How to Make Decorative Painted Caramel ‘Pumpkin’ Apples

Make these cute decorative caramel ‘pumpkin’ apples to add to your fall decor or tiered tray!

I used Dollar Tree mini foam pumpkins for this DIY. I had a bunch of them and thought they would look cute with caramel and sprinkles.

These pumpkins are about 3 inches wide by 2 inches tall. You can buy small foam pumpkins pretty much anywhere and they come in an assortment of sizes and colors. I used orange and red pumpkins. Dollar Tree also had green ones which I think would look great here but they were all out when I went back 🙁

I also splurged and bought polymer clay sprinkles on Etsy. They look just like real cupcake sprinkles and come in lots of different shapes and colors!

You can also decorate your pumpkins with faux nuts. These are generally made from natural corn cob bedding that is used for small animals. Yup, dried and crushed corn cobs look just like chopped nuts. I couldn’t find a bag in stores near me. It would be sold in pet supply stores but you can also buy it here (on Amazon) or pick up a smaller bag sold as faux nuts here on Etsy.

Check out the video above to learn how to make decorative Caramel apple pumpkins and see the full tutorial below.

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DIY Decorative Caramel ‘Pumpkin’ Apples – Video

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Supplies

• Small foam pumpkins
• Acrylic paint in light brown or classic caramel
• A paint brush
• Mod Podge in Gloss
• Sticks (or you can use dowels or popsicle sticks)
• Polymer clay sprinkles or faux nuts (optional)
• Paper cupcake liners, ribbon, or other decorations (optional)

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How to Make Decorative Caramel ‘Pumpkin’ Apples

Start by removing the stem from your mini foam pumpkins. Then push a stick into the center of the pumpkin.

To paint the pumpkins to look like caramel you’ll need to mix up some caramel color acrylic paint and Mod Podge.

Mix equal parts Gloss Mod Podge and Caramel color acrylic paint. Mod Podge adds thickness as well as glue to adhere faux sprinkles or faux chopped nuts.

Just a side note, Mod Podge dries clear so it will not change the color of your paint.

When mixing, fold the caramel paint slowly into the Mod Podge. I whipped mine together and that caused a lot of bubbles. I couldn’t totally avoid bubbles but slowly mixing the paint into the Mod Podge seemed to help.

Use a paintbrush and apply a generous amount for a thick ‘caramel’ look! Try to use short brush strokes and drizzle a generous amount of paint starting at the top of the pumpkin. Check out the video above to see how I applied the paint.

Don’t worry if the color drips to the bottom in spots, this should look like caramel so drips are okay.

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Add polymer clay sprinkles to freshly painted pumpkins before the paint sets up.

Then let your pumpkins dry completely (about 24 hours) before displaying them.

If you love this easy craft idea, Pin the image below to your Pinterest craft boards to come back to later. Then check out more Fall Craft Ideas.

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