This post is in collaboration with Preval.
With temperatures here in SoCal still in the 80s, it’s hard to believe it’s officially Fall! September is over, and all things spooky and ghoulish are already filling the stores. As is tradition here on Happy Mundane land, I always like to make some sort of centerpiece or decor idea for Halloween, usually involving some sort of no-carve, painted pumpkins, and also a tablescape that can last a bit through the entire season before we switch to full on Holiday/Christmas mode.
This year I thought I’d jump on it a little earlier, and with the weather still so warm, I wanted to go for a color story that was pop-y and bright. Now, those of you that have been following my blog know I’ve never really been one to stick with for standard “autumnal” or “Halloween” colors. One look into my archives for the past few Octobers and you’ll see what I mean! However, this year, I’m embracing more of the “orange” spectrum, but with a lighter twist. I’m going with … Peach!
When I paint my pumpkins, I prefer to use spray paint, because it’s just simple and fast. Unfortunately, finding the perfect shade of peach spray paint can be a challenge. Apparently peach is not that popular of a color and I found it hard to find the right shade. However, you can find all kinds of gorgeous tones of peach when it comes to interior paints. Wouldn’t it be great if you could use the colors found there and be able to easily spray it?
Well lucky for us, YOU CAN. Established in 1969, Preval is the industry leader for spray and touch up paint products. Now, I’m sure you might have seen those more industrial paint sprayers that many house painters use. Something of that size would be way too crazy and intimidating for my little pumpkin project, but Preval has the perfect solution- The Preval Sprayer. It basically consists of a small aerosol spray can that is attached to a small glass jar. You can put virtually any type of liquid or paint inside, push down on the top and it sprays out just like you would a can of normal spray paint!
The folks at Preval sent me a unit to test out and I was super excited to give it a go. First thing I did was run over to my hardware store and picked up a small tester jar of the perfect peachy shade. In this case, I chose “California Coral“ from Behr in a flat finish.
You do need to thin out the paint a little so I poured some paint, and the recommended amount of water (since I was using a water-based paint), shook it up to make sure it was combined, and basically sprayed away. It takes a little getting used to and experimentation, but once I had it going the rest was a breeze. I used a small faux pumpkin I picked up at Michaels, and a plastic skull from the Dollar area at Target.
After my base coat dried, I decided to revisit the paint drip method I’ve done before (reference my green version here and my pastel goth version here.) This time I thought about just dripping only half the pumpkin (and skull) and also playing with gradations of colors.
I dripped several colors of slightly watered down acrylic paints one layer at a time. The effect kind of reminded me of those old school multi-colored candles with a little psychedelic action thrown in.
And there you go! Some Peachy drippy grooviness for Fall!
I finished off the look and by adding some coordinating glass jar candles I picked up from Home Goods. I also grabbed an inexpensive mixed floral bouquet from the grocery store and added some stems here and there.
A few tips I learned along the way…
• When using the Preval sprayer, you have to make sure the paint in the jar is totally mixed, especially at the bottom of the jar. My first few tries, I could hear the air coming out, but no pigment was coming out. The instructions on the box suggested plugging up the top of the nozzle with your finger, which forces the air to come out the other end of the tube (that is inside the jar holding the paint). I did this a few times and re-sprayed and then things came out fine. You have to experiment with the amount of water/paint ratio, so it’s good to have a few pieces of tester paper or even an object you don’t mind spraying. It takes some getting used to, and as with normal spray paint, don’t spray too close, and a few light coats works better than one heavy thick coat.
• When I was getting the acrylic paints, I saw that Martha Stewart has a “watercolor” acrylic line. I tried it out but found that when painting on top of another color, the colors just didn’t stay as vibrant or opaque as I wanted. They probably look great on white paper, but they just weren’t the best for this particular project. In the end I resorted to just using normal craft acrylic paint, watered down.
• I used two sizes of brushes when dripping the colors. I wide medium sized paint brush to get the first general coat down (the kind you’d use to paint trim in your house, they’re have wood handles and are about 2 inches wide), Then I used a smaller round tip artist brush to help steer the paint down and add paint to force specific drip areas.
• I found it helpful to clean the brush and switch to a fresh cup of water with every color change.
• A good tip is to put a little something that is smaller than the base of the pumpkin or object underneath to lift it up off the surface you’re painting on. This gives a little gap for the paint drip to stay, which you can dab away with a paper towel. It prevents little puddles to form, causing the object to stick to your table or surface when it dries. I just used caps from single serve iced tea or juice bottles.
Are you guys ready for Fall? Let’s continue the conversation of Facebook and make sure you’re following me on Instagram and Instagram stories for more #mundaneaesthetic and behind the scenes shenanigans.
Check out all the products that Preval has via their website. You can also find the Preval Sprayer at local hardware shops like Home Depot. Find your local dealer here.
Full Disclosure: Prevail supplied Happy Mundane with a sample unit of the Preval Sprayer to review. There was no other compensation. All opinions are my own.