40 Easy Pumpkin Painting Ideas for a Colorful Halloween

Paint a pumpkin the color of your choice and stick a sleeping mask or face mask right on top. Secure with pins and you're all set to display these dreamy pumpkins!

Using copper liquid leaf, loosely paint a squiggly line on a dried gourd or pumpkin. Create high peaks and valleys so the drips are varied. (Use an old paint brush and only a small amount of paint, as liquid leaf is very runny). Once the "drip line" is dry, fill in the rest of the area with copper paint.

Recreate this creepy display with only a few supplies: spray paint, tape, and fake spiders. Start by forming a web pattern on your pumpkin with long strips of tape. Cover the entire surface with spray paint using light, even strokes. Let the paint dry completely and add additional coats if needed. Once it's fully dry, carefully peel off the tape and glue on a plastic spider for an eerie element.

Stick with classic black and white stripes. First, paint an entire pumpkin white and allow it to dry. Use the natural grooves in the pumpkin as a guide for the vertical stripes, painting them as thick or thin as you'd like. You're welcome to add more stripes in between until you're happy with the look. Lastly, paint the stem black and allow time to dry before moving.

Create a slightly spooky scene with a skeleton made from two stacked pumpkins (a wide shape for the head and a rounder one for the body). Spray paint the pumpkins white, then draw black circles and ovals to create the skeleton bones. Just make sure to remove the stem from the bottom pumpkin before stacking!

Once you've found a perfectly round pumpkin, give it the spa treatment. Use green or teal paint to draw a "face mask," leaving space for the nose and mouth. Once the face is dry, stretch a shower cap over the pumpkin's "head" and pin it in place with straight pins. Finish the look with cucumber eyes, which are really just cut-out images for longevity's sake.

RELATED: The Cutest Pumpkin Faces to DIY

Create just one of these or make a whole bunch for an extra-creepy display! Remove the pumpkin's stem and paint the whole thing with glossy black paint, then let it dry. Cut craft or floral wire into eight equal-length pieces and poke four wires into each side of the pumpkin. Bend each wire twice to make the legs. Using hot glue or craft glue, attach googly eyes to the top of the pumpkin.

Make a statement with a neon painted pumpkin (we're loving this pink hue). Then decorate it with black paper bats for a spooky touch. Make sure to keep your completed pumpkin under a covered porch or inside the house, so the paper bats aren't exposed to the elements.

Puff paint is an easy way to give a pumpkin a textured look without any carving. Start by drawing a design on the pumpkin using a pencil—whether it's simple or intricate. Trace your pencil lines with puff paint and let dry completely for a few hours. Cover the stem of the pumpkin with masking tape and spray the pumpkin with matte spray paint or chalk paint and let dry. Repeat with a second coat if needed.

Hint: We found that using a lighter paint color shows off the 3D design best.

Start by painting an entire pumpkin white (or another light shade, like yellow or pink). Outline a punny phrase in pen—creep it real, for example—then trace it with black paint. Tie on a smiling tassel ghost from the stem to really drive the point home.

Give a black painted pumpkin texture by adding faux feathers (once it's had time to fully dry, of course). Stick the feathers to the pumpkin using Mod Podge. Then, use a brush with a little Mod Podge to smooth out the feathers on top, and let dry.

Once you've painted your pumpkin, it's time to give the stem a little personality. Cover the stem in glue then dip it into craft glitter—black, pink, or green, to name a few color options. When the light hits it just right, your pumpkin will add a splash of sparkle to any room.

Fashion feline features from blue painter's tape and adhere to an orange pumpkin before giving it a once-over with black acrylic paint. Once it's dry, remove the stencils for one cute cat. See? It doesn't matter if you paint outside the lines.

These have got to be the cutest pumpkins we've ever seen (and they are easy enough for kids to make!). Simply paint mini pumpkins with two coats of black spray paint and let dry completely. Add rhinestones for eyes, embroidery thread whiskers, and pom pom noses with hot glue. Cut out cat ears from velour paper and glue each to a toothpick. Stick toothpicks into the top of the pumpkins.

Travel back in time to the good ol' days with this assortment of colorful painted pumpkins, ranging from ones that mimic disco balls (look at that sparkle!) to designs inspired by old-school record players.

Paint your pumpkin any color you'd like and use autumnal hues to create branches and leaves, and then spell out the season. The best part is, you can easily keep this up after Halloween is over.

Here's a batty idea: After painting your pumpkin, tie a loose knot in the middle of a four-inch piece of black satin ribbon, then cut the ends to resemble wings. Once you have a cauldron of bats, attach them to a painted pumpkin with sewing pins.

Along with your house number, you can place your hometown right on a pumpkin for all to see. First, purchase a decal of your state's shape to apply to the pumpkin. Proceed to cover it in two coats of acrylic paint (be sure to wait 30 minutes for each coat to dry). Remove the decal once the pumpkin is dry.