Things to Paint: Ideas for Pumpkins, Rocks, Mugs, Windows and More

79 pages

A–C 17

Apron Painting IdeasDesigns for a plain bib apron: the bib, the pockets, a child's apron, aprons for a cook or baker and for a gardener, painter or griller.
Birdhouse Painting Ideas for Wooden Boxes and Gourds60 designs for wooden birdhouses and gourds, simple, cute, little buildings and hand painted, each with its colours and the brush or tool.
Black Canvas Painting Ideas Where the Black Does Half the Work60 designs for a black canvas, from neon signs and northern lights to jellyfish and city lights in rain, each with its colours and tool.
Bowling Pin Art IdeasPainted bowling pins: winter and Christmas figures, fall and Halloween figures, animals, people in uniform, and patterns for the garden.
Burlap Painting IdeasDesigns for burlap canvases, runners, sacks, banners and door hangers: stenciled words, florals, farm animals, wreaths and seasons.
Candle Painting Ideas That Spiral, Wrap and Stack60 designs for decorating taper and pillar candles, easy, seasonal and lettered, each with its colours and the brush size.
Car Window Painting IdeasDesigns for a car's rear and side glass by occasion: graduation, game day, birthdays and weddings, holidays, each kept to an edge, a corner or a side pane.
CD Painting Ideas That Use the Hole, for Old Discs and Vinyl Records60 designs for old CDs and vinyl records that use the round shape and the centre hole, each with its colours and paint.
Ceiling Fan Blade Art IdeasDesigns for a blade off an old ceiling fan: dragonfly wings and feathers, garden signs, Santas and snowmen, fish and surfboards.
Christmas Pottery Painting IdeasChristmas designs sorted by piece: cookie plates, mugs, ornaments, ceramic trees and village houses, many built on the rim, well, handle or hanging hole.
Clipboard Painting IdeasDesigns for a plain clipboard: pictures built around the clip, patterns, names and words of your own, teacher and coach boards, and seasons.
Coaster Painting Ideas for Square and Round Blanks, Singly or in Sets56 designs for square and round coasters, singles and sets of four, each with its colours and where the pattern sits.
Coconut Painting IdeasDesigns for a coconut shell: faces built on its three pores, animals and bowls from a half shell, and pictures that wrap the whole shell.
Cornhole Paint IdeasDesigns for a pair of cornhole boards: pictures built around the hole, taped stripes, matched pairs and your own names and dates.
Cow Skull Art IdeasPainted designs for a real or cast cow skull: flowers and vines, desert skies, lines and dots, metal leaf and one color, and easy finishes.
Craft Stick Painting Ideas72 designs for craft sticks and paint stir sticks: single figures, pictures across a row, matching sets, Christmas and Halloween.
Crate Painting IdeasDesigns for a wooden crate: slat-by-slat stripes, stenciled words, toy and pet crates, garden crates and one picture across the front.

D–E 7

Dino Mask IdeasPaint schemes for a plain dinosaur mask: living animals, colors known from fossils, scale patterns, eyes and teeth, and felt horns, crests and frills.
Dollhouse Painting IdeasDesigns for a wooden dollhouse: outside walls and trim, roofs and doors, walls and floors room by room, tiny furniture and themed houses.
Easter Egg Painting Ideas for the Point, the Base and the Equator72 egg designs, from wax-resist patterns and animals to galaxy and gold-leaf speckle, each with its colours and the tool to use.
Easy 3 Piece Painting Ideas for Canvases Hung TogetherDesigns planned across two or three canvases: pairs, one picture across three, one subject three ways and stacks, each saying what goes where.
Easy Card Painting Ideas for a Blank Folded CardPainted fronts for a blank folded card, sorted by technique: washes, flowers, tape and wax resist, prints and plain brushwork.
Easy Face Painting Ideas for Kids, Sorted by Cheek, Forehead and Time87 face paint designs sorted by cheek, forehead, beside the eye and full face, each with its colours, its strokes and a rough time.
Easy Long Canvas Painting Ideas for a Tall or a Wide CanvasDesigns for one long, narrow canvas: subjects that are tall or long by nature, scenes read top to bottom, bands and blends.

F–K 8

Fire Hydrant Painting IdeasDesigns for the barrel of a fire hydrant: characters, animals, local color and holidays, most built on the bonnet, the side outlets and the front cap.
Glass Block Painting IdeasDesigns for a hollow craft glass block: silhouettes for a lit block, Christmas, winter scenes, fall and Halloween, flowers and everyday.
Glass Painting Ideas for Wine Glasses, Jars and Bottles70 designs for wine glasses, jars, bottles, tumblers and shot glasses, each with its colours, its place below the rim and the tool.
Glow in the Dark Pumpkin Painting IdeasNo-carve pumpkins planned for two looks, by day and after dark: skeletons and bones, webs and stars, thin outlines and faces that light up.
Hat Painting IdeasDesigns for baseball caps, graduation caps, cowboy and straw hats, witch and costume hats, and bucket hats.
Horseshoe Painting IdeasDesigns for a horseshoe kept as an ornament: patterns and colors, flowers, stars and flags, names and dates, and shoes joined into shapes.
Keyboard Painting IdeasDesigns for the key caps of a computer keyboard: one picture across the whole board, color plans by row, single keys and tiny pictures.
Kite Painting IdeasDesigns for a plain diamond kite: faces and animals, sky pictures, patterns in the four panels, and tails and bows.

M–P 22

Milk Can Paint IdeasDesigns for an old metal milk can, sorted by the part they use: round the drum, shoulder and neck, the lid as a hat, and words down the side.
Mini Canvas Painting Ideas Sized for a 7 to 10 cm Square100 designs sized for 7 to 10 cm canvases: single objects, tiny landscapes, sets of three and four, magnets and ornaments.
Mug Painting Ideas for a Pottery Studio, With Plates, Bowls and Vases120 paint-your-own-pottery designs for mugs, plates, bowls and vases, each with its colours, its placement and the brush or sponge.
Nutcracker Painting Ideas With Hat, Jacket, Trim and Base Colours50 colour schemes and characters for unfinished wooden nutcrackers, each with a parts list: hat, jacket, trim and base. Bearskin guard in scarlet · Royal blue guardsman · Father Christmas in red and white
Object Painting Ideas: Picture Frames and 13 More Objects200 designs: 40 for picture frames, the rest for masks, mirrors, guitars, tiles, mailboxes and eight more objects, each with colours, prep and tool.
Ornament Painting Ideas for Clear Balls, Ceramic and Wood Slices60 designs for clear balls, ceramic shapes and wood slices, from a swirled pour and a snowy village band to a fingerprint reindeer with a name and year.
Paddle Painting IdeasDesigns for a wooden paddle: keepsake paddles with your own letters, camp and cabin paddles, lake scenes, animals, and dips, bands and stripes.
Painted Gourds IdeasPaint-only designs for dried gourds, sorted by shape: bottle, long-necked, round, small and egg, plus Halloween and harvest.
Painted Jean Jacket IdeasDesigns for a jean jacket sorted by where they go: collar and cuffs, pocket flaps, the yoke and the back panel, with hearts for every part.
Painted Lampshade IdeasDesigns for a drum or cone lampshade: bands, silhouettes painted inside, florals, a child's room, and dots and sponge work.
Painted Light Bulb IdeasDesigns for a burnt-out light bulb kept as a decoration: ornaments that hang cap up, figures that stand cap down, animals and one-color finishes.
Painted Sign IdeasHand-painted wood signs sorted by where they hang: porch and front door, kitchen, garden and shed, a child's room, and the seasons.
Painted Stepping Stones IdeasDesigns for garden stepping stones: sets that make a path, round and square stones, flowers and leaves, and handprints with names and dates.
Paper Lantern Painting IdeasDesigns for round paper lanterns: planets, moons and other round things, animals and faces, flowers and branches, and sets for a string.
Parking Spot Painting Ideas for Senior Year, With Taping Notes60 senior parking space designs, from road-sign parodies to sunset stripes, each with its colours and how much taping it needs. Licence plate with your name · Koi pond seen from above · Red octagon with your own four letters
Peg Doll Painting IdeasDesigns for plain wooden peg dolls and blank nesting sets: families and workers, storybook folk, animals, seasons and holidays.
Piggy Bank Painting IdeasDesigns for a plain ceramic piggy bank: the pig as another animal, the pig in clothes, patterns around the belly and your own names and goals.
Pinecone Painting IdeasDesigns for pine cones: tips only, dipped cones, flowers cut from the base, animals and little trees, and sets by season.
Plant Pot Painting Ideas for the Collar, the Wall and the Saucer70 designs for terracotta pots and planters, easy, cute, sets, rim only and patterns, each with its colours, pot size and tool.
Pumpkin Face Painting IdeasNo-carve faces to paint on a pumpkin, sorted by expression: happy and silly, scary, sleepy and cute, animal faces and stitched monsters.
Pumpkin Painting Ideas That Use the Ribs and the Stem120 no-carve pumpkin designs, 33 of them funny, the rest scary, pink or easy, each with its colours and where it sits on the ribs or the stem. Cheeseburger in layers · Grumpy face with the stem as the nose · Pie chart of pumpkin pie
Puzzle Painting IdeasDesigns for a blank puzzle, single pieces, the back of an old puzzle, piece-shaped animals and wreaths of loose pieces.

R–S 11

Reverse Glass Painting IdeasPictures painted on the back of glass and seen from the front, each with its layers in order: outlines, flowers and birds, night skies, frame glass.
Rock Painting Ideas for Adults, Matched to the Shape of the Stone100 designs that start from a stone's shape, 29 of them for adults, from dot mandalas to cute ladybirds, each with its colours and placement.
Rug Painting IdeasPainted designs for a doormat, a flat-woven rug, a canvas floor cloth or a rug painted on a porch floor: borders, taped stripes and stencil repeats.
Serving Tray Painting IdeasDesigns for a wooden serving tray: rim and handles, one picture across the base, checks and tiles, a child's handprints, and seasons.
Shell Painting Ideas That Follow the Ribs, the Cup and the Spiral54 designs for scallops, oysters, cockles, limpets and mussels, each with its colours and the face of the shell it uses.
Shoe Painting Ideas for the Toe, the Side Panel and the Heel60 designs for canvas and leather shoes, easy, pen drawn, bold and two-shoe pairs, each with its colours and the panel it goes on.
Slate Painting IdeasDesigns for a roofing slate or a slate tile: pictures that use the two nail holes, house numbers and names, scenes on the dark ground and seasons.
Spirit Rock Painting IdeasDesigns for a school spirit rock: birthdays and shout-outs, game day, seniors and last days, thank-yous and seasons, each placed on the boulder.
Spoon Painting IdeasDesigns for a wooden spoon: puppets with the bowl as a face, garden markers, dipped and banded handles, and one for each season.
Storybook Character Pumpkin IdeasNo-carve pumpkins as characters from nursery rhymes, fables, fairy tales and classic books, each with its colors and what to add.
Surfboard Painting IdeasDesigns for a surfboard or a board-shaped wall sign: waves and sunsets, stripes, tropical leaves, sea life and mini boards.

T–W 14

Therian Mask Ideas to Draw Before You Paint80 animal mask designs to sketch, paint and felt: foxes, wolves, cats, deer and owls, plus colour schemes and markings.
Things to Draw on JeansDrawings for a pair of jeans, sorted by where they go: back pockets, hems and cuffs, seams and legs, knees and patches, plus easy marks for belt loops and rivets.
Things to Draw on T-ShirtsDrawings for a plain T-shirt and fabric markers: pocket-sized pictures, sleeve and hem bands, one big back piece, and shirts a class, a camp or a family finishes together.
Tin Can Painting IdeasDesigns for an empty food can: pencil cups, planters, lanterns of punched holes and sets of several cans, many using the rim, the ridges or the seam.
Tote Bag Painting Ideas That Use the Handles, Hem and Seams60 fabric-paint designs sized for a canvas tote: fruit repeats, line-art faces, checkerboard, plants, books and stencil lettering.
Wall Clock Painting IdeasFaces to paint on a blank wall clock or a wooden round: twelves of something, pictures the hands join in, numerals and marks, and simple faces.
Wicker Basket Painting IdeasDesigns that follow a basket's weave: dipped bases and banded rims, stripes counted in rows, Easter baskets and slatted wooden baskets.
Window Painting Ideas by Season, for Homes, Classrooms and Shopfronts70 seasonal designs for house, classroom and shop windows, each with its colours, its corner or border and the side to paint from.
Window Pane Painting IdeasScenes for an old wooden window hung as a picture: one scene across every pane, a picture a pane, one pane alone, or painted on the back.
Window Screen Painting IdeasScenes for the wire mesh of a window or door screen: cottages and gardens, boats and lighthouses, flowers and birds, seasons, each with its colors and layout.
Wine Bottle Painting IdeasDesigns for one empty bottle: lit from inside, Christmas and winter, fall and Halloween, figures from the shape, and easy finishes.
Wood Block Painting IdeasDesigns for plain wooden blocks and cubes: stacked figures, word and letter blocks, seasonal sets, tiny scenes and pattern blocks.
Wooden Cross Painting IdeasDesigns for a plain wooden cross: lettered verses, flowers and birds, patterns that start at the crossing, and keepsakes for a baptism or a wedding.
Wooden Letter Painting IdeasDesigns for a wooden craft letter: patterns that follow the strokes, a scene inside the letter, a child's door, a front door by season, and easy finishes.

You have the object already: a pumpkin from the patch, a smooth rock from the beach, a plain mug at a pottery cafe, a tote bag, a shop window in December. What you need is a design that suits its shape.

More about these tools

These lists are written object by object. Pumpkin designs use the ribs and the stem, rock designs start from the outline of the stone, and mug designs wrap round a curve and leave the rim alone. A folded card, a long canvas and a set of three canvases have lists of their own. Each idea has a note on placement. The guides also say plainly where to read the paint maker's label instead of trusting a list, because which paint survives rain, washing or skin is a question for the label. Pick your object, press the button and lock the designs you like.