AUTUMN: Cathrine Holm-Inspired Painted Pumpkins

It's a bit hard to believe that this is the LAST pumpkin design for this year!
I've had fun coming up with new ideas for you.... including this one.

The inspiration for them came from the green placemats seen in the photo.
When I found those in the dollar store last month,
I fell in love with the leafy elements in the print -

and planned on using them for something ELSE!

Then I looked again, and realized why I like it!

Continue reading to see my inspiration for this project + tutorial...
DWK
The leafy pattern on the placemats reminds me of
these mid-century modern Cathrineholm enamelware dishes...

I love mid-century modern design, especially when
natural elements are incorporated into the motifs.

...and since I've seen people use two of these bowls put together
to create a pumpkin,
I thought I'd paint pumpkins to look like the bowls!!!

Materials:

pumpkins - any number, any size, made of any smooth-surface material.
white + clear spray paints
acrylic craft paints in white and the colors you prefer
small angled + thin pointed paint brushes . palette for mixing paint colors

Method:

1. The vinyl placemats are a soft warm green, so I wanted to match it
to paint the leaf shapes onto the pumpkins.

2. I swiped one brushstroke of my basic 'grass green' paint to gauge how to mix it into the correct tone - all it needed was some white paint!

3. I mixed the white in at a 1/3 ratio - 1 part white to 3 parts green.
(If my original green wasn't warm enough, I'd add a touch of golden yellow, too.)

TIP: Using photos of your inspiration helps you color match the paint!

4. My pumpkins were already spray-painted gloss white,
since I used them as trailer decor last month at a rally
(mixed with minty green pumpkins to match our Shasta, 'Miss Dot'!)

5. I applied the green acrylic paint to each pumpkin - 
three remained white with green leaf shapes,
the fourth was painted solid green and will get white leaf shapes.

6. Two coats of green provided great coverage over the white.

7. Once all of the green paint was dry, I added the white line
to the center of each leaf using a pointed brush and white acrylic paint.
I started with the smallest pumpkin, then moved on to the others...

8. Because the leaves on the larger pumpkins are on bumpy surfaces,
I needed to find a way to keep that center line as straight as possible...

9. I devised a 'ruler' that would bend: a piece of clear packing tape
folded over on itself lengthwise, so it would bend over the curved surface.
(You can just see the thin white line on the edge of the tape in photo 2)

10. Using a small thin paintbrush, I applied the white stripe right along
the edge of the tape - you can see it thicker in photo 3.

11. Carefully moving the tape without smudging the painted line and then holding it over the next leaf shape was the hardest part of this project!
But they all came out relatively straight.

12. This close-up shows the little bit of 'wiggly' paint that happened -
I just took a small brush with some green paint and touched it up to look straighter.

13. Placing the leaf shapes in different positions on each pumpkin
gave the composition a better look overall.

I also painted each stem green on the white pumpkins,
and left the stem white on the green one.

14. The placement of the white leaf shapes on the green pumpkin
was inspired by the plate shown up above in this post.

15. After adding the green stripes in the center of the leaves,
I used white paint on a thin brush to clean up the edges.

There's one step I neglected to photograph - 

Because I used acrylic paints in a flat finish to add the details,
they didn't match the gloss finish of the pumpkins.
So after all of the paint was dry,
I sprayed all of the pumpkins with clear gloss paint.

... and then I thought of a final finishing touch!

I cut a few of the leaf motifs out of one of the placemats,
then added them to a few of the pumpkins by tucking them into the stems.
They aren't in scale for the larger pumpkins, but are a fun detail anyway!

Enjoy these detail shots:

My collection of white enamelware buckets makes a fitting setting

 for these pumpkins, inspired by their enamelware counterparts!

(Oh, and those placemats? You'll be seeing them again soon! 😉)

Related Content:


Pyrex-Inspired Painted Pumpkins 2022



About these enamelware dishes that inspired this project...
Fun Fact: 'Cathrine Holm' wasn't a person - it was a brand!

Founded as an ironworks factory in Halden, Norway in 1827,
Cathrineholm transitioned to making enamelware dishes in the early 1900's.
The most popular pattern was the mid-century modern 'Lotus Flower'
released in the mid 1960's in various colorways and shapes,
becoming an icon of the mid-century design aesthetic.

Learn more about Cathrineholm enamelware HERE 


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