CRAP ALERT:  This project epitomizes the meaning of crapsmanship — I didn’t know what I was doing, I made missteps along the way, and in the end, it looked good!

I had a $5 faux pumpkin from Michaels (regularly $10 but I had a coupon!) and wanted to class it up a little from its bright orange origin.

I thought I would use a little brown paint for an antique look and a little gold on top for a classy look.

I first used regular brown acrylic paint that I had in my craft supplies.  I painted a small patch and then wiped most of it off with a dry rag.

I would have been smart to stop right here.  The pumpkin looks good, right?

But I wanted some gold flecks.  So I used my finger, a small rag, and this gold Rub ‘n’ Buff to add some highlights.  Only it turned out that the gold covered the brown antiquing I’d already done.  And highlights didn’t turn out quite as I’d envisioned, so I ended up covering the whole pumpkin.  Once again, I should have stopped here, because my pumpkin was just fine!

But I didn’t stop.  I added an antiquing layer of brown, as I’d done with my first coat.  When I tried to rub it off, the gold came off in spots and the bright orange pumpkin shined through.

After dabbing a little more gold and a little more brown (I did this with my fingers — they were a mess!), I finally was satisfied.  The combination of orange, brown, and gold really makes the pumpkin look elegant, don’t you think?

I need to head back to Michaels for a few more pumpkins!