Free Tutorials

Pink & Teal Pumpkin 💕

fall pumpkin Oct 14, 2025

This isn't your typical fall pumpkin - this one's pink, sparkly, and packed with personality! In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to add shading and highlights using directional light, master wet-on-wet blending, and finish your piece with glass, seed beads, and glossy resin. We even topped it off with a little gold pen detail and green vitrigraph for extra flair!

Understanding Highlights & Shadows

Before we ever touched the paint, we walked through a basic but important concept: light source and directional shading. To add dimension to a flat shape, like a circle or pumpkin, you need to decide where your light is coming from. We placed a sketch of a sun on the top left of our canvas to guide us throughout the painting process. This way, each pumpkin section could be shaded and highlighted appropriately based on where the "sunlight" would hit.

Step 1: Sketching the Pink Pumpkin

Using a pencil, we loosely sketched a squatty pumpkin with a curly stem and marked out individual pumpki...

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Animal Print Pumpkin 😍

animal print fall pumpkin Oct 08, 2025

This project turns a little 8×8 canvas into a dimensional, glam pumpkin using modeling paste, animal-print foil, and a thin resin coat. We’ll sculpt the pumpkin, paint it black so the foil pops, burnish on a cheetah pattern, add a gold stem, and finish with clear glass accents.

Step 1: Tone the background

Brush a thin coat of white over the entire canvas to reduce the “grab” of raw fabric. While it’s still a little damp, scrub slate gray along the lower third and fade it upward so the tone softens as it rises. Wipe the brush clean and touch a hint of gray higher up to keep the field from looking flat, then dry the surface thoroughly with a quick blast of a hair dryer.

Step 2: Lightly sketch the pumpkin

Make a small tick mark about an inch and a half down from the top edge to reserve breathing room for the stem. Sketch a big oval—the “zero”—for the pumpkin body, then add two gentle parentheses that curve down and back up into the base so your form reads as three fat ribs. Add a si...

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Midnight Pumpkin 🎃

fall pumpkin Oct 01, 2025

We’re back with a cozy fall favorite - an orange pumpkin with a rustic green-and-brown stem on a dramatic dark background. This is an “oldie but goodie” project that originally featured a black backdrop, but today we’re switching it up with a rich navy (Payne’s gray). The result? A bold, dimensional pumpkin with highlights, shadows, glass sparkle, and a glossy resin finish.

Step 1: Trace the Pumpkin

Secure your tracer to the canvas, tucking it slightly to the left so the pumpkin shape runs off the edge for a more natural look. Place graphite paper underneath and use a stylus or a pencil to trace the outline, including the stem. Leave the stem point simple for now - you’ll extend and detail it after painting the background.

Step 2: Base Coat the Pumpkin

Load your angled brush with Burnt Orange and paint one section at a time, following the tracer lines. Think of it like coloring in a coloring book - this is just your “ground coat” to block in color before adding shadows and highli...

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How to Cut a Vase for Curved Glass Pumpkin Embellishments ✨

fall pumpkin Sep 24, 2025

Turn broken vases into beautiful pumpkin embellishments! In this tutorial, you'll learn how to cut curved glass pieces perfect for fall mixed media art, glass projects, or seasonal decor. We'll walk you through each step, from scoring and tapping the glass to safely honing and arranging it in your design. No need for fancy equipment - just a few basic tools, some safety gear, and a little patience.

Step 1: Prep Your Workspace and Safety Gear

Before you begin cutting any glass, set up a safe work area. Use a glass-cutting grid or tray to catch shards and wear cut-resistant gloves, safety goggles, and a mask to protect yourself from glass dust. Gather your tools: scoring tool, breaking pliers, wheeled nippers, and a honing stone. Have a paper towel nearby to clean off glass dust.

If you have a broken vase (or one you don’t mind repurposing), use it! In this case, I used a large thick vase that cracked in half. To make it manageable, gently tap the large piece with a hammer to break ...

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Textured Pumpkin 🎃

fall pumpkin Sep 24, 2025

Want that vintage, chippy, “found-it-at-a-fall-market” pumpkin vibe? This tutorial walks you through building a rich, textured background with modeling paste, freehand-painting a pumpkin in minutes, then finishing with an antiquing glaze that sinks into every groove. I’ll also show you quick options for adding a sculpted stem.

Step 1: Build the Textured Background

Load the back of your palette knife with modeling paste. Start in the middle and pull outward, leaving purposeful “skips” and bare spots. If you need more texture, lightly “slap” the surface with the knife to create peaks, then skim your knife very lightly to soften sharp ridges. Air-dry completely. It should feel cool but firm - no soft spots.

Step 2: Paint the Pumpkin

To freehand your pumpkin, think of one egg shape in the center with two parentheses on each side. Use Spiced Pumpkin paint with a round or liner brush to draw the oval center lobe, then add a curved shape on the right and left for the side lobes. Fill...

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Creative Pumpkin Stem Ideas 🎃

fall halloween pumpkin Sep 10, 2025

When you’re working on your pumpkin fall art projects, the stem can really make or break the look. Sure, you could paint one on, but why not take it up a notch with something more dimensional? Today I’m sharing seven creative ways to make pumpkin stems using everything from glass to clay to everyday materials you already have around the house.

Option 1: Scrap Glass from a Glass Blower

One of my favorite options is to use real glass stems. If you’re lucky enough to live near a glass blower, ask if they have scraps you can buy (or sometimes they’ll even give them away). These chunky, swirled pieces are full of character and resin beautifully onto your canvas pumpkin.

Option 2: Chubbies from JL Glass

Another fantastic option is “Chubbies” from JL Glass. These come in greens, amber, and even blue, and they’re perfect for whimsical pumpkins. You can find them on JL Glass’s Etsy shop or website. Pair them with a cut piece of glass “leaf” and you’ve got yourself a

...

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Glass Stem Pumpkin 🎃

fall pumpkin Sep 03, 2025

Pumpkin season is here, and this project is a playful twist on traditional fall art. We’re combining paint, glass, and resin on an 8x8 canvas to create a textured pumpkin with a glossy finish. This piece is easy enough for beginners but gives you the depth and sparkle of a more advanced mixed media project.

Step 1: Prep Your Canvas

For this project, I started with an 8x8 canvas. To break up the intimidation of a blank white canvas, I painted the surface with a coat of bright pink (Dragonfruit). This is one of my favorite tricks - covering the canvas in a bold base color helps loosen you up and makes the painting process less intimidating. Plus, letting some of that underlayer peek through adds unexpected pops of color in the finished piece.

You can either trace a pumpkin outline or freehand it. The shape is simple: think of an egg with a flat bottom for the center section, then add parentheses shapes on each side to build the pumpkin’s curves. Pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes...

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Come Sail Away ⛵️

beach summer Aug 27, 2025

One of my favorite things about creating mixed media art is finding beauty in unexpected places. A while back, I dropped a ceramic bowl and instead of heading straight for the trash, I noticed the broken pieces had cracked into perfect little triangles. Right away, I saw sailboats. I tucked the shards away, knowing they’d eventually become the star of a new project.

Today, I’m pairing those pieces with a simple painted background, a bit of glass, and a layer of resin to make a coastal sailboat scene that’s charming, dimensional, and beginner-friendly.

Step 1: Create Your Background

Begin by dividing your canvas so that the top third will be your sky and the bottom two-thirds your ocean. Paint the top section with white and gently blend in a touch of Bahama Blue to create a soft, airy sky. Keep some of the white peeking through for depth and lightly scrub in clouds with more white.

For the ocean, start at the horizon line with Stormy Blue. If you want a very straight line, you can...

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Palm Tree 🏝️

beach summer Aug 20, 2025

If you’ve ever looked at a pretty vase and thought, “I could make something out of that…”, this project is perfect for you! In this tutorial, we’re cutting up a recycled vase, painting a beachy background, and transforming it into a stunning tropical palm tree scene with glass, resin, seashells, and even coconuts. This piece is 8x16 inches and perfect for adding a touch of coastal charm to your home.

Step 1 – Safety First!

Before you start cutting glass, make sure you’re protecting yourself. Cutting vases with nippers can send tiny shards flying, so gloves and eye protection are a must. A simple pair of cut-resistant gloves from Amazon works great, and any safety glasses will do, even your everyday glasses can help protect your eyes. Place a grid or bin under your work area to catch little shards and chips, since they’ll fly as you nip. Once your vase pieces are cut, run the edges across a honing stone or sanding pad to dull the sharp points. It only takes a few swipes, and it make...

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Bottle Ring Art 🍷

abstract Aug 13, 2025

If you love the look of glass art but want something that’s quick, easy, and totally unique, this project is for you! We’ll be using our Glass Bottle Ring Mystery Box, a one-pound mix of real glass rings cut from recycled bottles, to create a stunning framed art piece.

No painting skills required. Just resin, glass rings, and a little bit of patience while everything sets up.

Step 1: Clean Your Glass

Clean both sides of your 11x14 glass panel thoroughly. Resin loves a dust-free, grease-free surface, so use glass cleaner and dry with a lint-free cloth.

Tip: Wear gloves while handling to avoid fingerprints—once it’s clean, you want it to stay clean!

Step 2: Prep Your Bottle Rings

Our mystery boxes contain a mix of amber, green, clear, frosted, and occasionally rare cobalt or baby blue rings. They range in size from small neck pieces to large bottom cuts, and some are thicker than others.

A few rings may have chips or tiny cracks - that’s the charm of recycled glass! Arrange them...

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