DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

28 September

I love reusing my favorite Halloween decorations each year; most were handmade by my mom or me over the years.


It's fun to get out the bins and create some Halloween vignettes that are different from the year before but use the same items. 


I also like to make something new to add to my collection each year.


This year I'm duping some terracotta Jack-O-Lanterns that I saw at Decor Steals and Pottery Barn.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-LanternDIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

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I meant to have this posted last week but in my infinite wisdom, I decided to rearrange and reorganize my craft room 😬


So that meant I made a giant mess and I couldn't even find my finished Jack-o-Lantern for days!


And then we got the announcement that it was time for this month's Do-It-Over-Designers challenge so I decided to share this project for the challenge.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

 
If you stick around until the end of this post you'll be able to check out the other ladies projects.


Supplies


I created a short video to show how I made this knock-off Pottery Barn/Decor Steals Jack-O-Lantern and the written instructions are below that.





This is the jack-o-lantern I found at Goodwill for $4.99.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


There were two of them and one was slightly taller than this one. I wish I had gotten them both now but at the time I wasn't sure if this project would turn out.


These are the inspirational jack-o-lanterns that I saw. The Decor Steals ones are on the left; they are $99.00 for a set of three. The Pottery Barn ones are on the right; they are no longer available but I would imagine they were at least that price if not more.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


Notice how their stems are longer and curved? The pumpkin I found at Goodwill had a short, squatty stem so I decided to change that.


I used air dry clay and some aluminum foil to make a new stem.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


I wadded up the aluminum foil and shaped it into something more like the stems on the inspiration pumpkins and then rolled out some clay and covered the foil with it.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

I used a toothpick to make the lines.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

I let that dry overnight and in the meantime, I used a hand saw to cut the stem off my pumpkin.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


I gave the whole thing a light sanding to remove some loose orange paint and give it a rough texture for painting.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

Once the stem was dry, I used E6000 to glue it to the top of the pumpkin and then some more clay to blend it in.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

I let that dry overnight too and then started painting.


I used some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint that I already had as the base coat but I only listed black in the supplies because that would work here too.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

The next layer is for texture to give it a terracotta appearance. I used some stone texture spray paint that I also already had. (NOTE: If I were doing this again, I would get the thickest, coarsest stone paint rather than fine to make it look more like the inspiration).


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

For the next step, I used flat black primer and painted it in a vertical stripe pattern over the indented stripes on the pumpkin so that when it dries those areas will look darker (watch the video for a better explanation).


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


Here's how it's looking so far.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

Next comes the best part... rub dirt all over it! 😲


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


Then I used a damp paper towel to rub the dirt off the high spots leaving it in the grooves.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern

And finally, I sprayed it with Matte Mod Podge spray sealer to protect it and seal in the dirt.


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


Here's how it turned out! See why I wish I would have gotten both of them?


DIY Terracotta Jack-O-Lantern


Here it is on my Halloween mantel. (I'll be sharing the whole mantel soon 😉)

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  1. Great makeover! I actually have this pumpkin...I think he needs a terracotta update. Thanks for the DIY.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely give it a try on your pumpkin! They had some that were terracotta colored too if you don't like the dark ones.

      Delete
  2. Who needs Decor Steals or Pottery Barn with you around? Great makeover, Tania. I can't wait to see your mantle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love DS and PB... for the ideas and dupe opportunities! HaHa!

      Delete
  3. Your dupe looks amazing Tania; can't wait to see the rest of the mantel! I'm actually impressed that you even reoroganized your craft studio and still had time for a Halloween post. If I didn't that, I'd be out of commission until NEXT Halloween lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh girl, I was actually saying "I'm NEVER going to get this room done!" at one point. But it's so nice in there now! I'll be doing an updated tour of my craft room soon.

      Delete
  4. I absolutely love how your jack o lantern turned out Tania! The contrast of the exterior with that glowing interior is fabulous. Dirt? Who knew?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Really great makeover. I had to giggle when you used the dirty in your project. I do this for many projects and thought I was weird doing it. lol

    ReplyDelete
  6. I enjoyed watching your video tutorial. Your pumpkin knockoff turned out perfectly. Awesome stem recreation, too.

    ReplyDelete

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