Let's turn one those foam craft store pumpkins into a Dark Academia work of art!

What is Dark Academia, you ask? It's an aesthetic or a design that is quite popular on Pinterest and Instagram. There isn't a specific definition of it, but think a dark and moody study full of dusty tomes, preserved insects, dried flowers, a writing desk with a bottle of ink and a calligraphy pen, and lots of ferns in pots. It's a bit gothic and has a root in the admiration of classic literature with a bit of a dark side, like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Colors often include dark green, eggplant purple and dusty mauve. It makes me want to wear a chunky knit black sweater, pour myself a cuppa and curl up with a book of Poe's poetry next to a roaring fire!

So now that you have that aesthetic in your head, let's get into this tutorial! (If you want the full list of supplies used, scroll to the bottom of the tutorial!) I used one of the small, white carvable foam pumpkins from Michaels craft store and covered it in moulds made from paper clay using several Prima Marketing and Redesign moulds. I used Finnabair's Mirror Frames, Lost in Wonderland's Following Alice and Deck of Cards moulds, The Plant Department mould, and Redesign's Delicate Flora mould. 

I mould out one of the circular Mirror Frames and place it in the center. Then I add the small heart from the Deck of Cards mould to the center of the frame. I add the ferns from the Following Alice mould, having them out from either side of the frame, creating a slightly asymmetrical look. I add a small portion of one of the hanging vines from The Plant Department mould to the bottom of the Mirror Frame. Then I add a few Delicate Flora moulds around the stem of the pumpkin. 

I used Soft Matte Gel to glue the moulds to the pumpkin and I let it dry overnight. Don't worry if your moulds aren't completely perfect. Dark academia is dusty, crusty and old! Pro Tips: Dust your moulds with baby powder or something similar to help release the paper clay casts easier from the moulds; and take your time releasing the fern moulds--they are a bit finicky in paper clay, especially if your clay mixture is more on the wet/fresh side.

I let my moulds dry overnight. I know I've heard to paint them before the dry to avoid cracking or to wait until they fully dry to avoid cracking. Perhaps it depends on what type of climate you live in--I live in a dry high altitude climate and I've never had any issue with cracking moulds when waiting to paint the project until after they have dried. 

Once dry, I painted the entire pumpkin in Finnabair's Black Gesso. I'm not sure what the paint on the pumpkin skin is, and I didn't want any peeling or cracking of paint later on. Starting with a gesso base just ensures that you won't have those issues down the road. 

After the black gesso layer was dry, I mixed up my own custom paint color using the Black Gesso and the Impasto Paint in Bottle Green to create a dark and moody dusty green. Mix up more than you think you'll need so you have some leftover for touchups later on, so have a little jar you can put the excess in. I like to mix my paint up with a couple palette knives on a piece of plastic packaging. 

Once the paint is mixed and the hue is to my liking, I paint the entire pumpkin in the dusty green color. Don't worry about missing spots here--it's okay to let the black gesso show through in spots, especially in the crevices of the moulds. This will add depth and dimension to the paint job.

After your dusty green paint is dry, I add two colors of Finnabair Wax, the Metallique Emerald and the Opal Magic Green Brocade. Put a little bit of each onto a piece of plastic packaging and use your fingers to add the wax to the highlights of your moulds. I start by adding the Emerald wax first as it is the darker of the two. Once you get a layer of this wax down, you can go back and darken up spots with a second layer of the Emerald wax. Pro Tip: If the wax is soft and you find you are getting too much wax on your moulds even though you haven't picked up much, dab your finger onto the plastic multiple times to make the wax a bit stickier, or dab your finger onto a paper towel. 

After I've added the Emerald wax, I go in and add the Opal Magic Brocade Green wax. This wax is lighter, with a bit of a golden tone to it, so this is the "highlight of the highlights." Just add it to the parts you really want to highlight, such as the top of the Mirror Frame mould, the top of the heart, and the ends of the fern leaves. Pro Tip: Blend your waxes in spots using a clean finger. 

You may find as you work with your waxes that you get wax in places you don't want it, such as on the pumpkin. That is what the touch up paint is for! Let your wax cure for a bit and then come back with clean hands to touch up the green paint and let your pumpkin dry for a bit.

Now it's time to add the Prima flowers!! I chose the gray-green flowers from the Blue Illusion set and the Timeless Tales flowers from the Lost in Wonderland collection, as well as some small black flowers from Twilight. I prepped the flowers by curling the stems of the Timeless Tales flowers and tearing the green backs off of the other flowers. 

Then I used Heavy Body Gel to adhere the flowers and some sisal fibers to the pumpkin, adding a cluster to each side of the Mirror Frame mould. I snipped the stems off of the stemmed flowers and added them in different spots, so the cluster would appear exactly how I wanted it. I also added a flower and curled stem next to the pumpkin stem. 

I added some die cut leaves in a coordinating green-blue under some of the flowers, then added some Memory Hardware Pearls and black crystals for a bit of sparkle. And now you have a pretty Dark Academia dusty green pumpkin with gothic ornamentation, ferns and flowers. Until next time, happy crafting!

Adrienne

Shop the Supplies:

Scrapbook.com

I am an affiliate with Scrapbook.com. When you shop the links below, I receive a small commission from the affiliate, at no additional cost to you. This helps me balance the costs of the time and love I put into my projects and blog so I can continue to share my ideas with you for FREE. If you shop the links, thank you! I greatly appreciate it.

Below are Prima Marketing products that I used in this project.

Amazon

I am an affiliate with Amazon. When you shop the links below, I receive a small commission from the affiliate, at no additional cost to you. This helps me balance the costs of the time and love I put into my projects and blog so I can continue to share my ideas with you for FREE. If you shop the links, thank you! I greatly appreciate it.

Below are Prima Marketing products that I used for this project.