How to Make Pumpkins That Have as Much Team Spirit as You Do

Even if your team is out… :(

I recently worked on a project for an event that was truly life-altering. Why, you ask? Because I had to test out a slew of metallic paints for gold-splattered plate chargers and holy moly, metallic paints are AMAZING! That empty wine bottle from last night? Take it out of the recycling bin, spray it with some gold spray paint and it’s a fancy flower vase. The bottle of Trader Joe’s Cherry Juice you just finished? Wrap a few rubber bands around it, gold spray paint it up, take the rubber bands off and you have a gold flower vase with a design on it.

I was blasting everything with metallic paint. Jars, mugs, vases, bowls, T-shirts, AND THEN. My eye caught the Halloween pumpkins we bought for carving this year. Initially, I was planning on using them to redeem myself after the mockery I made of Lionel Richie during the Great Pumpkin Carving Debacle of 2015 (photo below), but those plans came to a screeching halt.

Not only was this was my friend Vik’s (left) FIRST TIME CARVING A PUMPKIN, but she made the stencil herself, out of the logo for her MMA gym. If our pumpkin carving was translated into an MMA match, it would be the equivalent of me passing out before I stepped into the ring.

Gold pumpkins, gold leaf pumpkins, metallic blue pumpkins, pearl white pumpkins with gold splatter, gold pumpkins with glitter thrown on them, I was running amok—and had to make a sports version. Please note, that this was made prior to the Mets being out of the playoffs. But who cares, right? People wear T-shirts of their favorite teams all year round. Look at this as the pumpkin version of that! It’s a super easy, no-carve addition to the front porch that will boast your team spirit without you having to open your mouth! AND if you live in the NY/NJ area, make a Boston Red Sox version to put outside in case you run out of candy. Parents won’t let their kids stop for candy at a house like that. Easy to make AND a problem solver! (I’m kidding, I love Ben Affleck. And chowdah. And baked beans…or whatever else they have there...)

What you need:

• Pumpkins!
• Metallic spray paint for the base color. Choose one of your team’s colors as the base (as always, I love my Krylon BUT Home Depot has a great, and inexpensive, Rust-Oleum Metallic selection that I tested out for this project. It held up flawlessly in the rain.)
• Acrylic paints in the remaining team colors
• Graphite paper
• Pencil
• Silver metallic Sharpie
• Your team’s name printed out in a font of your choice (Shorelines script, my current favorite, is what I used), in a size that works with your pumpkin. You can also just hand draw the team name.
• Paintbrush or one of those foam brushes

Instructions in the photos below:

Step 1: Throw a cloth or some paper bags down to avoid getting arrested for vandalism or lowering your property value. Place the pumpkin on top.

Step 2: Spray the metallic base coat onto the pumpkin and let it dry the amount of time the paint bottle recommends. And as always, use a dust mask, wear a bandanna over your nose and mouth, whatever, just don’t breathe this stuff in.

Step 3: Once the base coat is dry, use the paintbrush to splatter each of the remaining colors onto the pumpkin.

Step 4: Tape the printed sports team name to a sheet of graphite paper. Once the paint is dry, tape them both to the pumpkin. Then take a pencil, trace the font, remove the graphite paper and trace the graphite that transferred onto the pumpkin with the silver metallic Sharpie.

Use these instructions as a loose guide and go wild. Swap out the acrylic paint for glitter and throw it at the pumpkin right after you spray the base coat (so it sticks). Use glitter spray paint like I did with this Jets pumpkin — which, by the way, turned out to be insanely awesome.

I left it out on the back porch after spraying it, underwhelmed with the glitter aspect. Later that night, when I turned the light on to bring everything inside, the pumpkin was a glitter explosion! It’s like the paint was MADE for outdoor Halloween pumpkins.

There’s no wrong way to do these. Plus, if you hate it, cut the top off the shameful pumpkin, put it outside and let the raccoons have their way with it. They’re like the mafia of the suburbs with anything edible, they’ll make it a nice pair of cement shoes.

And on that note, happy pumpkin decorating! Until next time... ❤