Let’s be honest — those store-bought light-up pumpkins are cute and convenient, but sometimes they look a little too… plastic-y. I’m all about a glowing jack-o-lantern, but the vibe? Not quite Halloween-night-in-a-graveyard enough. If you’re the kind of Halloween lover who lives for that eerie flicker of candlelight and the charm of a real carved pumpkin (without the moldy aftermath), I’ve got you. Here’s how to turn your cheap light-up pumpkin into something more realistic.
Light-up pumpkins are just another chapter in my long time battle with cheap looking Halloween decorations. On one hand, I feel like these are one of the most quintessential Halloween decorations around. So easy to get your hands on….. whether at a thrift store, big box discount retailer, or probably even in your attic…. light up jack-o’-lanterns can be a quick win to create the feel of Halloween…. even in their cheapest most plastic-y form. I admit, for years, I have put a couple around my house, mixed in with the rest of my Halloween decor. I shuddered a bit at how fake they were (if you’ve read my previous tutorials, you know fake looking Halloween decor is a pet peeve of mine!), but would find a corner to put them in where no one would look too close.
The good news is that when the lights are dim, and those pumpkins are plugged in, all that really matters is the glow of that face! But what about the rest of the time when it’s either daytime or the lights are on? And what about those awful cords? Not every vignette in my house has an outlet nearby! I live in a home over 150 years old…. outlets are a rarity! And I despise having to run extension cords everywhere if I don’t have to. So this year, as I began decorating for Halloween, I came upon my bin of light up jack-o’-lanterns, and realized it was time to face the issues I was having with them and find some solutions!!
So, grab a few of those jack-o’-lanterns you have lurking in storage, or run to the nearest discount or thrift store and pick one up….. b/c after this makeover, you’ll want to display these glowing pumpkins front and center! (Seriously – For the 1st time ever, I’m actually trying to buy more, instead of getting rid of the ones I have!)
Before we get started…. This post contains some affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but I’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on. Thanks! Click HERE for more details.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Faux Light Up Pumpkin
- Small Screwdriver
- Plastic / Paper / Tarp (something to keep your work surface clean while you paint)
- Acrylic Paints in Muted Shades- Burnt Umber, Black, Optional – Browns, Smokey Greys, Muted or Burnt Oranges, White
- Painting Cloths or Shop Cloths
- Nitrile Disposable Gloves
- Paint Palette Trays
- Cup of Water
- Small Paintbrushes
- Paper Towels
- Wet Wipes
- Clear Acrylic Spray Paint – Matte
- LED Color Changing Puck Lights or Flickering LED Puck Lights (Optional)
These were a few of the jack-o-lanterns I had on hand when I started this project. Ultimately, after painting all 4 of them, I decided to use 2 of them for another side project, so the ones you’ll see in this post are on the far right and far left.
Step 1: CHOOSING YOUR JACK-O-LANTERN
There are 3 things to consider when choosing your pumpkin… Color, Lighting apparatus, and what condition it is in. It is not critical, but if you happen to have a choice of color when selecting your pumpkin, choose the more muted orange vs bright orange. Again not critical, but these pumpkins come with a variety of lighting apparatuses…. different bulb placements inside the pumpkin, different types of bulbs, cords vs batteries, etc. If you have a choice, then choosing the right one in this case is completely up to you… but don’t let a cord dissuade you, because I have a wireless fix for that! Lastly, if you have or are thrifting an older one, be mindful of the surface area. A smooth surface is easiest to faux paint. If there are too many dents and gouges in the surface, which is a real possibility since these pumpkins are usually made of foam, the imperfections will stand out more once you do this makeover. Sometimes that can be ok, and if you’re pretty good at blending paint colors just right, the imperfections add to the realism, but if you’re looking for the quick & easy method, I’d try to stick with pumpkins that are in decent shape.
Step 2: REMOVE HARDWARE
Remove whatever apparatus is holding the light bulb and/or batteries and/or cord. Most light-up pumpkins have a round “plate” in the bottom of the pumpkin that is held in place with miniature screws. Use your screwdriver to remove the entire electrical plate. If your pumpkins are older you may find the screws are stripped. I had this issue with one of my pumpkins, and wasn’t planning on using the bulb that came with the pumpkin, so I choose to let out a bit of steam and just break the plastic plate apart. I also learned that with some gentle prying, the plastic ring that holds the plate can be removed if needed. If your pumpkin has a cord that you hate, or a light bulb kit that doesn’t work, or even just a larger than necessary bulb sticking up in the center of the face…… you can discard the hardware. We’ll add light back to it in a bit.
Step 3: SET UP YOUR PAINTING STATION
You want to make sure you have everything set up before you get started…. Not only can this process get a little messy, but there are times that you’ll need to be able to act quickly with different supplies. Once you lay down your paper or plastic to protect your work surface, you’ll need your paints, the palette trays, the painting rags, a cup or two of water, small paint brushes, paper towels, and wet wipes. It’s hard to know if you’ll need all of the paints you have until you start painting, so I added paint to my palette tray as I went along. Have a few trays available, because you’ll want to leave a few open cavities next to the paint you’re using, for mixing colors, or for watering down colors, as needed. Now, get those gloves on and let’s do this.
A Tip before you get started….. it is OK for your pumpkin to look like a hot mess when you’re working on it. Sometimes when you’re doing painting like this, and you’re looking at the pumpkin sitting in front of you, you may think “this looks terrible”…. sometimes it might look terrible 🙂 ….. but more times than not, you just need to take a step back. Set the pumpkin up on a shelf with some other Halloween decor, walk away, and when you take a second look you just may see it in a whole different light!
Step 4: LETS PAINT THOSE PUMPKINS – DIAL DOWN THE ORANGE
I noticed that the brighter orange pumpkins don’t look quite as real once they are painted… so if your pumpkin is a bright or deep orange, you may want to apply a muted orange onto the pumpkin first. My preferred method is shop rags. I ball the rag up or wrap it around my fingers, and dip it into the paint. You’ll be glad you have gloves on b/c these rags are usually pretty thin and paint will definitely bleed through once they become saturated. Using the rag, rub the paint over the pumpkin. I like this method, because there are no harsh brush strokes. It also allows you to rub it on some places and not others. This is not really a time that you need to worry about uniformity. A blend of colors often looks more realistic, so if you have streaks of bright orange showing through, it’s no big deal. If you’re not happy with the color of paint you have, use the cavities of your paint palette to create new colors. Adding a bit of brown or grey to the orange will mute it, adding a bit of white will lighten the orange. Once you have the base coat you plan to move forward with, it’s time for some fun.
Step 5: ADD DEPTH AND DECAY
My go-to paint color for projects like this is always Burnt Umber. I’ve used it for so many different projects, and it always provides just the right amount of shading, depth and texture. I recommend starting with Burnt Umber (or another Dark Brown). There are two different things you want to get out of this step…. to create shading and to create texture. For the shading, you’ll need the dark brown paint to almost settle into the creases or low spots of the pumpkin. For the texture, the paint needs to be more subtle across the raised surface. You can do this simultaneously, but I recommend working in small areas at a time because you need to work quickly before paint dries. Again, using the rag method I described in Step 4, lightly dip the rag into the Burnt Umber and begin to apply it to the surface of pumpkin, by rubbing the paint from the stem to the base. You can apply the paint heavier in the creases, and more subtly across the surface. Continue to rub in the same direction until you have a small area covered, and avoid making any harsh lines with the paint. While the paint is still mostly wet, use a paper towel to rub the paint off of all of the raised areas. The paint should not come off entirely. You should expect for some of the paint to be left behind, creating a smudged look. The idea is that the creases will have more paint, and the raised areas will have less. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so you may have to do some trial and error until you like the look. Try using the paper towel in the creases if the paint got too heavy. You can also use the wet wipes on some of the raised areas to remove more paint. I alternated between both methods until I liked the look of it. As you work on a section of the pumpkin, you’ll want to quickly move to the next section, so the paint continues to blend. Once you’ve made it around the entire pumpkin, assess. For one of my pumpkins, the paint just didn’t stick as well, so I went around a second time.
Step 5: TOUCH UPS
If you find that some of the lines do end up looking harsh…. you can try using a wet wipe to remove the paint, and repeating the rag technique. You can also try watered down paint to blend the lines. Add a bit of brown paint to an open cavity of your palette tray. Dip a small paintbrush in water… you want it wet but not runny, so dry the brush off just a bit on a paper towel… and dip the wet brush into the paint and brush the watery brown over the lines. You can also use this technique to add a bit more paint to the creases. If you want the creases even more pronounced, you can also water down a smokey grey paint and brush that into the creases. Always have that wet wipe on hand in case it doesn’t look quite right!
Step 6: DETAILS
To paint the “cut edge” of the Jack-O’-Lantern face, I used the watered down Burnt Umber and the small wet paintbrush. This allowed me to get into the sharp creases of the mouth cut out. I also chose this method because the surface of those cut edges has more of the foam texture, and I didn’t want the dark brown to soak into the foam. By watering it down, I was able to control how dark the brown was applied. Lastly, I watered down my black paint and used a small paintbrush to paint the stem. I painted from top to base, and had a paper towel ready as the watered down black paint dripped down from the stem onto the pumpkin. Again, I chose the watered down method because I wasn’t going for a solid black stem…. the watered down paint simply darkens the stem, and creates texture at the same time so it looks more realistic. Lastly, spray the pumpkin with the clear matte spray to seal the paint. The matte finish will also help to eliminate any shiny plastic that may still be peeking through!
A few of the color options from the Color Changing LED Puck Lights
Step 7: UPGRADE THE GLOW
If you’ve opted to ditch the pumpkin’s outdated lighting apparatus…… upgrade to puck lights. There seems to be an infinite amount to choose from, so your choice will depend on the features you wish to have. I have these LED Puck Lights…. I chose them because I wanted a remote control. Depending on where you place your pumpkins, and/or how many you have, it is SO MUCH easier to turn them on & off via a remote!! They are also dimmable, so you can get your glow just right. AND – they are color changing! I didn’t think I’d have so much fun with the colors, but it was a pleasant surprise! The orange and yellow give a traditional glow, while the red seems more sinister, and the purple or green give off a ghostly twist! There are 12 different colors that you can choose between and even a mode that gently cycles between all of them! While those are fun…. If you’re looking for something a bit more realistic, I also have these Flickering LED Puck Lights. Of course, they have a remote, and 2 different candle flicker settings. The flicker definitely gives a more realistic candle vibe. If you plan on keeping the original lighting, simply reattach the lighting / battery plate.
Once your pumpkin has had its makeover, don’t just plop it on the porch and call it done. Give it a setting worthy of a horror movie. Nestle it in dried moss, top it with a raven, group it with other aged pumpkins or create a vignette with other spooky decor! Enjoy! And Happy Halloween!
Leave a Reply