Category: Look for less

Hey there friends!  Today I am kicking off my Fall 2025, I am not starting, as of yet, but I am in the planning and prepping stage.  So, let me share with you what this blog post is all about!

 

The flameless candle was a huge trend last year and seems to be for this year as well.  I am going to try making one for our home this year.  I will be pulling out a pumpkin from one of my fall tubes.  Before I pull out the pumpkin let me share with you the pumpkin candles in Pottery Barn I am talking about.

One of these candles in the smallest size runs $79, FOR ONE!!

They are made of a 100% paraffin wax exterior with plastic center and has a battery-operated candle tucked inside with the on and off button at the very bottom.

The pumpkin I pulled out of my pumpkin tubs was a 5 inch in height and about 4 ½ inch in diameter and a short battery-operated tapered candle from my candle cabinet.

I have seen a couple DIYers do the same thing as I am doing today, I want to try to have mine resemble as close to the Pottery Barn one as I can.  So, I am going to show you a different option to recreate the look.

When choosing the pumpkin for this recreation, make sure it is a pumpkin you can carve, and you can remove the stem.  Save your stem for a future DIY!

Now, for the tealight, I am using this battery-operated tapered candle.  About 4 inches tall.

Placed the candle on the pumpkin and traced around it.

With a carving knife I cut on the line and pulled out the plug.  Did the same thing to the bottom of the pumpkin.

In my pumpkin it had a piece of concrete that I broke up with a screwdriver.

I created a hollow tunnel from the top to the bottom the size of my candle.

To make the top look like the Pottery Barn candle, I carved around the top in a slanted cut and then cut the edges evenly.

Well…that was a failure. When I cut the top to mimic the Potter Barn candle it made the height of the pumpkin shorter than the candle.  When placing the flame just coming out of the top of the pumpkin the bottom stuck out.  UGH!

So, I am going to Plan B.  Using a tall battery-operated votive candle instead.

I cut the top large enough to push the votive candle down into the pumpkin.

I wanted to cut the bottom, but it wasn’t large enough.  I did make sure I could still turn my candle on and off easily from the bottom.

Since the pumpkin is Stya foam, it will be hard to paint smoothly.  I grabbed the last bit of my air-dry clay and formed it around the top of the pumpkin and covered the top of the candle.

Forming a layer of clay on the cut pumpkin, misting water to smooth the clay.

I let the clay dry for several hours.  When dried, I sanded it with 120 grit sandpaper.

To provide the texture, I used one part roll on texture and one part paint.  I like using the roll-on texture paint instead of the baking soda if I need a lot of texture.

The paint I am using is left over from my fireplace makeover, Warm Buff by Valspar.

Let this totally dry.

Once it dried, I gave it some shading and highlighting with Burnt Umber and Parchment Apple Barrel craft paints.

Watering down the Burnt Umber paint, I used a damp paper towel and gave it shading.

For highlighting I used parchment paint by Apple Barrel and a fan paint brush.

After highlighting the veins of the pumpkin, I dried brush the white paint here and there on the pumpkin.  Finishing off with blending in with the base color, Warm Buff.

Last step, spraying the entire pumpkin with semi-gloss clear spray paint to seal it all.  I taped off the candle top with painter’s tape.

What do you think?  It’s not a perfect match and it’s a different color, but still I am very happy with how mine turned out.

I haven’t decided my Fall 2025 colors yet, but for this dupe I wanted more neutral moody color pumpkin.  Pottery Barn has a pumpkin I am loving so that’s the color I was aiming for with my candle.

Keep watching for my kickoff of Fall 2025 Decorate with Me!  Coming soon.

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