DIY Pumpkin Decorating: Golden Doily Pumpkins

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I couldn't wait to share this simple and quick way to bring a little autumn decor into your home. Tim and I picked up a few small pie pumpkins a couple weekends back and I'd been looking forward to dressing them up a little ever since — all it took was a few gold paper doilies!


I'd actually gotten inspiration for the project this time last year after pinning this idea for fabric doily covered pumpkins from Allyson Baker Designs:

DIY project and image sourced from Allyson Baker Designs

Don't they just look neat? When October rolled back around this year, I knew I wanted to try a variation on the same idea. I still had a decent stash of golden paper doilies leftover from many of our wedding decorating projects (like these DIY wine place cards) and in general I just love a bit of shimmer, so I gave it a go with what we had on hand.

I think they turned out really nice:

Supplies

• Pumpkins
• Scissors
• Spray Adhesive
• Paper Doilies (I went with gold ones from Etsy, but you can probably pick them up at your local craft store too)
• Paper bags or other protective work surface covering
• Mod Podge (optional, I didn't end up using it)

The decorating was simply a matter of first placing the doilies against the pumpkin where I thought they'd have a nice overlap, then folding over the seams to shape the flat doily into more of a rounded form that played nicely with the curves of the pumpkin:

The shape you end up with kinda looks like a horseshoe crab, no? I was one of those kids that loved seeing the washed up horseshoe crabs on the beach and didn't understand why we couldn't bring them back to the cottage with us. That's probably a good story for another time, but let's get back to making beautiful pumpkins, shall we?

Cut along the line of the folds, then turn the doily over to coat with spray adhesive:

I like spray adhesive for this project since it gives a really thin and tacky coat, making the paper really easy to adhere to the pumpkin without causing any curl (like wetter glues often can).

Once sprayed, gently press the doily against the pumpkin, starting with the uppermost area first, then working your way down the center. From here, gently fold over the side flaps you just cut, smoothing them as you go:

Continue overlapping doilies around the pumpkin until they circle all the way around. I varied the placement of mine to make and uneven look, but you could create a more symmetrical pattern or decide to cover the entire pumpkin:

For the second pumpkin, I used basically the same process, but cut a single doily in half, and trimmed around the lace details to get half moon shapes: 

Just spray adhesive to the backs and gently press them down around the top rim of the pumpkin until the two ends meet. If you have an area that doesn't quite match up or you want to "fill in" further, just cut a scrap from another doily and press it in place. No one will ever know but you and me.

I love how simple this little golden lace cap was — this version would be a really easy and fun one to do with kids.

Once complete, you could coat the entire doily covered pumpkin with a thin layer or two of Mod Podge to seal the look and a little extra sheen. I liked the different textures how they were, so didn't use any mod podge.

I love how they turned out. They shimmer and glow when the sun hits them just right and just add that right touch of fancy around the the house this time of year. These would be such a fun and simple DIY decoration for a fall wedding or party and the look can easily be changed up by using different colored doilies — silver, white, even black!

Right now we've got them hanging out on our kitchen console, adding a little pop of seasonal color to things around here:

I always look forward to this time of year — the air feels a little crisper and all the autumn colors come out to remind me just why I'm a fall baby.

How are you decorating your pumpkins this year?

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DIY Pumpkin Ideas