It feels a little funny to leave home in the middle of a hot summer and come back right in the thick of fall, Halloween, cool weather and changing leaves (well, that last one is almost true. We have only two trees on our street here in San Diego that go from green to red but I marvel at them all season long…) This past weekend we made our annual trip to our favorite pumpkin patch (complete with pumpkin spice lattes before hand and a delicious chili potluck after) and the reality of the season has finally hit! More on that below…
While at the pumpkin patch I picked up a handful of pumpkins to decorate the house with too, and thought I’d share my faux ‘dipped’ versions today.
I’m not sure where the idea came from but while brainstorming fall & Halloween decorations I thought it might be fun to bring a few organic, neutral details into our house (that I wouldn’t mind leaving up for a few months) while also filling it with plenty of oranges and reds and traditional colors.
Gold has been a favorite accent color of mine, from shiny knob handles to burnished vintage vases to classic jewelry – and that became a starting point. Creating some sort of dipped decor out of white and green pumpkins seemed like a neat way to try it out.
I’ll have to mix some spooky Halloween decor in there soon, too.
These pumpkins really don’t looked as if they were ‘dipped’ in paint in the traditional sense, but I actually love the contrast of the lines and attempted to give it a slightly crooked, mis-aligned feel on purpose. A little more organic.
My original thought was that maybe I’d actually try to dip the pumpkins and considered buying a quart of gold paint, filling a round bowl large enough for my pumpkins and literally ‘dipping’ them, but then realized that spray paint might be a bit more efficient in application, cheaper and less wasteful.
I love the result!
Just a little bling for the room, and a fun alternative to decorating pumpkins in the usual way. Soon Liv will be old enough to really help!
The process was simple. I first wrapped the pumpkins with painters tape (choosing the wider version since spray paint can get a little crazy and I wanted to avoid paint getting on the top half of my pumpkins. The alternative would be to tape on some type of barrier like cellophane or paper to cover the top completely), pressing down on just the lower half of the tape (since the edges are round to prevent creases in the tape) and aligning it at a bit of an angle.
Then spray away! Be sure to keep your can of spray paint at least 10-12″ from the actual pumpkin to avoid dripping.
And here they are again in the dining room:
Looks great with the turquoise buffet!
Decorating the pumpkins has been a lot of fun, but visiting the pumpkin patch to find them is a great family tradition, too! Years back a friend found the perfect pumpkin patch for our annual trip just about 25 minutes east of us here in San Diego.
Summer’s Past offers huge, crawling gardens to roam, a snap pea ‘maze’, animals for petting, a coffee bar for warm beverages (although the weather in October is always about 75), a cute little shop full of lavender soaps and such, little ‘vignettes’ around the property that are perfect for holiday photos, jump houses for the kids and a great big open pumpkin patch. We’ve even aligned our visit with their little harvest festival in the past for even more goodies.
Liv romantically walking the gardens with her potential future hubby, Gavin.
Why won’t it move!?
Here’s our group shot this year!
And a sneak back on previous years… the quantity of children continues to climb!
2010
2011
2012
Liv picked out a few pumpkins, enjoyed a little cart ride and played in the jump house for most of the morning. We managed a family photo as well.
Sort of. Liv’s not paying attention, but what can you do…
I look forward to this event with amazing anticipation every fall! This one sort of snuck up on me but I already can’t wait to go back. And now it’s time to really get decorating for Halloween! We’re also throwing a little dinner and trick or treating around the neighborhood party again this year. Yay for fall!
What a great blog here! I love your wholesome family photos, fantastic camera, and bold gold done tastefully! excellent! happy to have found your space!
WOW! Lovely pumpkins!
Great pics… such a fun day!
FYI I was sore the next day from pulling the cart o’ kids around, so worth it for those cute photos. Gavin and Liv really did have a nice little date.
LOVE your painted metallic pumpkins! What a great idea! I’m totally pinning these on my pinterest board!
Thanks, Rebecca!
Smart move on using spray paint :). I have never been to summers past, putting that on my list to do with my grandson. Looks like a great place kids.
oh Morgan thanks so much for stopping by the blog today, I have just been catching up with your amazing travels. I am a Galway girl and so I loved your photos and descriptions of those places that are so dear to me ! I miss those stone walls so much here and can’t wait to get back for a visit. What an adventure you have all had…I am sure you are glad to be back home again too. I love those pumpkins…we love the Fall here it is our favourite time of year by far. I hope all is well with everyone, I was sad to read of the illness in the family, I will keep you in our thoughts. I need to stop by more often , I like it here.
Brenda, we had such a terrific time in Ireland! Truly a beautiful, magical place :).
I love your pumpkins- how elegant! I’m so glad you explained- I had visions of big vats of gold paint…. I have a confession to make- I’ve never carved a pumpkin! Funny, just realized that. Oh, well- looks like you all had a fun outing.
Never?! Oh you must give it a try!
Looks like you really did find the perfect pumpkin patch! Love you ‘dipped’ pumpkins. T and I started a painted pumpkin project this year, but sadly never got to finish ( like so many other projects). This really makes me want to pull them out & do something with them.