Kids Halloween Canvas Craft

One of the best things about Halloween, besides the costumes and candy, is carving a pumpkin to put out and enjoy until it, well, rots. Why not help your kids make a pumpkin that's going to last and can be enjoyed year after year?

Introducing: the Pumpkin Canvas

*fanfare*

Such a fun craft! Easy for kids to take part in, but there's parts for adults too, so you can work on it together.

What you'll need:

• Canvas- mine is 8x10", I got a pack of two for $3.99 at Hobby Lobby
• Hot glue gun + glue sticks
• Half Styrofoam balls (Hobby Lobby actually sells them like this!) - they are 4.5" half balls and come with 4 in a pack for $4.99
• Paint and paintbrushes (I used orange, black, and green acrylic paint. You might want brown too, for the stem)
• Newspapers to contain the mess

Step 1

 

Lay the half styrofoam ball down on your canvas and lightly trace around it with a pencil. I placed mine on the canvas portrait style, but you could very well do two half balls and make your canvas landscape; then the kids could do two at once! After you have your placement down, paint in a stem and leaves (I just did leaves, but a stem will look good too).

Step 2

While the leaves and stem dry, paint your styrofoam ball orange. Put down one initial coat and let it dry. You'll end up doing at least two coats to get a good orange color.

Step 3

While the pumpkin is drying, paint the background of your canvas! I just opted for solid black but there's really no limit to what you can do. I painted slightly inside of the lines of my circle just to be sure there would be solid color there if I didn't place the pumpkin quite right when gluing.

While this is drying, give your pumpkin another coat of orange. Then come back and, if you feel it's necessary, give your background another good coat of paint.

Step 4 

Go back to your pumpkin, if it's dry, and paint the face! I forgot a picture of this step, my bad :(

Step 5

Paint something fun on your canvas! Again, you can do whatever you'd like to here. I simply painted 'Happy Halloween!'

Step 5

This step is for an adult to complete. When the hot glue is ready, place several quick dots around the edge of your pumpkin and quickly place onto canvas before it dries. This is why it helps to leave that white circle mostly unpainted for general reference, and it's no big deal if you don't get the placement exactly right.

All done!

 

Your finished product is a cute pumpkin that can be hung on the wall every Halloween! I added some extra flourishes to mine after getting the pumpkin placed, as you can see.

To help preserve the paint more, you can also spray the canvas thoroughly with a sealer. Remember, the pumpkin is styrofoam, so be gentle when packing it away!

Make one for yourself? Show me in the comments!