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I've mentioned a time or two how much I hate carving pumpkins, so each year I pull out the paints and other mixed media and get my craft on. I was browsing Pinterest for a little inspiration this year and came across the new trend of using glow-in-the-dark paints on pumpkins and thought, YES! What a brilliant idea! So, off I ran to Hobby Lobby to pick up a bottle.
This 8 ounce bottle ran $7 on sale, but you could get it for $6 on a week they don't have them marked down and you use one of the 40% coupons. If you don't have a Hobby Lobby close by, you can get Glow-in-the-Dark Paint on Amazon.
If you know me, you know that I love all things Nightmare Before Christmas. Seriously, it looks like Tim Burton stops by and barfs up all things NBC all over my house each Halloween. I've been wanting to do a Jack Skellington pumpkin for the past few years, but honestly thought it was a bit too trendy. I mean, just look at Pinterest and Facebook and I'm sure at least one of your friends has turned their white pumpkins into good old Jack in recent years. But, once I had that glow paint in my hands, I knew how I could get my Jack pumpkin fix and be a little original. Allow me to present this year's painted pumpkin:
Glowing Jack!
What you need for this project:
1 white pumpkin
glow-in-the-dark paint
Jack Skellington face cut out of black vinyl (affiliate)
craft brush
(primer- optional, but highly encouraged!)
I would definitely suggest prepping your pumpkin with a coat of primer. I didn't use it and ended up using a lot more of the glow paint than necessary to get the entire pumpkin covered properly.
Apply a thin layer of the glow paint to the pumpkin. Allow to dry. Repeat as necessary until you test the pumpkin in the dark and are satisfied with the results. (I used 5-6 coats of glow paint, but I think if I would have used primer, it would have been good with 2.)
I cut Jack's face on my Silhouette cameo, but if you don't have one, you can also use a craft knife to cut out the shapes. Or, you can print his face onto paper and use scissors to cut out the shapes to use as a template, then paint on the face with black craft paint.
Now, place Jack under a bright light for a few seconds, turn off the lights, then sit back and enjoy your project!
Did you carve or paint your pumpkins this year?
Amazing job! So the pumpkins wasn't white already, but got white with that colour? I do prefer me white pumpkins and green ones to orange regulars. Did you do just that one or tons for the yard? :) We need a photo of your front yard decorated for Halloween!
ReplyDeletePS do your fingers glow in the dark if you didn't wash them properly after painting?
DeleteThe pumpkin is white to begin with. The paint goes on almost clear. This way the pumpkin still looks like Jack in both the day and nighttime :)
DeleteThe paint will not stain the glowing agent on your hands like some other paint dyes do, but if you don't wash your hands, they will definitely glow!
Honestly, we only put out a few yard decorations this year. With all the health issues I had, then Jason's had a few at the beginning of the month, neither of us felt like standing in the yard putting up lights and staking down decorations. We decided we aren't doing Christmas lights this year either. It takes 2 full days to put them up, then another 2 to take them down, we decided we deserve a year off (been doing it every year for the past 8!) I'm sure the neighbors will be disappointed, but we just want to focus on time together instead of dealing with the extra work it brings.
I know you did not do the whole yard I just wanted to see the doors because I can see gargoyle's claws and other pumpkins in that photo above :)
DeleteEverybody deserves a break! You more than anyone. Just go light and eat all the chocolates before the kids arrive knocking!
Question-can you use a fake pumpkin and paint that glow-in-the-dark? I don't see why not. That way, you have it year after year.
DeleteHi Kro, you can definitely paint it on a fake pumpkin to use year after year. That would be a great idea, though I'd probably put a clear coat of paint over the finished product to protect it from getting scratched or chipped up in storage.
DeleteNow that is neat indeed. I'd do that over the blah carving any day of the week.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I see to carve a pumpkin is to get those seeds out! Otherwise, I ain't breaking out the knives!
DeleteI love it - so awesome! We still haven't bought our pumpkin - I'm thinking we'll get it this week, and decorate it Friday night, which still gives us a few days to enjoy it and have it ready by Halloween. :)
ReplyDeleteMy mom waits until almost Halloween too because the squirrels like to chomp on hers. They never last more than a week with those pesky rodents hanging around her house lol
DeleteThat is so cool! A: The Nightmare Before Christmas is the best Christmas/Halloween movie ever, and I LOVE that the paint is glow in the dark.
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect for me! We watch The Nightmare Before Christmas is our go-to movie on Halloween. The glow in the dark paint makes it, and I LOVE the look.
ReplyDeleteThis came out so neat and I love the idea of using glow in the dark paint. We normally carve our pumpkins.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool! I much prefer painting pumpkins over carving them. Then they can actually be eaten afterwards if you want. It's so much easier too. This turned out great Theresa!
ReplyDeleteWe did not do pumpkins this year because the kids said they are too old. With that said, my daughter would do this pumpkin in a minute. She loves Jack and Sally.
ReplyDeleteAnything that doesn't involve carving a pumpkin works for me! :)
ReplyDeleteI really like this look of the paint and will check into it for my niece.
My son would LOVE this pumpkin! Jack Skellington is his new favorite.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun way to decorate a Halloween pumpkin. This is so much nicer than carving it.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome pumpkin decorating idea! Not only are we huge fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but painting the pumpkins ensure they will last through Halloween.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea! I love the glow in the dark. That is super cool, and i know my kids would LOVE LOVE LOVE this! So much better than carving! - jeanine
ReplyDeleteOh my, that pumpkin turned out so well. That paint rocks! I'd have to do this with all of our jack-o-lanterns!
ReplyDeleteThis paint is awesome! I'll have to get it. My oldest grandson would love it, but at the very least I can show him the pics in your post. He is crazy crazy for Jack the Pumpkin King!!! Yes, I saw on your Pumpkin Farm post that you guys had a bouncy thing too. I thought that was an awesome experience. Hoping that trend is found in other places. I think I should buy stock it those bouncy things!!! ♥
ReplyDeleteYour pumpkin turned out great! Love that it glows-in-the dark. I doubt I carve or paint any pumpkins this year.
ReplyDeleteThe product sounds great!
ReplyDeleteyou finally accomplished your mission and came out with wonderful expressive painting
ReplyDeletewow it looks great...nice stuff!
ReplyDeleteMy son wouldlove this project. This is so nice and good for them
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool! An awesome and fun project to make with the kids!
ReplyDeleteGlow in the dark paint is always fun and awesome! The kids think it's pretty cool as well. I think this is a great idea for Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of people are jumping on these white pumpkins! They are pretty cool. I get sick of carving pumpkins, too but I think a lot of that is because my cousin has a pumpkin patch and I carve to can pumpkin.
ReplyDeleteI love this project! We're taking the kids on Saturday pumpkin picking and we'll be doing this!
ReplyDeleteHa! I knew I'd come over here and find a post to pin. Happens every single year. :) This one is awesome! You do great work. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun project to do with your pumpkins to personalize them! And your instructions don't look too difficult- we are going to try this over the weekend!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good project and I think it will be great for my son.
ReplyDeleteI super love this idea! I'm going to show the kids for sure.
ReplyDeleteAnother awesome Halloween tutorial. I am going to the Halloween store today, maybe they will have glow in the dark paint! We could try this out. :)
ReplyDeleteOH awesome is this??!! My kids would love doing this. I need to show them!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteAs a general policy, I like to carve my pumpkins. On the contrary, my wife tends to paint her's.
This works great for my niece who gets scared of Sandy Claws, Jack to the rescue! I wish it gets a sequel.
ReplyDeleteyour pumpkin is UBER COOL! I don't carve pumpkins..never try it btw, but I guess I like your idea better :)
ReplyDelete