Chalkboard Pumpkins Tutorial

I've been in the fall decorating mood this past week. I think its because I've seen such darn cute fall décor photos on Instagram and Pinterest, and it makes me want to get crafty. So I headed to the local lumber yard for some wood to make a set of three wooden pumpkins that I'd seen somewhere recently. They were nice enough to cut my 2x8 down to the sizes I needed. I ended up with 30" leftover and I had them cut them into 10" pieces for smaller pumpkins.

Of course, instead of working on the pumpkins that I had the wood cut for originally, I got a brainstorm for those leftover pieces. My finished product ended up being a couple of cute chalkboard pumpkins for my grandsons.

These were a quick and easy little project. I've jotted down some instructions so you can make some too:

1. Cut wood to your desired size. I used 2" x 8" x 10" pieces of pine.
2. Sand the wood pieces. I didn't sand them until they were smooth as glass because I wanted a rustic look and also because I hate sanding, even with power tools.
3. Drill a hole in the top of the board for the stem. I used pieces of a tree branch, but you can also use a dowel rod. The pieces are approximately 4" long. I just eyeballed a size that I liked.
4. Tape off the front section that will be the chalkboard. I covered the entire area.
5. Paint the wood pieces orange. I used acrylic craft paint. It took two coats to get a good coverage.
6. Sand the edges of the pumpkin to distress it. Do not remove the tape covered front.
7. Stain the painted areas of the pumpkin. Wipe off the excess stain to your liking. I used a dark walnut color.
8. Spray a coat of sealant on the paint. I used a satin finish polyurethane.
9. Remove the tape from the front and retape the edges of the painted area.
10. Paint the front with chalkboard paint. It takes 2-3 coats.
11. Remove the tape. You can paint little details around the edge of the chalkboard. I'm not an artistic painter, so I made some simple dots and lines in green to give it a little color.
12. Glue the stem in the hole.
13. Tie a raffia or jute bow around the stem.
14. Draw a cute jack-o-lantern face, fun saying, initial or other design with chalk.

I'm hoping my grandsons will have fun drawing faces on their pumpkins. It could be used to count down the days to Halloween or Thanksgiving too. The ideas are endless!

Now back to my original pumpkin project! Happy Fall Ya'll!

~Sharla

Leave A Comment