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DIY Paint Dump Pumpkins: Easy Painted Pumpkins for Fall and Halloween

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Two images showing pink, orange, yellow, green and blue marble painted pumpkins stacked on one another.

A fun painted pumpkin project for any age!

There are a million ways to create and decorate pumpkins out there, and here is yet another idea for you to add to that list with these marble painted pumpkins created through paint dumping!

When you live in a tropical climate, Fall kinda gets skipped for us most years, but that doesn’t mean we can’t decorate for it! I’m not someone who personally loves the traditional Fall colors like brown or orange, but if I can rainbowize it (yes that’s a word) then I can get on board with anything!

Varying sizes of  yellow, orange, green, pink and blue marble painted pumpkins on a white wooden table.

Paint dump projects are definitely not a new idea but to my knowledge, I haven’t seen anyone else try this method of painting pumpkins yet. Turns out it worked amazingly well and is a fun project to break away from the classic colors of Autumn. Not to mention painting pumpkins is a great kids’ craft for Fall.

If you’re looking for some other pumpkin ideas check out last year’s Paper Pumpkin Decor and Velvet Pumpkin Project!

How to Make Marble Painted Pumpkins with Paint dumping

A yellow pumpkin on top of green, pink and orange painted pumpkins with a small blue pumpkin leaning against the group on a white table with a pink background.

Creating all these painted pumpkins only took me a day and a half to do and they look like a million bucks – and one full day was attributed to the paint drying.

Below I am sharing my full list of supplies and you will also find a full step-by-step paint dump pumpkins video tutorial below.

Let’s visit the supply list first, then I am going to go through some important bullet points to make sure your marble painted pumpkins are a success!

A close-up of a yellow painted pumpkin on top of a group of colorful pumpkins.

Marble Painted Pumpkins: Paint Dump Supplies

A collage of nine images showing the steps of marble painted pumpkins using the paint dumping technique.

Key Steps to Painted Pumpkins by Paint Dumping

  1. Definitely wear gloves! You probably will have to change them a couple times through the process.
  2. DO NOT underestimate the paint. It is far better to be overly generous with paint here then under compensating. For a medium pumpkin I filled my red solo cup almost 2/3 of the way up. For a larger pumpkin fill the cup up to the top.
  3. Don’t stir the paint! The paint will naturally mix, yes, but purposefully stirring the paint takes away the magic of the marbling effect.
  4. Pumpkins need AT LEAST 24 hours to dry. The amount of paint going on is excessive, and it needs plenty of time to dry before continuing the final steps.
  5. Choose between 3-6 colors to paint dump your pumpkins. I do not recommend more than 6 because it may get too mixed and messy.
  6. Try to choose complementary shades of colors. Notice with my pumpkins they all have different shades of the same colors. I did try mixing a pink and teal together. The result was a brown undertone, so I recommend staying on one end of the color spectrum.
  7. Once your pumpkin has had 12-24 hours to dry, spray the whole pumpkin with clear acrylic sealer to keep your pumpkin pretty and give it a nice luster finish.

If you are ready to see how it’s done scroll down and hit play! I will walk you through everything! I’d love to see how yours turn out too! Please come over to my Facebook group and post your project!

Easy Painted Pumpkins for Halloween and Fall Decor

Troubleshooting tip

When using paper plates, the pumpkins may stick a bit once dried. If any of the plate comes up on the bottom of your pumpkin, you can just add a quick dab of paint to cover it. Otherwise, in hindsight, I think letting the pumpkins dry on a silicone mat would be best. Your pumpkin should come off very easily once dried.

Orange, green, pink, blue and yellow painted pumpkins in varying sizes and shapes against a white background.

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About Abbi Kirsten

My mission is to inspire you to nurture the creative magic inside your soul – bringing you fun, easy to learn DIY projects, and quality template designs. I share a variety of projects, holiday decor and you will definitely notice my love paper crafting and paper flowers – all tied up in a sweep of cheerful color.

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Two images of yellow, orange, blue, pink and green painted pumpkins gathered and stacked on a white table with a pink background. Image text overlay reads: how to make paint dump pumpkins for colorful fall decor.

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3 Comments

  1. do you think you can set the pumpkin to dry on foil or waxed paper? Maybe would not stick like a paper plate might?

    1. Yes, absolutely! Or a silicone mat!

      1. Nancy Green says:

        My very first (1st) paint dump project. So much fun and so impressed with myself:
        /Users/nancy/Desktop/IMG_4646.jpg