Sunday, October 2, 2011

Monogram Pumpkin Tutorial


Materials Needed:

Pumpkin
Cream/Ivory Spray Paint (Flat or Satin)
Masking or Painters Tape
Transfer/Graphite Paper
Acrylic Paint
Paintbrush
Clear Spray Enamel (Optional)



**You can use a real pumpkin or a craft pumpkin for this project. (I used a fake one that I got a great deal on a few weeks ago.)

1.) Start by masking off your stem with masking or painters tape.

2.) Spray your pumpkin with a cream colored spray paint. I used Krylon Almond in Satin. Try to avoid a gloss paint to keep it as realistic looking as possible.
3.) Remove tape from stem after paint has dried completely.

4.) Next you are going to want to create the monogram you plan to use. I use the word processor program on my computer (Microsoft Works) to generate a monogram. I used a font called Ecolier. You will need to adjust your font size to get the size monogram you want.


** A little tip: Use the font options/effects to make your letter an outline to save ink from your printer.

5.) Print your monogram.

6.) You will need black or gray graphite/transfer paper for the next step. You can purchase this in a office supply store or in the art section of your local craft store.

** If you do not have transfer paper, you can turn your monogram over and "color" on the backside of the paper with a soft lead pencil where your letter is located. This serves the same purpose as the transfer paper.

7.) Position the monogram where you'd like it on the pumpkin and tape in place with your transfer/graphite paper underneath the paper.

8.) Trace over the entire monogram.

9.) Next you are going to fill in the monogram with paint.

You can use any acrylic paint. I used an opaque metallic paint by Modern Masters in English Brown.

10.) This final step is optional. If your pumpkin will be in the elements, you will probably want to apply a clear sealant. I have tried MANY, and I personally like Rust-oleum's Crystal Clear Enamel. I have found it goes on the easiest and doesn't yellow over time. I did not apply the clear coat to mine since it was on a covered porch.
And there you have it! Your very own monogram pumpkin!!

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good tutorial. I love the way your pumpkin turned out.

HPeterson said...

I can't wait to do this, but I have a question how large was the font that you used? Word only allows me to go up to 72...

Leigh Anne said...

I did my font as large as would fit on an 8 1/2" x 11" page. I think it was somewhere around 600. I'm not as familiar with Word, but with Works I can manually type a font size in the box. Hope this helps :)
I guess you could always print it as large as your computer would allow and then take it to a copy shop and have it enlarged.

HPeterson said...

Awesome thanks so much :)

Anonymous said...

You can manually change your font to any size you want in Word. Just highlight the font box and type the size you need. Hope this helps :)

Formerly known as Frau said...

Love the monogram pumpkin!! Thanks for the tutorial...I'm going to try this.

Unknown said...

Awesome! Love it. I'm over from Censational Girl. I never thought to use transfer paper? Thanks for the great idea.

Anonymous said...

The brown paint looks almost black. I am going to do black for my daughters wedding reception. Where did you get your berries??? Love this idea. You are very talented.

Leigh Anne said...

The berries came from T.J.Maxx last year. It is actually a wreath and it just sitting on top of the planter.

The paint I used it a great color. It is a very dark brown and when you have it with brown it looks brown, but then when you put it with black it looks black. It's great!

Anonymous said...

Where did you find the lettering paint? I have looked at Michael's and Hobby Lobby with no luck. I love that color!

Jane said...

Thanks for the help with the monogramming and supply list! I posted my pumpkin painting post and gave y'all a little shout out over at Jane About Town!

janeabouttown.wordpress.com

Adria said...

I love this so much. Yours looks amazing and the final set up is beautiful.

I am curious as to where I may find the Modern Masters paint. I'm on the website now and they have three different browns that are all beautiful but I even love some of the other colors as options. They are gorgeous. I just need to know where to go to purchase them.

Also, do you think just painting the pumpkin white with my Golden Acrylic paint would work ok? I know it would use a lot but I am trying to spend way less...DH's "orders".

Thank you so much! I will hopefully start this tomorrow for a November/Fall/Harvest type theme as yours is.

Leigh Anne said...

I purchased the Modern Masters paint at my local Benjamim Moore dealer, New Look Decorating, in Montgomery, AL. You might want to check with your local paint dealers (my sis bought some at her local Sherwin Williams store). This paint is GREAT. I little goes a long way. I bought the smaller size, which was around $13. Hope this helps!

The Dean Family said...

where is the option in word to make the letter an outline?

Unknown said...

I love your tutorial, can you give help on making the cotton wreath? Your front porch is beautiful!

Cara said...

How do you add weight to your faux pumpkin to keep it from blowing away?

bustybabe84 said...

This is GREAT! I love this tutorial. Thank you so much for posting this. I'm also really digging your blog. Keep up the great work!

Wendy said...

Great tutorial! Thank you!

debbie said...

Thank you for posting this. My son is getting married Halloween and I wanted to do this on 3 pumpkins with their initials.

Andrea (PARENTise) said...

I did this project this weekend. It came out great! Thanks for sharing - it is a perfect decoration for this time of year!

Andrea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Ok so I have a question I have been trying to get the same font you have to fit in word. I can't get it big like yours. Every time I put 400 and more for the font size it cuts most of it off and its not as big as yours. Can you help please??? Thanks :)

Natalie said...

Try adjusting your margins to 0 inches on the top/bottom and left/right sides of the page. Hope that helps! :)

Mindi said...

I'm not very crafty but I tried this and it turned out GREAT! I bought a cream colored craft pumpkin but would recommend spray painting it cream instead. The graphite paper left some grey smudges on the pumpkin that would have been easy to cover with paint. Thanks for this great idea!

CoastWithMe said...

I love your monogram pumpkin! I've been seeing it on pinterest and finally found your blog! I'm your newest follower:))!

Anonymous said...

Has anyone tried making the letter out of vinyl using a die cut machine? Love the Monogram pumpkin and thought using vinyl might be an option.

Anonymous said...

Love this. Thank you for sharing!

Cristina said...

I love this! Thank you so much for posting : )

MrsAshley said...

Hi! I just wanted to let you know that I love your tutorial and I've featured it on my list of 8 Elegant No-Cut Pumpkin Decorations. http://embracingcreativity.net/2013/10/8-elegant-no-cut-pumpkin-decorations/

Unknown said...

How long does it take for the first coat of white spray paint to dry? I am thinking of following your directions for a craft group meeting in a few weeks but if it's the kind of thing where it needs to dry overnight, I might need to do another project...thanks!

jade said...

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Unknown said...

Hi,
I am creating a lot of monogram pumpkins and am having trouble with the tracing paper leaving grey where I do not want it to be. Any suggestions.

Thank you,
Kathy

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