DIY Weathered Stone Pumpkins!

5 Materials
$10
2 Days
Easy

Create the high end look that is so popular now with inexpensive pumpkins, drywall compound and paint!

Recently when I was going through my fall decor, I found these two pumpkins that I had picked up a thrift store years ago. They are both made out of a styrofoam like material and are filled with sand. Unfortunately, the round one's stem came off and most of the sand dumped out in my storage box! The other one had a few gouges and both were worn and tired looking.

I seriously thought about just throwing them out, but the DIY side of me thought there must be something I could do to give them a refresh since I don't have many faux pumpkins to decorate with.

Then I remembered the Earthenware Vase that I made this past summer with dry wall compound. It was such a fun project and the dry wall compound was so easy to work with. And now that the stone, cement and pottery like decor is so popular right now, I figured why not try it on the pumpkins.

Applying the Dry Wall Compound


I applied the compound with my fingers just like I did with the vase. It's messy, but it's really the only way you can move the compound around and get it thicker in some spots and thinner in others. Your fingers also help to add that texture which is so hard to create with any other tool.

The best tip I can provide is that a little of the drywall compound goes a LONG way! You'll notice that as I mentioned I applied it thicker in some areas, and than barely at all in others. And since the drywall takes time to actually dry, you can move it around for quite some time until you get the look you want.

Once I had applied the drywall on both pumpkins, I allowed them to dry overnight. I wanted to make sure they were completely dry before I painted them.

Applying Paint


I used three different colors of paint for this technique. Linen (it's a beige, brown, and black. I started by applying a light coat of the linen to both pumpkins. As you can see I didn't worry about covering the entire pumpkin. You just want a base coat. I allowed the linen to dry for about 30 minutes.

As it dried the linen paint color lightened a bit. Now, using the same brush (didn't even wash it out) I applied the brown paint. I did this by tapping my brush haphazardly around each pumpkin. There really is no right or wrong way to do this. You'll be blending the colors anyway. When I had the look I was going for, I allowed the brown to dry for about 10 minutes. I wanted it to be dry but not completely so that I could begin blending.

The next color I used was black. I brushed this on, again using the same brush (unwashed).

And finally I added a bit more of the linen to begin the blending process. I did this by tapping my brush here and there,covering some of the brown and black, but not all of it. Basically the paint is just the highlighter for the texture you created with the compound. Once I had the look I wanted, I let the pumpkins dry, while I fixed their stems.

For this part I just re-painted the stems brown, and then painted four faux leaves I picked up at the Dollar Store brown too. Then I applied the leaves with my glue gun, and secured the stems as well.

Like the vase I made, I find that those thicker spots of drywall compound that don't get coated well with paint end up getting lighter as they dry more. And I think this adds even more of that aged and weathered look. Since I had everything I needed to complete this project the total cost was $0! But you could totally do this for under $10 if you found some pumpkins at a thrift store or dollar store. You could even do this on smaller pumpkins, which I think I might try next!

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Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Melody Boling Medlock Melody Boling Medlock on Oct 18, 2020

    I wonder if you could get the same result using caulk or spackling?

  • Linda Linda on Oct 19, 2020

    Are they rain safe? Our front door entry area is not covered.

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