DIY Melted Crayon Pumpkin
Halloween is just around the corner! Can you believe it?! I love decorating for Halloween, and I have been busy getting my craft on in preparation for the spooky season. This first craft I have to share with you – a DIY melted crayon pumpkin! – was a lot of fun to make, but to be perfectly honest, it was a bit of a pain in the arse.
Crayon art is big right now, and I think it is so fun. I have been wanting to try it for quite awhile now, but since I don’t have any canvases at home, I needed something else to work with. Enter the craft pumpkin!
As you can see, it turned out looking fabulous, but let me give you a run down of some of the problems I encountered along the way. That way, you won’t make the same mistakes that I did.
- My first mistake was trying to use Elmer’s glue to attach the crayons to the pumpkin. Big fail. The crayons just would not stay on the pumpkin while the glue was still wet, and I didn’t have time to hold each crayon down individually until the glue was dry. (Who does?!) Then, I tried to use a Tacky craft glue, but it posed the same problem as the Elmer’s.
- My second mistake was in the type of pumpkin I bought. I had simply purchased a white pumpkin from Michael’s for this project. Since the glue wasn’t working, I thought that maybe if I just held the crayon down and got it started melting that the wax from the crayon would allow it to stick. Well, as soon as the heat from the hair dryer hit the pumpkin that I had purchased, the surface of the pumpkin started bubbling… Oops.
Clearly, this craft was not going to be as simple as I thought, and I had just nearly ruined a brand new decorative pumpkin with glue, wax, and heat. (Click here to see how I salvaged that poor pumpkin.) I wanted the melted crayon pumpkin, though. So, I was determined to make it happen.
After a little research, I decided to try a Funkin pumpkin, and that’s when things finally started to come together. Yay!
*The Funkin that I bought is no longer available on Amazon. So, you could try a different brand of foam pumpkin, or even a real one!
(This post contains affiliate links. To see my full disclosure, go here.)
Supplies Needed
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- Funkin pumpkin
(I bought a 10″ pumpkin)
- Crayola Crayons
- Hot glue gun/hot glue
- Hair Dryer
- Scissors
- Drop Cloth
- Funkin pumpkin
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(I bought a 10″ pumpkin)
Step 1 – Prepare Crayons
First, you want to choose the crayon colors that you want to use on your pumpkin. Since this was for Halloween, I decided to use mostly black/gray, orange, and purple with some green thrown in.
Unwrap all of the crayons and cut about 1/3 – 1/2 of the ends off.
Step 2 – Glue
Put a glob of hot glue down on the top of the pumpkin, and let it cool for just a few seconds. Then, place the crayon on the glue. If you try to attach the crayon while the glue is too hot, it will melt and not stick. But don’t wait too long, or the glue will harden. I promise it won’t take you too long to get the hang of the timing. (If the glue does harden and you don’t get the crayon to stick, just peel the glue off of the pumpkin and try again.)
Step 3 – Melt the Crayons
Once all of the crayons have been glued, turn the hair dryer on high speed and high heat. You’ll want to hold the hair dryer fairly close to the crayons to get them to melt. Also, point the hair dryer at different angles towards the crayons in order to get the melted wax to spread more.
Be sure you have a drop cloth underneath the pumpkin, as the wax will drip and splatter quite a bit.
If some of the crayons fall off as they are melting, just pick them up and place them back on the pumpkin.
Step 4 – Let Dry
Once all of the crayons are melted, let the wax set, and you’re done!
In the end, I think it was worth the hassle.
What do you think? Have you ever tried making a melted crayon pumpkin? Or any other type of crayon art? Let me know in the comments!
What a cute way to decorate a white pumpkin. Glad you kept at it! Love the result.
Thanks! It was a bit of a pain, but I’m glad I persisted. I love the way it turned out, and it really was fun to make!
Amy, you were persistent, and I know that’s what it takes. I learned something new…never heard of a “funkin.” But it’s a really cute craft, and your pumpkin is adorable!
Thank you! I had never heard of one either. They’re pretty neat little pumpkins, though! It was definitely a fun project, even though it came with frustrations.
I’m so glad you stuck it out Amy. Pun intended 😀 It turn out great and you saved me a lot of hassle trying to make something similar. Now I know what works and what doesn’t
Hehe! And thank you! Obviously, a different method has worked for others, but this was my personal experience. Hopefully, this works well for others who want to try it. 🙂
I love seeing different ways to decorate pumpkins like this! Wish I’d seen this back when I was in my classroom, as my class had to decorate a pumpkin every year.
Thank you! I think it would be a great project for kids to participate in. My daughter is a bit too young, but fortunately, it was just as fun for an adult. 😉
Wow, what a great idea to melt the crayons, and when their colour is falling on the pumpkin, it looks so nice. This is a great DIY project of coloring the pumpkin.
Thanks, Sadhna. It does look nice, and it’s just something a bit different and unique. I had a lot of fun with it!
My kids love decorating pumpkins for Halloween! This is a perfect way, since it doesn’t involve any sharp objects. I love all the different colors and the way it turned out!
Thanks so much! I think it would be a great craft for kids. It’s so fun seeing the crayons melt. I hope you all have fun with it.
This is so fantastic! I love the dripping colors on the pumpkin. And this would be such a great decoration to for my apartment. I don’t have the pumpkin, but I do have everything else. I might need to make a trip to the craft store. 😉
Thanks! Just be careful with pumpkin you choose. They won’t all tolerate the heat of the blow dryer! Have fun!
So cute! Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
I love the way the pumpkin turned out. This is a great project to do with the kids. Thanks for sharing on Sunday’s Best.
Thank you! And thanks so much for hosting!
Amy this is such a cute idea. A cool take on the traditional pumpkin. I bet your older one must have loved it.
Thanks, Mary. My daughter was quite fascinated with it after it was finished. She didn’t help with the creation, though. I did it during nap-time. 😀 Maybe once she is a bit older, I’ll have her do one of her own!
Amy this is so cool! A great crafts for the kids to do and it looks wonderful around the home!
Thank you! I love the way it turned out, and it would definitely be fun to do together with the kids. Thanks so much for stopping by!