Fall is in the air and so are thoughts of decorating for the harvest season. Thinking of pumpkins, squash and acorns, are you? So am I! I found these small bundles of faux fall squash and acorns and knew just exactly what I would do with them ... come along and I'll show you what you too, can do with these gems! If you love a little metallic shimmer and glitter like I do, I promise this project will not disappoint!
Let gather all the necessary supplies first ...
Miscellaneous Supplies: Brush Basin or container for water, Paper towels, Foam plate for palette, Hot glue gun and sticks, Copper wire, Assorted color glass beads, Jewelry tools - side cutter, needle nose plies.
Let's begin by pairing up the metallic/pearl paint with the appropriate glitter paint. Martha Stewart Crafts metallic and pearl paints provide such a wonderful warm shimmer to any project. Oh, and I LOVE the glitter paints as they provide a beautiful glitzy look to any surface! To start, select a metallic or pearl color and twist to remove the cap. There is a safety heat seal under the cap which needs to be removed; simply peel and toss it. Then replace the cap and twist to tighten. Lightly shake the bottle to mix the color, then flip the lid open; squeeze a small amount onto a foam plate.
I painted each of the foam squash and pumpkins the four metallic/pearl colors I had selected, however, I began painting with Rust. It was easy to load a small utility brush with paint; then I quickly and easily painted the entire body of the vegetable. Next is dry time. And while the Rust vegetable is drying, I painted the remaining squash with either Gold, Tiger Lily or Putting Green. Allow to dry and if necessary, a second coat can be applied.
While the veggies were drying after their second coat, I began the glitter paint fun. Of course, like any crafter .... I had to add glitter and glitz to this harvest themed project! It would not be complete without it, right? Using a flat brush loaded with glitter paint, I painted right on top of the silk fall leaf. I used the leaf color as my color guide and painted Verdelite Glitter over the green areas, and both Orange Sorbet Glitter and Fire Opal Glitter over the orange on the leaf and then I added Florentine Gold Glitter as a highlight where needed. I allowed the colors to blend one into the other for a more natural look!
Four leaves were included in my bundle of fall squash and pumpkins so I "glammed up" each of the leaves with Martha Stewart Crafts Glitter paints and then waited for the paint to dry.
Even though I had set the glitter painted leaves aside, I was not done painting glitter. Oh no .... I added glitter paint to each of the painted fall veggies. I added a coat of glitter paint, allowed it to dry and then reapplied the glitter paint. On a couple of the squash, I added a second color. As an example, on one Florentine Gold squash, I added a blush of Orange Sorbet. Play with it and have fun mixing the glitter colors!
I then set aside the squash and pumpkins so they could begin drying. Acorns were next. I painted the caps with glitter paints and again I mixed some of the colors. I painted Florentine Gold Glitter, Fire Opal Glitter and Verdelite Glitter. On a few acorn caps, I added a second coat for extra flair!
The body of the acorns were a deep, pretty brown, however, I knew I wanted to add shimmer, so I painted the body of each acorn with either Gold Metallic or Rust Metallic. It did not take long to paint the acorns. Don't you LOVE the extra shimmer the metallic paints provide?
Pumpkins need jewelry for added flair, don't you think? While the painted leaves, acorns, squash and pumpkins were drying, I quickly went to creating twisted copper wire and beaded jewelry for each fall veggie! I started with a 12" - 15" length of copper colored wire. I created a loop and twisted the wire. TIP: you can wrap the wire around a pencil to create the loop or wrap it around the veggie stem.
Next, I strung a bead on one section of wire and then coiled the wire close to the bead (TIP: wrap the wire again around a pencil or you can use the cone of a needle nose plier for a smaller coil.) I then continued to add a bead, coil and add a bead until it was the length I wanted. I recommend securing the last bead by tightly coiling the remaining wire.
Repeat the process of adding a bead and coiling the wire until the second half of the veggie jewelry is complete. This is a great way to use leftover miscellaneous beads. I even found a few old glass leaf beads I had!
Next, using a hot glue gun and glue stick, I added a little hot glue at the base of the stem, slipped the center loop of the veggie jewelry over the stem and let it rest over the small puddle of hot glue until the glue was dry.
Still using the hot glue gun, I added the glittered leaf at the base of the stem after trimming away the plastic stem.
Isn't this just adorable? Every pumpkin should be shimmery, glitzy and wear jewelry, I say! A little bling never hurt any crafter I know! I LOVE this little guy ....
So here's a close look at a few of the fall veggies and acorns all gammed up!
And here's a look at them in a glass bowl. I cannot wait to take them home and set up my harvest centerpiece on my dining room table. In the beginning, I told you ... you will LOVE this project, it turned out pretty shimmery and glitzy, didn't it?
