Dollar Store Mosaic Pumpkin, Dollar Store Stone Planters and more Dollar Halloween Ideas

Sharing a couple of quick projects I completely recently that 

happen to be dollar store projects including this mosaic pumpkin.

It started when I decided to cover a couple of planters of 

artificial grass with stones. These grasses are the type

you can find in lots of stores where the fake grass is embedded in foam

and glued into a ceramic or clay pot. I didn't care for the pots they 

were in and hunted for other pots to stick them in but then just decided

to cover them with stones.

I grabbed a couple of bags of rocks from Dollar Tree.

I smeared the existing planters with a very thick layer of 

ceramic adhesive. I tinted my adhesive with a little 

brown Tints-all colorant so it wouldn't be stark white.

This adhesive is not recommend for constant water exposure

and I'm not sure if it can be used in areas that freeze.

We live in Florida so that's usually not a problem and I have

them out on our covered patio so they don't get wet, unless you

count the humidity!

After adhesive is smeared on, simply push the rocks into the adhesive.

It's easier to do sections at a time but I'm impatient and did it all at once

very carefully, except for the edges at the top and bottom.

Just make sure the adhesive is thick enough to really grab your rocks.

I forgot to take a "before" pic of the other planter but I applied the same

technique with this planter...I had two of them so you can see the

before on the right and after on the left.

When completely dry, I sprayed them with clear lacquer to bring the 

color out and add a glossy finish. I covered the artificial grass

with a plastic bag to keep the lacquer from getting on the leaves.

I have them out on our porch for a little extra color/greenery.

In my defense of using artificial greenery...I do have a live palm

tree out here as well!

While I was at the dollar store, Halloween decor was out so I snagged

a mini foam pumpkin. Wow! They used to have decent looking little faux 

pumpkins like I used for my studded dollar store pumpkins years ago. 

This one was pretty hideous, but... I bought it anyway.

As you might know, I'm a mosaic artist and had beautiful

red/orange stained glass scraps that I thought would be

perfect for this sad little pumpkin. I snipped the scraps into

little triangles.

I use Weldbond glue and I love it because it's non toxic and no

fumes but it is not an instant set glue. This is fine when I'm working 

on mosaics on a flat surface but on this guy I worked in sections

on it's side letting each section dry before moving to the next.

Glass is complete

I grouted with sand colored grout...cute, but...wasn't the look 

I had in mind...

So I painted the grout with orange acrylic paint...

better, but not exactly sold on it. 

And yes you can paint grout, I use this same technique for my 

octopus mosaic surfboard to get the red background color on the tentacles.

Simply paint, then quickly wipe away any excess paint from the tiles.

Lastly I added a wash of metallic gold over the orange paint and

this was more the look I had in mind.

You can see the DIY solar pumpkins I was working on the

background.

Before and after.

Now I realize everyone doesn't have access to stained glass pieces

but I'm thinking your could do the same process with glass stones,

pennies or even stones like the planters above. They had "pebble" sized

stones that were much smaller than the rocks I used on the planters.

I added the little mosaic pumpkin to other Fall decorations in 

our entryway.

While we are on the dollar store train, you might remember the dollar 

store spooky skull candlesticks I made a few years ago. 

One of my sister's wanted them so they live with her now.

I saw more skulls when at the dollar store, I kind of wish 

I had picked one up to mosaic it too!

My pumpkin is shown with the DIY large Halloween raven 

I also made from scratch and I tell you exactly how I made it!

I love the challenge of taking something simple, like a bag of rocks

or cheap foam pumpkin, and making it look like a million bucks...ok maybe not

a million but at least $10 bucks! lol

Thanks for reading about my dollar store ideas.

Visit my new online store for coastal and nature themed mosaic art, and

coastal ornaments. 

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Cheers!

~Lucy