Cable Knit Textured Pumpkins

These beautiful cable knit textured pumpkins are a fun and easy way to add a touch of cozy décor to your home.

The design options are endless, so let's get started!

For this project you will only need a handful of supplies:

• Real or faux pumpkins (I used real, and made sure they had their stems left on them)
• Hot Glue Gun & Hot Glue
• Paints in your choice of colors (Acrylic or Chalk Paint, Spray or Liquid)
• Primer
• Chalk paintbrush or soft bristled paintbrush
• Clear Matte Sealer
• OPTIONAL: Painter's Tape (if spray painting or adding other designs when painting)
• OPTIONAL: Additional decorative touches
• OPTIONAL: Inspiration photos

The first step is to wash the pumpkins to get off all the grime and dirt, and to give you as smooth a surface as possible for working on. You can use cleaning wipes (like I did), or you can wash them with soap and warm water.

Using a pencil, pen, fine-tip marker, or fine-tip paint marker, create a cable knit design on each pumpkin. I used inspiration photos from cable knit sweaters to inspire my designs.

If your knowledge of cable knit stitches is superior, you can opt to free hand a design, or you can use this technique to apply any type of design you want! The possibilities are truly endless!

NOTE: It is optional to add a design around the entire pumpkin, depending on what parts of the pumpkin will be seen when displayed. For example, if you are using the pumpkins outside, or as décor against a wall (etc), then you only will see the front and maybe some of the sides of the pumpkins on display, and therefore you will only need to add a design to half of each pumpkin. However, if you are going to use them as a centerpiece on a dining room table, or in a place where you would see all sides of the pumpkins, then you would definitely want to add a design around the whole pumpkin.

Trace over your designs with hot glue. Be sure to level out the pumpkins as much as possible to avoid dripping.

Certain "stitches" will require different hot glue approaches to make them look more authentic. For example, some "stitches" will use separated hot glue dots (make sure to leave enough space between dots so that they won't blend together, as the hot glue will temporarily drip in the first 5-10 seconds of application, especially if it's not level). Other "stitches" will use long, continuous lines, or some may use broken up lines. Try out different techniques to see what looks the best for the "stitch" you're trying to duplicate.

NOTE: If you mess up, this project is super forgiving! Simply peel away the messed up hot glue, and start again. With that being said, however, you will need to be sure to be careful not to accidentally remove your glued designs before we get to the next steps. If you do accidentally remove a spot, simply add a new one, or hot glue that spot back on.

After you've finished tracing your design, remove hot glue strings with a paintbrush (my chalk paintbrush seemed to work best), or by other means (or remove them as you work).

This step is optional, but it may aid in keeping your hot glue designs on as you paint the pumpkins.

To pre-seal, simply use your clear matte sealer and spray all the pumpkins, mainly over the designed areas.

Add primer to all pumpkins. This is very important to do, so don't skip it (even if using chalk paint), as it will give you better coverage from the paint in the next step.

Paint your pumpkins however your heart desires! Allow to dry in-between coats, and allow to fully dry when complete.

FOR LIQUID PAINT USERS: If, when painting with liquid paint and a paintbrush, you accidentally remove hot glue designs, simply reattach them with hot glue or redo them and re-paint that one area (no need to re-prime).

OPTIONAL: You can add optional extras like leaves, curly Qs, etc if you prefer. I tried some leaves, but they just didn't look the way I wanted so I removed them and kept mine as-is.

After your pumpkins are fully dry, seal them with Clear Matte Sealer.

NOTE: You can use clear, non-yellowing deck sealer or polyacrylic if setting your pumpkins outside in the elements to help them last longer (however, it's probably best to have these outside under a roof, or indoors for best results).

You're done! Admire your gorgeous autumn additions!