Silver Leaf Pumpkins

This year I wanted to give my dining room which is done in black, white and tan a more sophisticated look when decorating it for the fall. No traditional jack-o-lanterns here. My plan was to use white pumpkins and add touches of silver. Then I started to dream bigger. Why not add a few silver leafed pumpkins to the mix?

Using a faux pumpkin that I picked up for $1 at a thrift shop as my test subject, I got crack-a-lackin' on my plan.





I started by painting the pumpkin with a mix of black and raw umber acrylic paints.





After the paint dried I brushed on a thin coat of silver leaf adhesive and waited 30 minutes for it to become tacky.





Then the fun started. I added sheet after sheet of silver leaf until the pumpkin was covered, smoothing out the wrinkles and brushing away the excess along the way. (Check out my post on Silver Leafing 101 for more tips.)




I liked the result so much that I shot over to Michaels and picked up another faux pumpkin and gourd (50% off!) to fashion a few more.




With the addition of a few nailhead embellished pumpkins, my fall look is complete.