Glittered Pumpkins, Not Just for Halloween

Beautiful!!! Very luxe.

I used old fashioned white school glue and water.  The trick is to first make sure that your pumpkin is clean - just wipe it down with a dry cloth.  Next, mix about 3 parts glue to one part water - it should be the consistency of heavy cream.  (Basically I added the water to make it more "brushable" - without the water the glue was just so stiff and took alot of effort to brush onto the pumpkin.)  

Using an old paint brush (the big ones for trimming) I covered the entire pumpkin with glue, then set it onto some wax paper to dry.  You need to apply this base coat so that your next glue application with the glitter will stick properly - otherwise the glitter will just roll off the sides of the pumpkin and look uneven.

Now you can take the "seasoned" pumpkin and apply a second coat of glue - not too thick as globby drips will run down its sides and look sloppy.  These were just small pie pumpkins so I applied the glue all over the base.  I then sprinkled the glitter all over, covering it generously before shaking off the excess.  I worked over a baking sheet to catch all the loose glitter, but having a "bed of glitter" in the pan also kept the bottom of the gluey pumpkin from making a total mess.

Working with my mom, we complete 30 or so pumpkins on a Saturday afternoon - it's not too much work if you set up a good work station.  White pumpkins will be gorgeous!  A semi-opaque iridescent glitter would be so nice!  I experimented on an acorn squash well before my wedding date (no pumpkins at the store yet) and they lasted for a month at least (maybe more, but I threw them away.)  This was a really cost-effective centerpiece that I could make well in advance, and they all looked so beautiful by the candlelight.  Happy glittering!