It’s that time of year again! Pumpkin season is upon us. Personally, I love fall and all the rich colors and of course an amazing fall DIY. Last year I was at Target and I picked up a couple of these brown paper mâché craft pumpkins.
I wasn’t sure when I picked them up what I was going to do but finally decided to try my hand at making this pumpkin look as real as possible. Not being an artist it’s a bit of a challenge for me, but I was up to it.
Step 1: Gather and prep
Place your pumpkin on a sturdy, level surface so it won’t roll around while you work. Before you start painting, gather all your supplies so you can move smoothly through each step while the coats dry. You’ll need:
- Pumpkin orange for the body
- Yellow-green and a touch of royal blue for the stem
- Warm brown for aging and wood tones
- Clear sealer such as Mod Podge
- Brown antiquing glaze
Also keep on hand: a mixing cup, popsicle sticks for stirring, a damp rag for wipe-backs, and a few craft brushes—including one reserved for dry brushing.
Step 2: Lay down the base coat
Paper mâché drinks paint, so give the body a full base coat of pumpkin orange and expect it to soak in. Do not chase full coverage on the first pass. Smooth, even strokes will save you time during later layers. Let the first coat dry fully. The patience you show here will pay off when you begin building dimension.
Step 3: Build color with a second coat
Apply a second coat of orange to even out the surface. At this stage you are not trying to add shadows, you are simply creating a solid base that will support the depth to come. If the finish still looks patchy, do not worry. The glaze and shading steps will resolve minor inconsistencies and make them look intentional.
Step 4: Mix a believable stem green
Real pumpkin stems are rarely bright green. They look woody, sometimes with a little green where the stem meets the body. To mix that tone, start with a yellow-toned green and deepen it with a drop or two of royal blue.
Adding blue darkens the color without turning it muddy. Keep a bit of the original green on the side so you can layer later. If your mix looks too cool, warm it slightly with a hint of brown.
Step 5: Paint and dry brush the stem
Brush the mixed green onto the stem as a base, then let it dry. Load your brush with warm brown, wipe most of it off on a paper towel, and lightly drag the bristles over the ridges of the stem.
This dry brushing creates the streaky, woody look you see on real stems. If you accidentally add too much, soften it with a barely damp brush. Where the stem meets the pumpkin, feather a little of that green-brown blend onto the top ribs to mimic the way color bleeds from stem to skin in nature.
Step 6: Mix a deeper pumpkin orange for shading
To keep the body from looking flat, mix a deeper orange by combining a small amount of red with your base orange, then adjust with a touch of yellow until it reads like a rich, ripe pumpkin.
Test a swipe along one rib. If it skews too red, temper it with more orange. If it is too close to your base, enrich it with a tiny hint of brown. You are aiming for a shade that is clearly deeper, not dramatically darker.
Use the deeper orange to paint soft vertical passes along the natural grooves of the pumpkin. Follow the curve from top to bottom so your brush marks look like growth lines, not stripes. Imperfections help here. If you lay down a line that is too strong, blur the edge with your base orange while both paints are still soft. The goal is gentle variation that reads as shadow and roundness.
Step 7: Lock the surface before glazing
Seal the dry paint with a clear coat of Mod Podge or another water-based sealer. This barrier gives you control during the glaze step. Without a sealer, glaze can stain unevenly on paper mâché and become difficult to move. A single thin coat is enough. Let it dry completely so the next step behaves predictably.
Step 8: Glaze to create authentic shadows
Brush a brown antiquing glaze over the pumpkin, focusing on the ribs and the base of the stem. Immediately wipe back the excess with a damp cloth, pulling from top to bottom to keep your motion aligned with the shape of the pumpkin. The glaze will stay in the low points and around details, adding instant depth and a soft, field-worn finish. If an area looks heavy, wipe again or blend with a clean, slightly damp section of your cloth. Leave more glaze around the stem and in the creases near the base for a natural, aged effect.
Step 9: Refine highlights and transitions
Once the glaze has set up a bit, step back and look at the pumpkin under natural light. If a rib looks too dark, knock it back with a little of your base orange. If the top needs a touch more wood tone, put a little on the edges of the stem with dry-brushed brown again. These small adjustments make the difference between a craft store look and a realistic finish.
Step 10: Seal for durability
After the glaze is fully dry, add a final clear coat to protect the finish from scuffs and seasonal handling. Choose matte for a fresh-from-the-field vibe, satin for a subtle sheen, or gloss if you want a more polished centerpiece look. Any water-based topcoat compatible with your paints will work well.
Step 11: Style and enjoy
Your pumpkin should now look like it was plucked from a crisp October field, not a fluorescent Dollar Tree pumpkin. Not that we don’t love those for crafting (see my Dollar Tree pumpkin makeovers here). I put this in the shop in a vignette of other pumpkins and it sold right away.
That’s always a good sign that a project has turned out well.
Final thoughts
I’m happy with how this project turned out. I’m not an artist. I don’t claim to be but I think I came pretty close with this one to looking realistic. I think I’m going to try a few more this season with the realistic looking paper pumpkins I found on Amazon or maybe the Jack-O-Lantern paper mache they have. They would be so cute lined up on my porch steps for Trick or Treaters.
Want more DIY rescue missions like this one?
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