Oh yeah—this is a quirky one. I decided to refresh a collection of faux pumpkins and gourds I’ve kept for years, plus a few long-forgotten craft supplies. The best part: these seasonal updates cost me nothing. I also discovered I don’t mind putting legwear on decorative items, so into the project went three pairs of pantyhose (or fishnets—call them what you like). I’d been meaning to try sliding fishnet legs over pumpkins for a spider-web-like effect for ages, and it finally happened.
While I was at it I also used craft paint and a Sharpie to refresh a few faux gourds for a brighter, more playful look.
Here are the materials I had laid out before starting. Years back I’d sprayed some of the gourds white and the white faux pumpkins had been sitting in my stash for a long time because they’re versatile for fall and Thanksgiving décor. I didn’t want to permanently alter them with Halloween-specific paint, so the fishnets were a perfect temporary, reusable update. Think of them like removable seasonal tattoos for pumpkins.
This was an extremely simple project—only a few minutes per faux pumpkin. I carefully slipped a pumpkin into one leg of the fishnets, pushing it down as far toward the toe as possible so the fabric would hug the shape. In practice the pumpkin goes in at the top of the pantyhose and is pushed down the leg toward the toe to create that fitted, web-like look.
After positioning the pumpkin, I trimmed the pantyhose at the bottom so there was enough length to wrap underneath and stay in place, then clipped the top. Thanks to the stretch and shrink of the material, even after removing the foot section the fishnet tightened around the stem and looked clean and fitted. I did two this way using different fishnet patterns—both were super quick to assemble.
Here’s a closer shot of the top so you can see how the stockings hug the pumpkin and snug around the stem, avoiding a big white gap. The trick is to push the pumpkin in as far as it will go and cut off as little fabric as possible so the net remains tight and fitted at the stem.
I’m partial to the diamond-pattern fishnet—the texture reads like a stylized spider web. The white fishnets are subtler and feel more like real spiderwebs; they’d look great on a chalkboard-style pumpkin or a bold orange one for more contrast. I also used some small foot sections I’d snipped off to wrap smaller gourds—cute, but I prefer the tighter fabric on the larger pumpkins for a crisper effect.
Now for the painted gourds: I used craft paints I already had and loosely brushed yellow and red on one of the previously white gourds to create a smeared, orange-toned finish.
I repeated the approach on a pear-shaped gourd, and painted a smaller pumpkin and a goose-neck gourd solid yellow. After the base coats dried, I added orange-red bands around each piece—two bands for most of them, and one wide band near the top of the squat pumpkin for variety.
Once dry, I took a red Sharpie outside and doodled simple patterns on the painted bands: triangles on the pear-shaped one, diamonds on the spiny gourd, and stripes on the others. They aren’t perfect—drawing on rounded surfaces shakes the hand sometimes—but the handmade doodle look is part of their charm.
I like that these are easily adjustable: if I change my mind I can spray them gold or white, or pick any other color. For now I’m enjoying the cheerful orange and yellow palette. The fishnet-covered pumpkins feel delightfully playful—my daughter Clara, who loves bugs, adores the spiderweb effect. I’m even thinking of adding small rubber spiders on top of a few for extra delight when she discovers them. We also grabbed some real pumpkins to carve, so more projects are on the horizon.
If you want more seasonal craft ideas, here are a collection of other fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving projects I’ve worked on over the years:
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