The Fall season means cooler weather, colorful leaves, and lots of fun craft opportunities! Fall craft ideas are fun to make your home feel a little more cozy for the season. Pumpkins are a fun way to make DIY decor for Fall whether you carve them, paint them, or decoupage them. This post is going to walk through how to decoupage pumpkins with dried flowers.
As you think about decoupage pumpkin ideas, this is a craft project that can be done by crafting beginners, advanced crafters, or kids.
What is decoupage?
Decoupage is a craft that involves gluing cutouts of paper or similar materials on to a surface and sealing it with varnish or decoupage glue like Mod Podge.
This craft project uses dried flowers to decoupage a pumpkin, but you can also use leaves, paper, tissue paper, magazine cutouts, or napkins for decoupage designs.
Supplies needed to decoupage pumpkins with dried flowers
- Pumpkin: Keep in mind texture and color when selecting your pumpkin. A smoother pumpkin will be easier to decoupage. White pumpkins for example will make a good neutral base for colorful flowers.
- Mod Podge: Select a Mod Podge finish that will align with your desired end result. Mod Podge Outdoor is best if you want to display your pumpkin outside. Otherwise the Matte or Glossy finishes will work great too!
- Dried flowers: Thinner dried flowers will be easier to decoupage. Also keep in mind what color palette you want to incorporate whether it’s oranges, reds, etc. for Fall or other colors for a whimsical twist.
- Tweezers: This tool is optional, but it will help you place the dried flowers more precisely and avoid potentially ripping them.
- Paint brushes: These foam paint brushes work great to apply the Mod Podge to your pumpkin.
How to Make Decoupage Pumpkins with Dried Flowers
Now that you have your supplies, let’s walk through the steps to decoupage a pumpkin with dried flowers.
1. Prep your pumpkin
If you pick a pumpkin outside or from a pumpkin patch, you’ll want to make sure it’s clean and dry before starting your project. A Lysol wipe will work well to get any dirt or debris off of it. Then use a paper towel to make sure the pumpkin is fully dry or let it air dry for awhile.
2. Plan your decoupage pumpkin design
Once your pumpkin is prepped, you’ll start creating your decoupage pumpkin your design. You can map out your design ahead of time or adjust as you go. If you have dried flowers of various sizes, it can be helpful to start with one of the larger flowers to anchor the design and work off of it from there.
3. Apply the Mod Podge and flowers
To decoupage the pumpkin, start applying the dried flowers. For each flower, apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the pumpkin using a foam paint brush.
Because the Mod Podge will dry as you go, I recommend applying smaller areas of Mod Podge as you go instead of applying Mod Podge over the entire pumpkin at once.
After brushing the Mod Podge on your pumpkin, use your tweezers to place a flower. Lightly adjust the flower until it is laying flat and in the exact spot you want it.
Note: Tweezers are optional, but they can help you avoid the flower getting stuck to your hand instead of the pumpkin. Dried flowers are typically thin and can break easily so tweezers help you keep them from ripping. Tweezers also help you place flowers more precisely.
After placing a flower, use a paint brush to apply additional Mod Podge on top of it to ensure it will be fully sealed on the pumpkin. The foam paint brush can work for this step or you can use a smaller, more precise paint brush for this part. Be gentle to avoid damaging the delicate flower.
Continue with this same method until you’ve covered the pumpkin as much as you want.
4. Let the decoupage pumpkin dry
Once your design is complete, let the Mod Podge dry. Mod Podge dries clear. It will dry to the touch in about 15 minutes but will take several days to fully cure so you’ll want to be gentle with it initially
Now you have a beautiful decoupage pumpkin to make your home feel festive and cozy!
Comment below if you make your own decoupage pumpkin with dried flowers.