Mixed Media Pumpkin Project for Fall

The following post is from Alisha of Flourish:

It doesn’t matter if it’s still 90 degrees outside, whenever autumn comes around, I always get the strange urge to cook stews and bake everything. You see, I’m one of those moms who doesn’t really love to cook — it feels more like a chore to me — unless the calendar tells me it’s fall. Weird, huh? So out come my crock pots and family recipes.

I also get the urge to craft and create (okay, I always have that urge). But it seems a little more pronounced as we head into the cooler months. I start nesting and decorating for the upcoming seasons. So if you’re a bit odd like me and would rather create artistic messes than cook for your family, I invite you (and your kids) to join me in making this mixed media pumpkin to decorate your home for fall.

But first, throw something in the crock pot to cook so you won’t feel guilty.

Welcome Fall with this Mixed Media Pumpkin Project

You will need:

• Canvas panel (I used a 5×7 size)
• Acrylic craft paints in your favorite fall colors
• Vintage book or hymnal pages, or other ephemera
• Paint brushes/sponge brush
• Decoupage glue
• White gel pen (or white water-based Sharpie)
• Black pen (permanent ink)
• Pencil

Step One: Decide on which book pages or ephemera you want for your background. (For this project I chose a handwritten name and address from a vintage book, as well as the library due date slip in said book, and vintage sheet music.)

Sponge the decoupage glue over the canvas and lay your pieces in place. Then decoupage again over the tops of the paper. Allow to dry.

Step Two: While decoupage glue is drying on the canvas, take a few book or hymnal pages and lightly paint in various shades of orange acrylic paint. (Remember, you’ll want to be able to see the words or music underneath the paint.) Allow pages to dry.

Step Three: Once the decoupage glue is dry, take a pencil and sketch out a simple pumpkin on your canvas.

Then paint your background, as well as your pumpkin stem and tendril. I chose a blue background with a brown base. But I was very careful to let the details of my vintage papers show through.

Step Four: While your background is drying, begin tearing your orange-painted pages into the same shapes of your sketched pumkin shell. I chose to arrange the torn papers in varying shades of orange.

Adhere them over the sketch with decoupage glue, then apply another layer of glue to the tops of the pages. Allow to dry.

Step Five: Once your canvas is completely dry, it’s time to add in your detail work with your black and white pens. Simply outline your pumpkin with the black pen using short, loose strokes. Then add highlighting with the white pen wherever you’d like.

(Optional) If you’d like to add some words or a short poem to your art piece, then you can cut them from a magazine or simply print them out yourself. Adhere the words with the decoupage glue, allow to dry, then outline them with the black pen (if so desired).

You’ll have a lovely piece of fall art to add to your autumn décor or to give as a gift!

Happy fall, y’all!

{See more posts on Real Life at Home from Alisha}

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Alisha Gratehouse

Alisha Gratehouse is a minister’s wife, the mother of three awesome kids, and a mixed-media artist. Her days are filled with writing, creating, homeschooling, drinking tea, and encouraging others to live abundant and satisfying lives (John 10:10). She believes that everyone has a God-given purpose to fulfill, and that in order to fulfill that purpose, they must follow the passions and desires the Lord has placed in their hearts. Alisha blogs at Flourish, and is the author of A Life That Flourishes.