There are a few problems with starting a season early.
- Decor is either hard to come by or stocked at full price
- if you buy any natural elements, chances are they will wilt or rot or mold before the actual season is over
- You miss out on enjoying the remains of the past season… which is okay in Spring, but seems kind of sad in Fall.
But, rush the season I must – so that you can get hints and tips in advance of setting up your own crafts, decor, gifts and/or baking.
The reason I bring this up?
I wanted some fall mini-pumpkins – but mini-pumpkins purchased in early September will rot by the time Hallowe’en rolls around – so I had to improvise….
thank you Dollarama!
I should have taken a before shot of the ugly orange ones I bought. Â The colour wasn’t even close to a natural orange, but they did come 4 to a bag, along with pine cones, for $1.
I started out spray painting the pumpkins in a gloss white – and as you can see above, it was not at all Autumn looking and even less aesthetically appealing.
Time to bring in the uber-expensive dollar store craft paint.
I mixed a bit of white with an antique white and came up with a more natural looking colour. Â Then I decided to top it off with a totally unnatural – but super-glam – gold stem.
All the little lumps and bumps were on the original pumpkin, but real mini’s have some texture too, so I decided against sanding first.
Okay, I was just too lazy to sand.
I think they turned out perfectly!
They won’t mold, they were totally inexpensive, and I can store them for next year’s use as well!
and if they aren’t cute enough – did you know that the name for these little white guys is “Baby Boos”?
If they were still orange, they’d be “Jack-be-Littles”
Have a great one!
Linked to:
- Skip to My Lou
- Anderson & Grant
- Between Naps on the Porch
Very cute idea. I think I will try to find some to paint and put them in the order sacks of my Stampin’ Up! customers. They will love the Fall Surprise in their sacks. Thanks for sharing.
What a great surprise! Something inexpensive, cute and easy that your customers could put on their desk or nightstand – LOVE that idea! I may make some more and “Boo” my neighbours with a mini-pumpkin and a package of hot cocoa – thanks for the great idea!
Love how the pumpkins turned out….especially the gold stems!! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing….
Lanita
Thank YOU for the kind words. Yeah, the gold stems were so I could get a bit of a “glitz-fix” and they really are quite cute. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I like them! I spray painted a couple of fake minis I found from last year because the color was flaking off and I do NOT like the effect of the semi-gloss (what we had left from spray-painting the trim in our ‘new’ house). I do have some of that same craft paint stashed so I’m going to get it out and see what I can do with it! Thanks for the idea and the inspiration!
That inexpensive craft paint has saved me from more than a few screw ups! lol It’s easy to do, pretty mindless and the results really are store-worthy. Have fun and thanks for taking the time to comment!
Spraypaint to the rescue! Love how these turned out.
Spray paint actually didn’t work – it made them too ‘artificial’ – even for artificial pumpkins lol. Craft paint from the dollar store to the rescue!