Best Pumpkin Painting Idea Reviews 2023

Many parents dread the thought of indulging kids sticking their hands in goopy, seed-filled pumpkins and making a mess of the entire home. You can deal with the seeds of butternut squashes while cooking, but not for a Halloween décor anymore. But guess what? With a good pumpkin painting idea, you can create any kind of design and décor without poking the mess out of the pumpkin. We’ve reviewed five of the best pumpkin painting ideas brands to get you started as the pumpkin season checks in.
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Overview
PROS
CONS
SPECS
Type
Theme
Age
Designs
Convenience
Our Top Choice
Fun Express Foam Pumpkin Craft Kit
Fun Express is your one-stop-shop for a complete line of services including product development, artistic design, and production and distribution.
1/4" - 5 ½” multicolored, self-adhesive foam pieces. Peel and stick easily. Age-appropriate. High-quality. Up to 12 pumpkins.
Individual packages not labeled.
Decorating kit
Faces
5 and up
12
Non-reusable
Best Value
Pumpkin Masters Pumpkin Decorating Kit
Pumpkin Masters’ mission is to make celebrating Halloween safer, easier, and more fun for everyone, making products for easier, complex, and decorative pumpkin designs.
3 sticker sheets, 3 paint pouches, and 1 paint applicator. Can be used on both real and artificial pumpkins. 3 styles available.
Stickers keep falling off.
Decorating kit
Emojis, ghosts, monsters
Kids
3 sticker sheets
Non-reusable
Suzanne McNeill Pumpkin Patch Book
Suzanne McNeill, the founder of Designer Originals, has authored more than 230 craft and hobby books, in which she shares her passion for making and creating crafts with others.
26 great patterns. Tons of helpful tips. Takes real and artificial pumpkins into consideration.
The patterns are non-reusable.
Book
Patterns
Kids
26
Non-reusable
Jordan McKinney Pumpkin Painting Book
Jordan McKinney’s work revolves around art and pop culture, but most of all, he loves making you laugh. His painting ideas combine humor and horror in equal measure.
74 eye-catching and fun designs. Doesn’t involve the use of sharp tools. Affordable. Gives some carving tips.
Some of the designs are more involved.
Book
Funny faces
7 and up
74
Reusable
The Perfect Pumpkin Carving Patterns
The Perfect Pumpkin is here to make your pumpkin carving fun and easy with its carving tools and pumpkin carving ideas.
12 different designs. Stencil designs are reusable. Quick and easy to use.
Designs are not very challenging.
Stencils
Scary faces/designs
4 - 15 years
12
Reusable

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What is the Best Pumpkin Painting Idea?

Sometimes, carving a pumpkin can be a real chore, not to mention the mess it can bring to your home. We’ve rounded up five of the best ways to dress up your pumpkin using paint this season. You can also access numerous no-carve pumpkin ideas to try out this Halloween season. All you need is a decent pumpkin, paint, and a little vision. Having gone through our detailed guide, you should be ready to dive into our top picks and grab a model that suits your style and budget.
Our Top Choice
The Fun Express Foam Pumpkin Decorations Craft Kit comes with 1/4" - 5 ½” multicolored, self-adhesive foam pieces to help you decorate up to 12 pumpkins. Want to experience easy assembly with pieces that are a bit bigger? Check out the 12 - Trick or Treat Pumpkin Decorating Craft Kits that come with 8 1/2" x 3 1/4" foam pieces and can decorate up to 12 pumpkins.

Fun Express Foam Pumpkin Decorations Craft Kit – Available in 2 Package Quantities


Features

With over 10,000 items in its product line, Fun Express has become an outstanding B2B supplier of novelties, toys, giftware, and premiums. Its products range from classic favorites to present-day trends. The over 1.5 million square feet of warehouse space means it can load your order and dispatch it to any destination in the world.

To make Halloween memorable and fun, it’s good to include all family members, including the younger children. Unfortunately, activities such as pumpkin carving may seem complex to young kids, but that doesn’t mean they should be left out of the fun. Recommended for ages 5 and above, the Fun Express Foam Pumpkin Decorating Craft Kit provides a perfect carving alternative.

This set comes with 1/4" - 5 1/2" colored, self-adhesive foam pieces that can decorate up to 12 pumpkins. And, don’t worry if you’re not skilled; the set comes with instructions. The assorted faces include cat, Dracula, the classic jack-o-lantern, Frankenstein, and two goofy faces. Your guests will have a wonderful time decorating with these! Keep in mind that the assortments and sizes may vary. Also note that you have the option of buying a 1-package quantity or a 2-package quantity.

Best Value
The Pumpkin Masters Pumpkins Decorating Kit comes with 3 sticker sheets, 3 paint pouches, and 1 paint applicator to allow you to design a pumpkin without the need for all the carving. Want a value pack that comes with carving tools as well? Go for the Pumpkin Masters - Sculpt and Carve Decorating Kit with tools.

Pumpkin Masters Pumpkins Decorating Kit – Available in 3 Designs


Features

Whether it’s pumpkin carving, egg coloring, decorating, or baking, Pumpkin Masters wants you and your children to enjoy all the special moments you share together. As the creator of the first pumpkin carving kit, the company strives to provide you with delicious tips, encouragement, inspiration, and all other ingredients needed to explore your creativity.

The Pumpkin Masters Pumpkin Carving Pattern Book lets your little munchkin design a pumpkin without the need for all the carving and pumpkin goo. Whichever way you choose to go, this book has different spooktacular scenes to make your Halloween memorable. You can choose to decorate your pumpkin with emojis, ghosts, or monsters. The set includes 3 paint pouches with a total net of 2.94 OZ, 1 paint applicator, and 3 sticker sheets.

Suzanne McNeill’s Pumpkin Patch Carving, Painting, and Decorating Techniques Book comes with 26 great patterns to help you carve and paint real or artificial pumpkins.

Suzanne McNeill Pumpkin Patch Carving, Painting, and Decorating Techniques Book


Features

As a trendsetter in the arts and crafts industry, Suzanne McNeill aims to constantly experiment, test, and invent something new and fun. She is the creative mind behind the Design Originals brand—a publishing company devoted to making fun and creative things. Suzanne McNeill is an author, artist, publisher, columnist, TV personality, designer, and a lover of everything hands-on.

Whether you will be carving or painting artificial or real pumpkins, the Suzanne McNeill Pumpkin Patch Decorating Techniques Book has 26 great designs and lots of tips to enable you to have awesome jack-o-lantern fun. In paperback form, this book holds the key to wonderful pumpkin decorating made safe and hassle-free—and in only 24 helpful pages! Whatever your plans or situation this coming season, having this book on hand for your festivities may prove to be just the thing to help ignite your (and your children’s) creativity!

The Jordan McKinney Pumpkin Painting Designs Book comes with 74 eye-catching and fun designs with full patterns to help you carve your pumpkin in different and unique ways. With the Jordan McKinney Pumpkin Painting Book, all you need is some paint and brushes. Check out the Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint Set that comes with 18 pieces of vibrant colors that not only dry quickly, but are also easy to clean up with water and soap.

Jordan McKinney Pumpkin Painting Designs Book


Features

Jordan McKinney is a renowned indie author who constantly rambles about Power Rangers and how Nickelodeon no longer cuts it. He is looked at as an annoying 90s kid who keeps making esoteric jokes that are sometimes not funny to the guys who subscribe to the subject. He aims to balance comedy and drama using pop culture and the associated sociological aspects, but his work can be amateurish on a good day.

Whether you want a scary, silly, or unique pumpkin design, you’ll find a wide array of options in this book. It features color photos and illustrations that inspire frightful faces on your jack-o-lantern. The fun doesn’t end there; you can adorn your pumpkin with wigs, antennae, lollipops, rabbit ears, and much more when you peruse through the quirky creations covered in the Pumpkin Painting Book.

If you happen to prefer pumpkins that look like beach bums or werewolves of the ordinary jack-o-lantern, the book provides clear instructions covering 74 designs. Other imaginative ideas include a clot-wrapped mummy or a Cinderella-esque coach. There’s a whole lot of painting ideas for finishing up your plump orange orbs through easy-to-trace patterns that can be followed even by young kids. Enjoy!

The Perfect Pumpkin Stencil Book comes with 12 different designs to help you make a variety of Halloween faces and scenes. Want to complete your workshop with a durable pumpkin carving tool box? Check out The Perfect Pumpkin Carving Tool Box that comes with everything needed for carving including a pumpkin scoop, 6 stencils, a marker, 3 carving tools, and a candle with holder.

The Perfect Pumpkin Stencil Book – 12 Stencils


Features

The Perfect Pumpkin is a household name in the area of pumpkin carving and painting ideas, tools, and accessories. It’s pumpkin season and you can make the occasion memorable by incorporating pumpkins in delicious deserts, flavored lattes, carvings, and paintings. But perhaps pumpkin painting is the favorite activity for many. The Perfect Pumpkin provides you with endless options to choose from, depending on your style theme.

Pumpkin carving and painting is many people’s favorite thing to do every Halloween season, but it’s never an easy engagement. Surprise your friends this pumpkin season by picking a unique pattern from the Perfect Pumpkin pumpkin painting book.

The Perfect Pumpkin has a plethora of printable pumpkin painting patterns, making your pumpkin more phenomenal than ever before. The featured patterns are easy to use and allow you to get more creative. You’ll find designs meant to make you laugh as well as designs that are scary as hell—some are anything in between.

The stencil book features 12 easy-to-follow stencils for carving your pumpkin. Again, the stencils are reusable when traced onto pumpkins and come with a variety of designs including jack-o-lantern faces and Halloween scenes.

How Do I Choose the Best Pumpkin Painting Idea?

Fall is here, and as the trees begin to change color and leaves pile up on the sidewalks, everyone’s mind is running full speed into Halloween and the costumes they’ll be wearing. Whatever the temperature is in your region, you can never have enough seasonal décor. You can avoid the fake pumpkin decors and create your real painted pumpkin this Halloween. Actually, you don’t have to be creative to come up with an amazing design. All you need is a great pumpkin painting idea, a pumpkin, some acrylic paint, and a brush.

Many families usually carve pumpkins as an annual Halloween tradition. Now, as the adults carve pumpkins, it’s a common occurrence to see toddlers eat up the pumpkin parts. Curious kids may also end up injuring their fingers and hands in their quest to imitate the art of carving. So, today you can avoid all the trouble by simply painting a pumpkin—your kids will join in the fun as well.

Generally, painted pumpkins will last longer than carved ones. So, you can decorate your pumpkins earlier for Halloween without fear of them decaying before the big day. If you’re going to paint the pumpkins with kids, consider child-friendly paints such as tempera, though it tends to crack and peel off after drying out. You can try out activity paint or acrylic paint for a better finish as well.

Keep in mind that nothing compares to hand painting when you want to enjoy the moment and create those unique features, but it’s okay to use a paint sprayer for the foundation or if you plan to make a plain solid painting.

Let’s now go through some features of a good pumpkin painting kit before you jump to our individual reviews.

Price

Pumpkin painting kits, books, or stencils come in a variety of shapes, designs, and prices. You could argue that pumpkin painting is a single-day event and that you shouldn’t spend a fortune on it. Of course, you’re right. With a budget of between $3 and $16, you can take home a great pumpkin painting book, kit, or stencil with hundreds of designs to transform your Halloween décor experience to a whole new level. The price will typically vary depending on the number of featured designs and whether or not the stencils can be reused. However, we always discourage our clients from going for very cheap pumpkin painting ideas that may lack in creativity, innovation, and ease of use.

Features

Pumpkin painting ideas can come in the form of books, stencil, or painting kits. It’s a good idea to analyze your level of experience and whether or not you’ll involve kids in the painting endeavor before you decide on which model to purchase. Here are the features to look for:

  • Type – Choose between painting kits, books, or stencils. Painting kits come with complete accessories including acrylic paint, brushes, and designs. Stencils can be mounted on the pumpkin and the designs traced out with a brush and paint. Books provide a general outline of the designs and the steps to take when creating the various designs.
  • Theme – Ask yourself which theme you’re trying to bring out and find a pumpkin painting idea that features it. It could be an Emoji, Cinderella, scary faces, etc.
  • Age – Check the age recommendation for each model before you make a purchase.
  • Number of designs – Each pumpkin painting idea features a specific number of designs. Consider models with numerous designs to provide variety.
Construction and Design

When shopping for a good pumpkin painting idea, it goes without saying that you need a perfect pumpkin as well. Choose a pumpkin with a smooth, even surface free of bruises, blemishes, or scratches. A pumpkin with light ribbing usually has the smoothest surface. Avoid anything with too many lumps and bumps, which may be difficult to paint.

Once you have a decent pumpkin, choose a design that appeals to your heart and matches your theme. Many designs will look great on a pumpkin; just avoid too much complication. The most popular designs are faces, but you can also opt for a black cat, a haunted house, bats, geometrical shapes, and anything else that you like. Sketch your preferred design on a piece of paper for reference.

Now, painting pumpkins is not just a preserve for Halloween. You can exhibit various designs to echo fall themes such as painting scarecrows or leaves. You can even paint a self-portrait on a pumpkin, or a portrait of your family member.

Applying a little sealer on the pumpkin surface helps the paint to better stick on the surface, although this is optional. Sealers are available in local craft stores and can come in squeeze bottles or aerosol cans.

When using a stencil, you can gently trace your design on the pumpkin surface and begin to paint over the traced object. If you’re not sure, start with a pencil before going in with a permanent marker. Finally, if you like, you can add extra decorations and embellishments to make your work more fun. Finally, use glue dots to add googly eyes, pompoms, rhinestones, sequins, and much more.

Performance and Ease of Use

Pumpkins abound in autumn, but October is when everyone thinks about painting a pumpkin to last the entire Halloween season and beyond. To have a hassle-free and enjoyable pumpkin painting experience, you need the right designs and a perfect pumpkin painting kit for the job.

A good pumpkin painting idea should be straightforward, simple to execute, and pocket-friendly. You and your kids can now transform pumpkins into beautiful works of art. If you want your piece to last several months, you should treat it with a multipurpose sealer or varnish.

When painting with kids, ensure that everyone wears clothes that you won’t mind having paint on. Washable paints can be a good option if you’re already wearing a costume that you don’t want to ruin. With washable paint, you don’t even need a sealer or varnish.

Acrylic or spray pints are the perfect options if you’re looking to create a lasting impression on your pumpkin. Whether you’re doing it freestyle or using a stencil to trace your design, spray some varnish or sealer after painting to create a perfect finish.


Get the Best Pumpkin Painting Idea of 2023!

Carving a pumpkin can be quite tedious and time-consuming. If you feel overwhelmed by this exercise every single season, why not try painting your pumpkin using easy steps outlined in these books? Hopefully, you found the pumpkin painting ideas you’ve been dreaming of. Feel free to check out other options provided by these same brands in case you need more options.

Our Top Choice
Fun Express Foam Pumpkin Craft Kit
Best Value
Pumpkin Masters Pumpkin Decorating Kit
Suzanne McNeill Pumpkin Patch Book
Jordan McKinney Pumpkin Painting Book
The Perfect Pumpkin Carving Patterns