Even if you don't celebrate Halloween, it is still fun to bring in the new season through fall and harvest themed craft projects.
Mixed-media art project provide bountiful opportunities to celebrate the season. Pumpkins provide a broad range of creative opportunities beyond carving a traditional face, or drawing a traditional face on its exterior rind. Here are some ideas to explore for pumpkin mixed-media craft projects that are relatively simple:
- Decoupage collage craft: using decoupage or gel medium, collage fall themed ephemera on the outside of a pumpkin that has not been carved or cut in any way.
- Drawn carvings: using a fine-tipped marker, draw swirls and patterns over the entire outside of the pumpkin. Carve out the pattern using woodcarving tools.
- Tiny pumpkin paintings: using acrylic paint, create patterns and other ornamental features on the outside of small pumpkins. Add further embellishments using glitter, gems, and buttons.
- Fall faux foliage embellishments: create a collage using only faux fall foliage on the pumpkin’s rind. Create a pattern or cover the entire pumpkin. Affix the faux leaves using pins or decoupage medium.
- Create a clock: cut the pumpkin almost in half and keep the top portion. Clean off all the seeds that may be present and dry off the inside. Affix faux numbers (these can be metal house numbers, stickers, or drawn on using fancy writing) in clockwork-fashion. Cut the stem down, and add clock-works to the nub. This can be a working unit that is drilled into place, or a faux assembly.
Now, what about the seeds? After the seeds have been thoroughly dried, there are mixed media art opportunities for them as well:
- Paper plate kids crafts: encourage children to paint a picture on to a paper plate, and then use the pumpkin seeds to embellish their work. Use white craft glue to affix the pumpkin seeds to the paper plate.
- Colored construction paper collage: use colored construction paper and encourage children to create a pattern using pumpkin seeds. Use white craft glue to affix the seeds to the color construction paper. Painting the seeds first is an interesting option to consider.
- Painted pumpkin seed embellishments: paint the pumpkin seeds using metallic craft paint, or metallic spray paint. These seeds are a great “gem looking” embellishment to kid’s crafts, as well as you own mixed media artwork.
- Matte embellishments: similar to using pieces from pinecones, embellish the outside of the picture frame or the picture frame matte using pumpkin seeds. These seeds can be their original color, they can be painted, or they can be glazed with glitter dusted on them. Affix the seeds using hot glue or decoupage medium.
As you can see, there are a lot of opportunities for mixing media on pumpkins, or using pumpkin seeds to incorporate in to projects in a simple manner. Once the projects start, you will be surprise how quickly more ideas and inspiration for other craft projects are spawned.
The copyright of the article Easy Mixed-Media Pumpkin Craft Ideas in Mixed Media Arts is owned by Jenn Greenleaf. Permission to republish Easy Mixed-Media Pumpkin Craft Ideas in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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