Just a quick post today to share my latest marbleized pumpkin project before I pack them up for our holiday trip across the state.
This second group of decorated pumpkins were made as a gift for our youngest son, who is hosting Thanksgiving at his 101 year-old, Philadelphia row house. D had planned to have everybody last year, but the pandemic upended our plans.
Originally, I envisioned arranging the marbleized pumpkins as part of the Thanksgiving centerpiece on this year’s table. They were meant to compliment another gift — a blue table runner appliqued with pumpkins and gourds in shades and patterns of gray.
I gave them a trial run in my dining room for the Liberty Blue Thanksgiving Table & Turkey Napkins. But, the blues and styles of the marbleized pumpkins didn’t “play nice” together with the runner and vintage dishes. So I pulled the pumpkins from the centerpiece and went another direction for the tablescape blog hop.
However, I still think several small groupings of the seven pie and faux marbleized pumpkins will look festive with our son’s midcentury modern furnishings. Blue and metallic silver and gray colors, should go nicely with his home’s decorator accents in dark navy and deep golden yellow shades.
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Fun & Easy Craft Project
Earlier I showed you how to Easily Marble Pumpkins for Fall & Table Decor — my first attempt at the fun and easy craft.
The marbleized pumpkins were decorated with nail polish shades for the Gone Batty: Black, White & Purple Halloween Table centerpiece. Later, I sent them off to a Debbees Buzz subscriber in Florida who won the October giveaway contest.
That left me with five more plain white faux pumpkins. And, well, it’s an addictive craft lol!
Pie Pumpkins Work Too
This time, I decided to try marbleizing real pumpkins too. Start with a small pumpkin; like the pair of pie pumpkins shown here. Or, use gourd-size mini pumpkins found at most grocery stores.
Look for ones that have as few blemishes as possible. The one on the left had a few, but they were mostly covered up with the nail polish. Give the pumpkins a good cleaning and let completely dry overnight.
Follow the same instructions detailed for faux gourds in, Easily Marble Pumpkins for Fall & Table Decor.
This time, I did snap a quick picture of the nail polish floating on the surface of the water.
For the seven fresh and faux pumpkins I used three nail polish colors — bright blue, silver and gold. I particularly liked the effect and finish from the silver metallic polish on the Halloween marbleized pumpkins.
Rather than orange nail polish, I elected to use metallic gold for my son’s set. Besides, the pie pumpkins were already bright orange.
Because the polish dries so quickly, I seldom had the time to swirl the colors together for a true marbling effect. When I did, the nail polish would often clump on the tooth pick. Instead, I would drip drops of one color polish on top of another. Rolling the pumpkin into the water and nail polish mixture also helped to swirl the colors together in places.
Craft Tip: Using inexpensive polish from somewhere like Dollar Tree is fine. Higher quality, “long lasting” works great too. Just make sure you don’t use “fast drying” polish, or it will be dry before you can dip the pumpkin into the water.
Dip, Swirl & Repeat
Like the purple set of marbleized pumpkins, I did at least a second dip to cover all the sides of the pumpkin. The larger pie pumpkins required three separate dips (refreshing nail polish between each) to cover them top to bottom.
And, if you want, you can dip additional layers of nail polish colors on top of already dipped areas. Just make sure you’ve let the pumpkins thoroughly dry for several hours between sessions.
Admittedly, some of the nail polish is blotchy in spots. I didn’t mind the color blocking, in that I thought it gave the marbleized pumpkin set a more modern vibe to go with my son’s decor.
What do you think?
Every Pumpkin is Unique
Here’s some various views and angles of the white faux marbleized pumpkins.
Although not an arrangement of vignette, I used several white cupcake stands to elevate several of the pumpkins for you to see. The underlying blue placemat doesn’t go at all! Ugh. Same thing happened when I tried to incorporate the marbleized pumpkins on the new table runner.
Because I like the Cinderella pumpkin shape and stem, this is my favorite of the seven. I also like the color coverage and swirling patterns.
You might notice some water drops on several of the pumpkins, as they were still air drying. Before taking the pictures, I probably could have just dabbed them with a paper towel. But, I didn’t want to risk smearing the nail polish.
On the seven white pumpkins, metallic gold polish looks almost yellow-orange in spots. But, that should look great in my son’s place — especially as modern fall decor.
What nail polish colors would you choose do decorate your home?
Finally, here’s a pair of mini, “short” marbleized pumpkins. Like I said, each is unique. And if one side isn’t to your liking, just rotate it a quarter or half turn lol!
Which one do you like best?
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I regularly participate in: Metamorphous Monday, Share Your Style, Tablescape Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Crafty Creators, Saturday Sparks, Happiness is Homemade, and Love Your Creativity.
These turned out great! I bet your son will love them.
Thanks Joanne! Always appreciate you stopping by.
Loved them and a glimpse of your precious Whiskey!!!
Appreciate it Victoria, thanks. What an excellent eye you have my dear — spotting Whiskey in the background at my son’s home. He just earned his Canine Good Citizen certification over the weekend and is even more full of himself than usual lol! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.