painted 'chocolate' pumpkins on a sweet sweater cake

a fitting conclusion to my recent faux food project posts,

this one really takes the cake....

this project came about because i had some tiny styro pumpkins,
which made me start thinking about making a very REAL cake

like my Mom used to make every fall when i was a kid.

it was always a round two-layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing

and adorned with tiny orange candy pumpkins all along the top edge.

i loved that cake.

we took them to school fall celebrations and church harvest festivals.

we took mini versions - cupcakes - to friend's houses.

we never brought any of it home, either!!! everyone loved it.

instead, i decided to make a fall 'cake' in my own style...

because deb does NOT need more calories!

continue reading for the before and after...

dwk

the pumpkins i used were tiny styro ones from Dollar Tree,

and looked like this:

i gave them a quick paint job with dark brown gloss spray paint:

and they were transformed into pretty fair fakes:
(considering that they perfectly match the chocolate M&M's in this photo!)

i found this photo online of chocolate pumpkins,

made by the Thorncrest Farm & Milk House Chocolate Company - 

... and while i would much prefer those very edible chocolate pumpkins to fake ones,

it would be pretty to paint pumpkins in colors matching the tones of 

dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate, too!

once dried, i added the painted pumpkins to a fake cake - made with a sweater!

under that bit of brown sweater fabric is a plain old coffee can,

and the 'frosting' on the bottom and top edges

is simply a length of sweater fabric twisted into a spiral

and tied in a knot on the back side.

i didn't photograph the process, but i DO have a previous post 

that shows how i made my sweet sweater gingerbread cake last December -

i used exactly the same method to create this 'cake'.

details of the top and side of the cake
include a few small silk leaves and two gold napkin rings
used as structural elements to hold the pumpkins:

if you look closely, you'll spy the 'Godiva' writing on the candy box in the background!
it was the inspiration for including gold elements in this project:

one of the things i love most about this idea is that it works for Thanksgiving, too...
i always feel like Thanksgiving gets ignored in the rush toward Christmas,
and i love creating decor for November that expresses abundance,
gratitude, and the warmth of gathering with loved ones to celebrate fall
and all that we have to be thankful for...

you can see that i also painted a small ceramic jack o'lantern pumpkin
and a large styro pumpkin from Dollar Tree:

... and then. because i just could not leave well enough alone,
i staged the pumpkins in an entirely different and more playful way:

yes, those are real chunks of a Ghiradelli dark chocolate bar
and yes, i DID eat them when i was finished photographing!!!

(since i'm posting this on Halloween, i hope yours is happy and safe!)

related content:

faux chocolate painted Easter bunnies

more of my faux cakes

shared online:

funky junk interiors | new upcycled ideas #700

creatively beth | team creative crafts linky party #170

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