Hands to work, Hearts to God: Faux heirloom pumpkins, anyone??

Have you ever gone to a pumpkin patch where they have specialty pumpkins like heirlooms, fairytale, or Casper/ghost pumpkins? If you haven't, they are really neat to see! I fell in love the first time I saw them a couple years ago and they happen to be a little more expensive than your typical orange variety. They have different textures and some tend to be a little more "flattened" looking and they usually have a waxy or milky film over them. Here is an example of some:

See how some have a warty texture or more lumpy texture? My FAVORITES are the blueish-green ones like these

So, problem: real ones are expensive and like any other pumpkin, can't last forever..sad face. Solution: buy a faux heirloom pumpkin, right? Well I searched craft stores and the internet and found ONE source of faux heirlooms that come in a pack of 5 and are over $100..YIKES! Solution number two: create one. I figured it couldn't be too hard to re-create as long as you find a faux pumpkin in the shape close or similar to a real heirloom. I went to Hobby Lobby and found one on sale for $7 that was perfect for this project.

Its cute the way it is, but not perfect for my decor. I LOVE the stem on this one too!

Ok so SUPPLIES NEEDED:
1 faux pumpkin
1 sponge brush
2 acrylic paints in similar shades-I used Annita's in seafoam green and basil.
optional: small paintbrush

Start by applying the base shade (I used the seafoam) with the sponge brush all over the pumpkin in downward strokes. Here was the progress of my first coat. Don't worry about getting it completely covered the first time because we are doing a second coat after the first is mostly dry.

Here was after doing 2 coats and as you can see there is still some spots that are kind of streaky but I went with it and dabbed with the sponge brush to give some of the "texture" and also cover up some of the streaks. I also got the darker shade (the basil) and with my paintbrush, I dabbed into the base of the stem and also into the creases to give it some contrast. OPTIONAL: play around and experiment with it! I dabbed some more spots all over with the basil color to give some contrast and texture.

Here is my finished result!!! I was so happy with it, I decided to give 2 more of my faux pumpkins makeovers!

The little one was a cream colored one but the shape was spot on for this project and I had fun doing this one too!

In one of my previous posts, I showed a picture of my then pumpkin collection and there was a small white one with black sequined polka-dots on it... what I DIDN'T show was the back of that had sequined letters that was SUPPOSED to spell out "thankful." When I made it, I somehow forgot the "k" leaving me with a pumpkin that made me look illiterate. I meticulously took off all the sequins and some spots took off a little of the pumpkin, but I didn't mind because it added to the authentic look and overall texture. After I finished it, the stem was previously painted black and I sadly attempted to over it with this paint but epically failed. All the sudden, "LIIIIIGGGHT BUUULLLB!" I happen to have some left over jute string and I just hot glued the string all around the stem!