Family of Pumpkins

I have pumpkins on the brain lately (sounds like a condition doesn’t it? LOL). I am trying to grow a pumpkin patch, wanting to make pumpkin pie, finding vintage ads of pumpkins and creating pumpkins out of polymer clay.  I have always had fond memories of carving pumpkins, making pumpkin cakes and cookies with my family. To me they are what Fall, Halloween and harvest festivals are about.

This year I am making all kinds of Fall crafts but I wanted to make something showcasing pumpkins and the happy feeling of family together for the seasons. I started with making a cute little family of pumpkins out of polymer clay. I really liked how they came out but felt I could use them on so many projects such as cards, magnets, jewelry and wall decor. So I decided to make a mold of them so I could do all the projects I thought of and more.

For the pumpkin family mold I used:

Polymer clay (any brand or color will do since I made a mold from the original polymer piece)
Amazing Mold Putty
Amazing Casting Resin
Martha Stewart Crafts 2oz Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint Carrot, Jonquil and Beetle Black

Here is the original pumpkin family made out of poly clay. I gave them deep smiles and happy faces, I don’t have to worry about any detail being lost since the Amazing Mold Putty does wonderful with anything with high detail.

I mixed the putty according to the manufacture’s instructions, though the Amazing Mold Putty is rather forgiving if there is not exact amounts used. I do not attempt to remove the mold for at least 20 minutes to make sure the mold has set.

While the cure time for the molds is 20 minutes I like to leave the orignal in the molding putty for longer, making sure the mold is a rigid as possible (but keep in mind it is silicon and very flexible once cured) before trying to make any replicas. The mold can be cleaned with mild soap and water before you make any replicas to remove any loose particles left by the original.

When mixing the Amazing Casting Resin I have to be careful about stirring too fast and for too long. Once the two parts are combined stir carefully until clear, scraping sides, about 15-20 seconds. I then immediately start to pour the resin into the mold; be careful not to pour too quick as you will increase the amount of air bubbles. It will set in 10 minutes, but keep in mind that the thicker the piece the faster the cure time. In this case the pumpkin family is a thick piece and set in about 8 minutes.

Here the resin copy is next to the original and the mold. Once the piece is cured I demold, trim any rough edges, sand and started painting.

Here I show the 3 stages of painting. I have found that the Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface acrylic paint bonds well with the resin replicas. I start with the Carrot, then a color wash of Beetle Black and then paint the Jonquil paint only in the eyes, noses and mouths of the pumpkin family.

The first project I wanted to make with a pumpkin family was a home decor piece for my mother. She loves the holidays and always likes to have the family home to celebrate.

For the home decor piece I used:

Globecraft Memories Classic Fancy Rectangle
Globecraft Memories Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
Globecraft Memories Enamel powders 24K Gold and Mossy Glen
Globecraft Memories Piccolo Accents
Cardstock (any color or brand will work, I used orange, metallic white and black)
Mini Fall Leaves (most local craft stores carry small bags of fabric or paper leaves in the scrapbooking or floral sections)

Using one of the finished pumpkin resin pieces, I placed it in the middle of the Classic Fancy Rectangle and traced along the inside of the oval to make sure the background paper, pumpkins and a leaf embellishments fit inside the globe.

Once I decorated the outer layers of the frame with the paper, enamel and Piccolos, I coated the outside layers with two coats Glastique Gloss glaze. Once completely dry I glued the layers and globe with Glastique together.  I then glued the pumpkin resin piece to the backplate of the frame with a thick layer of Glastique. I carefully added the mini leaves around the bottom of the pumpkin family to give them a “bed” of leaves to be on.

Glue the top layers of the the frame to the backplate with Glastique and once dry it is now ready to hang on the wall! 🙂

Until next time, Safe Travels!