Super Simple Painted Pumpkin Ideas
Carving isn’t the only way to have fun with pumpkins during the Halloween season! Here are some simple painted pumpkin ideas that anyone can do. These are perfect for small kids or anyone who doesn’t love a pumpkin mess.
My kids LOVE carving pumpkins, and they start asking when we’re going to do it approximately 5 minutes into October every year. But, of course, carved pumpkins only last a few days before they start to fall apart, so we have to wait until the last minute. This year, to extend the fun, I decided it would be fun to try painting some pumpkins instead!
A painted pumpkin is going to last much longer than a carved one, and it’s a really simple craft. Plus, I’ll take a paint mess over a pumpkin goo mess any day.
If you’ve got little kids who can’t quite handle pumpkin carving tools yet, this is a really great alternative. Or, if you’re like me and just have kids who are obsessed with doing all the Halloween things, it’s a great addition!
Simple Painted Pumpkin Ideas for Halloween
For my painted pumpkins, I decided to just use some small pie pumpkins. Of course, any size will do! Just know that the larger you go with your pumpkin, the more time it’ll take. I don’t know about your kids, but mine don’t always have the attention span for a big project!
Once you’ve picked your pumpkins, make sure to take a few minutes to clean them. It’ll make the paint go on easier, and help them last longer! Soaking them in a mix of one part bleach to ten parts water for a few minutes will also make a huge difference, especially if you live in a warmer climate.
With your pumpkins picked and cleaned, it’s time to get painting.
Idea #1: A White Ghost Painted Pumpkin
This is probably the simplest idea, and it’s pretty darn adorable. You could start with a white pumpkin for this to make it really easy, but I wanted a painted look. So, I grabbed some of my favorite creamy white spray paint and went to town on the pumpkin. I painted everything – including the stem.
Once the spray paint was dry, I just painted on a simple little ghost face using black acrylic paint. For kids, it might be easier to use a black Sharpie or paint pen instead!
I think it would be adorable to do a whole collection of this type of pumpkin. You could play around with different faces and emotions and spread ’em all out on the front porch!
Idea #2: Spiderweb Painted Pumpkin
Next up, we’ve got a spoooooky spiderweb painted all over a small pumpkin! This one is probably the most “difficult” of the pumpkins I painted, but only because it can be tricky to paint a spiderweb on a round surface. I basically just painted a bunch of straight lines around the pumpkin and then connected them with concentric circles to make a spider web. It’s one of those things that you shouldn’t overthink – just go for it and I can almost promise it’ll come out fine.
Once the spider web was dry, I added a few small spiders all around the pumpkin. They certainly aren’t the most realistic spiders that have ever been painted, but they sure are cute.
Idea #3: Mini Ghosts
And finally, my personal favorite. This one was SO easy to do, and I think it would be a great idea for kids who want to join in on the fun. I just used some white acrylic paint to draw ghost shapes of varying sizes and shapes all over the pumpkin. Then, I added a couple of dots for eyes on each one. Done!
You could do the same basic idea with bats, witch hats, or any other classic Halloween shape!
Other Painted Pumpkin Ideas
Looking for more? Here’s some more adorable painted pumpkin ideas from around the internet to give you some inspiration as you work.
