black paper bats for a spooky touch. Make sure to keep your completed pumpkin under a covered porch or inside your home, so the paper bats aren't exposed to the elements.
Paint Pen Patterned Pumpkins
Pick up a few mini white pumpkins and get creative with patterns, shapes and designs — and you don't have to stick to black ink either. Hint: You can achieve a similar look with artificial pumpkins, as well.
3D Painted Pumpkins
Puff paint is an easy way to give your pumpkin a textured look without any carving. Start by drawing a design on your pumpkin using pencil — whether it's simple or intricate. Trace your pencil lines with puff paint and let dry completely for a few hours. Cover the stem of the pumpkin with masking tape and spray your pumpkin with matte spray paint or chalk paint, and let dry. Repeat with a second coat if needed.
Hint: We found that using a lighter paint color shows off the 3D design best.
Rainbow Mini Pumpkins
If you want to experiment with color, small white pumpkins work best for this project. For each pumpkin, you'll need a lighter and a darker shade of the same color. As you paint, use the natural grooves of the pumpkin as a guide. This blogger suggests starting with your lighter color first so you can use the darker shade to correct any mistakes later.
Spa Pumpkin
Once you've found a perfectly round pumpkin, give it the spa treatment. Use green or teal paint to draw a "face mask," leaving space for the nose and mouth. Once the face is dry, stretch a shower cap over the pumpkin's "head" and pin it in place with straight pins. Finish the look with cucumber eyes, which are really just cut-out images for longevity's sake.
RELATED: The Cutest Pumpkin Faces to DIY
Trailer Pumpkin
If you've still got summer on the mind, here's a fun idea: a vintage-inspired trailer. You'll need two shades of the same color for your trailer body, plus gray for the doors and windows and black for the outline work.
Punny Painted Pumpkin
Start by painting your entire pumpkin white (or another light shade, like yellow or pink). Outline a punny phrase in pen — creep it real, for example — then trace it with black paint. Tie on a smiling tassel ghost from the stem to really drive the point home.
Pastel Face Pumpkins
Nothing spooky about these adorable pastel pumpkin faces. Start with matte spray paint (here, The House That Lars Built chose pretty pastels, black and white) for the base color. Then add quirky details for the face using acrylic paint.
Rainbow Pumpkin
Play with bright hues and cheerful shapes, like Alice and Lois does here with hot pink and rainbows. Start by spray painting your entire pumpkin (stem included, if you wish) and giving it ample time to dry before adding your favorite design.
Glitter Stem Pumpkin
Once you've painted your pumpkin, it's time to give the stem a little personality. Cover the stem in glue then dip it into craft glitter — black, pink or green, to name a few color options. When the light hits it just right, your pumpkin will add a splash of sparkle to any room.
Googly Eye Pumpkin
To recreate this funny pumpkin idea, start with two coats of black paint and allow it to dry. Next, glue as many googly eyes to your pumpkin as your heart desires — and that's pretty much it.
Gold Leaf Checkerboard Pumpkin
For a little more glamour, decorate your pumpkin with gold leaf paint. The shimmery, metallic paint is easy to use and looks great — whether you go for a checkerboard pattern or a custom design.
Feather Pumpkin
Give a black painted pumpkin texture by adding faux feathers (once it's had time to fully dry, course). Stick the feathers to the pumpkin using Mod Podge. Then, use a brush with a little Mod Podge to smooth out the feathers on top, and let dry.
Spider Web Pumpkins
Even if you aren't a fan of spiders IRL, you'll be able to handle this craft. First, use long strips of tape to create a web pattern on a pumpkin. Then, spray light, even strokes of spray paint over the entire surface, letting it dry completely and adding additional coats when needed. Once it's fully dry, carefully peel off the tape and glue on a fake spider.
Tiny Bow Pumpkins
Add just a few black bows to turn an ordinary painted pumpkin into something unique. To get started, cut equal lengths of ribbon (ours were about 5 inches) and tie into bows (you can also use pre-made bows). Then, place a tiny dot of hot glue onto the pumpkin and place the bow on top. Let dry and repeat all over surface of the pumpkin.
Black Cat Pumpkin
Fashion feline features from blue painter's tape and adhere to an orange pumpkin before giving it a once-over with black acrylic paint. Once it's dry, remove the stencils for one cute cat. See? It doesn't matter if you paint outside the lines.
Pumpkin Kittens
These have got to be the cutest pumpkins we've ever seen (and they are easy enough for kids to make!). Simply paint mini pumpkins with two coats of black spray paint and let dry completely. Add rhinestones for eyes, embroidery thread whiskers and pom pom noses with hot glue. Cut out cat ears from velour paper and glue each to a toothpick. Stick toothpicks into the top of the pumpkins.
Starry Galaxy Pumpkin
Splattering white paint on a pumpkin is fun, but copying true-to-life constellations really sets this project apart. The stars will even light up at night if you drill holes throughout and stick string lights inside.
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