I made these gorgeous Terracotta Jack O’ Lanterns, they are so affordable, amazing quality, and a fraction of the price!
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I love the style and look of the Pottery Barn Jack O’ Lanterns, but not the price! I was just strolling through Michaels when I came across some of their ceramic pumpkins – and immediately knew I needed to recreate it. Keep reading for how to make these beautiful Terracotta Jack O’ Lanterns, and scroll to the bottom to view the How To Video.
Materials Used and Cost:
- Large Ceramic Jack O’ Lantern ($18)
- Small Ceramic Jack O’ Lantern ($9)
- Folk Art Terra Cotta Lightly Textured Paint ($4 – if painting more than one, I’d buy two! I bought Pueblo)
- Paint Brushes ($8.50)
- Baking Soda
- Flour
I highly recommend the ceramic pumpkins (they also light up), as it only needs one coat of paint – so you will save money here! Other DIYs use plastic pumpkins, but it requires a lot more paint layers to get the look right.
For your reference, Pottery Barn’s SMALL Jack O’ Lantern retails for $50, the Large retails for $90 – and on eBay the Large and XL ones are selling for high $200’s to high $300’s – it is crazy!! And I’m not going to lie – I kinda like the look of mine better 👀
Let’s get into it!
This fun project only takes about 30 minutes – or quicker if you’re really moving. Start by laying down some newspaper, or in my case, I laid down cardboard. Grab your paint, brushes, baking soda, and flour. I used a paint tray for my paints, but you could just as easily designate a spot on the cardboard.
Although the paint is textured, I decided to also use baking soda to give it a lot more texture – and I feel like it definitely did the job. I also decided to paint one black as well to be a little more spooky!
To start, all you need to do is scoop a full spoon (about a tablespoon) of baking soda and then add some paint until the consistency is like a thick paste.
I added a little more paint than what is in the picture below, to get it just a tad more liquid-y. I used the wider brush to paint on the ceramic pumpkins. I did a lot of dabbing, I do this to create the right texture. I did one layer of paint, and that’s all that was needed. After it dried, I sprinkled some flour around the top of it with my hand, and then used a little spongey brush to to work it into the crevices. I also used my hand to brush it around as well. There isn’t any specific amount – just start with a nice sprinkling over the top and add more around it as you want 😊
Voila! You are finished with your Terracotta Pumpkins and you now have some very expensive looking decor! They can go outside, but I’d recommended having them under a cover, so it doesn’t bet rained on.
Here is the final look of the three Jack O’ Lanterns I made! I would love to know if any of you decide to make some yourselves – please tag me in your posts! My username is @moreforlessinspo 🧡
