Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe Using Thrifted Pumpkins

This Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe might be one of my favorite thrift flips yet. I love the look of the beautiful aged terracotta pumpkins from Pottery Barn, but with prices ranging from around $50 to $150 each, I knew there had to be a way to recreate the look for less.

So, naturally, I headed to the thrift store.

I found several inexpensive pumpkins that had shapes similar to the Pottery Barn versions and brought them home to see if I could transform them. The best part? You really can use just about any thrifted pumpkin for this project. Ceramic, plastic, or even an outdated pumpkin you already own should work.

After a little experimenting with texture and paint colors, I think I found a combination that gets incredibly close to the Pottery Barn look.

And each finished pumpkin cost me under $10!

The Pottery Barn Pumpkins That Inspired This Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe Project

The inspiration for this project was Pottery Barn’s brown terracotta striped pumpkins. I loved everything about them—the warm brown finish, subtle variation in color, matte texture, and those simple painted stripes.

SHOP THE POTTERY BARN PUMPKINS HERE

Rather than trying to find an exact pumpkin shape at the thrift store, I concentrated on finding pumpkins that had a similar overall feel.

Don’t worry if you can’t find the perfect pumpkin. Once you add the paper texture, layers of paint, and distressed finish, you’d be surprised how different the original pumpkin can look.

Supplies for This Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe Using Thrifted Pumpkins

You don’t need many supplies for this project, and you may already have several of them at home.

Supplies

• Thrifted pumpkins
• Brown paper grocery bag
• Matte Mod Podge
• Foam brush
• FolkArt Matte Acrylic Paint in Raw Umber
• FolkArt Matte Acrylic Paint in Barnwood
• FolkArt Matte Acrylic Paint in Concrete
• FolkArt Matte Acrylic Paint in Mushroom
• Paintbrushes
• Painter’s tape in varying widths
• Sanding block or sandpaper
• Scissors, optional

One of my favorite parts of this project is that I even reused the brown paper bag my thrifted pumpkins came home in.

How to Make a Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe

Step 1: Choose Your Thrifted Pumpkins

Start by looking for inexpensive pumpkins at thrift stores, garage sales, or even in your own fall decor bins.

Any pumpkin can work, but I specifically looked for ones that had a shape and size similar to the Pottery Barn pumpkins.

Don’t pay too much attention to the original color or finish because we’re going to completely cover it.

Step 2: Tear a Brown Paper Bag Into Pieces

Once I got home, I set up my workstation and grabbed the brown paper shopping bag the pumpkins came home in.

Tear the bag into small, irregular pieces.

You don’t want the pieces to be perfectly uniform. Different shapes and sizes will help create the slightly imperfect, handmade texture we’re looking for.

This is also a great way to reuse something that would otherwise go straight into the recycling bin.

Step 3: Cover the Pumpkin With Paper and Mod Podge

Using a foam brush, apply a layer of Matte Mod Podge to a small section of your pumpkin.

Place a piece of brown paper over the Mod Podge and brush another thin layer over the top.

Continue randomly overlapping pieces of brown paper until the entire pumpkin is covered.

Don’t try to make it too perfect!

The little wrinkles, overlaps, and variations in the paper actually help give the pumpkin that aged terracotta appearance later.

Allow everything to dry completely.

Step 4: Sand the Pumpkin

Once the Mod Podge is completely dry, you can lightly sand down any areas that feel especially rough.

This step is optional.

You don’t want to remove all of that beautiful texture you just created. You’re simply knocking down anything that looks or feels too sharp or uneven.

Now comes the fun part: paint!

The Exact Paint Colors I Used

I think the paint colors are what really make this Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe work.

After playing around with different shades, these are the FolkArt Matte colors I used:

Raw Umber
Barnwood
Concrete
Mushroom

If you want to get as close as possible to the look of the Pottery Barn pumpkins, I would use this combination.

Step 5: Start With Raw Umber

Paint the entire pumpkin with FolkArt Matte Acrylic Paint in Raw Umber.

Make sure you get into all the grooves and cover the brown paper completely.

Let the first coat dry and add another coat anywhere you need more coverage.

Raw Umber creates that beautiful deep brown base that makes the finished pumpkin look like aged pottery instead of a painted craft pumpkin.

Step 6: Dry Brush Barnwood and Concrete

Once the Raw Umber is completely dry, it’s time to add dimension.

Using a dry-brush technique, very lightly add FolkArt Barnwood and Concrete over the pumpkin.

The key word here is lightly.

You don’t want to completely cover the Raw Umber. Instead, you’re adding subtle highlights and variations that make the surface look naturally aged.

Dip your brush into the paint and then remove most of it onto a paper towel before brushing it across the pumpkin.

Concentrate on raised areas and let some sections stay darker than others.

Layering these neutral shades is what takes the pumpkin from looking freshly painted to looking like aged terracotta.

How to Get Perfect Painted Stripes

The striped Pottery Barn pumpkins were some of my favorites, so of course I wanted to recreate those too.

I used FolkArt Matte Acrylic Paint in Mushroom for the stripes.

Step 7: Tape Off Your Stripes

Use painter’s tape to create stripes around your pumpkin.

I used varying widths of tape because I wanted the stripes to have the same collected, handmade feeling as the inspiration pumpkins.

Press the edges of the tape down well.

And here’s the trick that makes a huge difference:

Before painting the stripes with Mushroom, brush Matte Mod Podge along the edges of the painter’s tape where you’ll be painting.

Let it dry.

The Mod Podge seals the tape edges and helps prevent the paint from feathering or bleeding underneath.

It gives you much cleaner lines, especially on a textured surface like this one.

Step 8: Paint the Stripes

Once the Mod Podge has dried, fill in your stripes with FolkArt Matte Acrylic Paint in Mushroom.

I used a couple of light coats until I was happy with the coverage.

Let the paint almost dry and then carefully remove the painter’s tape.

Don’t wait until the paint has completely hardened before removing the tape.

The Final Step That Makes Them Look Old

Don’t skip this part!

Once all of your paint is dry, take a sanding block or a piece of sandpaper and lightly sand over the entire pumpkin.

You aren’t trying to remove the finish.

You’re just letting the sandpaper naturally catch the high points and raised texture.

This softens the paint, exposes tiny bits of the layers underneath, and instantly gives the pumpkin an aged, timeworn look.

It’s one of those simple steps that makes the biggest difference.

Pottery Barn Look for Under $10

Here’s the finished Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe!

I think these turned out so close to the inspiration pumpkins.

What started as inexpensive thrift-store pumpkins now looks like something I could have picked up at Pottery Barn, and I spent less than $10 per pumpkin.

Compare that to spending approximately $50 to $150 on a single decorative pumpkin, and this is exactly why I love a good thrift flip.

It’s also a project you can completely customize.

Try different pumpkin shapes, vary your stripe widths, leave some pumpkins solid, or experiment with the placement of your lighter paint colors. A group of slightly different pumpkins will look even more collected and authentic when they’re styled together.

More DIY Pumpkin Ideas

If you love inexpensive fall projects, make sure you check out my paper bag pumpkin project too.

It’s another simple way to turn inexpensive materials into fall decor that looks much more expensive than it actually is.

You could even mix the two styles together for a collected grouping of neutral pumpkins on a table, mantel, or entryway.

Pin This Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe for Later

Save this project so you can find it the next time you’re out thrifting and spot one of those dated pumpkins no one else seems to want.

Thrifted Pumpkins Under $10

A New Creative Series With My Friend Annie

I’m also so excited to share that my friend Annie from Most Lovely Things and I are starting a new series together!

We’ll be sharing fun projects, decorating ideas, and inspiration, and I can’t wait for you to see what we have planned.

Be sure to visit Annie at Most Lovely Things and see what she’s creating.

VISIT ANNIE AT MOST LOVELY THINGS

And make sure you’re following both of us on Instagram so you don’t miss the next project.

FOLLOW MY SWEET SAVANNAH ON INSTAGRAM

FOLLOW MOST LOVELY THINGS ON INSTAGRAM

I hope this Pottery Barn Pumpkin Dupe inspires you to look twice the next time you see an inexpensive pumpkin at the thrift store.

Sometimes all it takes is a paper grocery bag, a few really good paint colors, and a little sanding to turn something dated into fall decor that looks like it came straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog.

If you make one, I’d love to know how yours turns out!

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of pumpkin works best for this project?

Almost any decorative pumpkin will work. I looked for thrifted pumpkins with shapes similar to the Pottery Barn inspiration, but the original color and finish don’t matter because you’ll be covering the entire surface.

Why do you cover the pumpkin with a paper bag?

The brown paper creates texture and helps disguise the original surface of the pumpkin. Once painted and sanded, that texture helps create the appearance of aged terracotta or pottery.

What colors make pumpkins look like aged terracotta?

For this project, I used FolkArt Matte Raw Umber as the base and lightly dry brushed FolkArt Barnwood and Concrete over it. I used FolkArt Mushroom for the stripes.

How do you keep painted stripes from bleeding under painter’s tape?

After applying the painter’s tape, brush Matte Mod Podge along the tape edges and let it dry before painting. This seals the edges and helps create crisp painted lines.

Do you have to sand the finished pumpkins?

No, but I highly recommend it. Light sanding catches the raised areas and gives the painted finish a more naturally aged and worn appearance.