How to Make a DIY Donut Pumpkin


DIY Donut Pumpkin Painting: The Inspiration | DIY Playbook

Like many, we have a bit of a sweet tooth. And for Bridget, she likes to get her sugar dose first thing in the morning. Her sweet of choice? DONUTS. Lots of them.

Yep, this girl loves a good donut and whenever we travel to a new city she always convinces me to eat donuts & coffee for breakfast. #byebyediet

I mean look at all of the donut pics we’ve taken here on the blog.

It’s safe to say donuts are always a good idea on the DIY Playbook, and it was only fitting that we finally do a craft featuring B’s beloved pastry! (especially after seeing this adorable inspiration)

How to Paint a Donut Pumpkin

DIY Donut Pumpkin Painting - this little pumpkin is our finished product.
We made this wine chilling station out of a jack-o-latern! It really took our Halloween party up a notch.

Our September challenge as a Michaels Maker was to take a craft pumpkin and turn it into something special. We’re not exactly into spooky stuff (no horror movies for these two!), so we were in agreement that our craft should be fun and happy. Kinda like the wine cooler we created with a craft pumpkin last year.

This year we stuck with the party/entertaining theme and decided to create a pumpkin that is fun, happy, and bonus points…delicious!

Want to know how we got this adorable donut look on our craft pumpkin? Check out or DIY tutorial!

Here’s what you’ll need to make a DIY donut pumpkin.

Donut Pumpkin – Supplies

We used this Craft Pumpkin from Michaels for our DIY Donut Pumpkin Painting
Michael's has a great selection of pumpkins for DIY projects!

Donut Pumpkin – Steps

Step 1: Pick up a craft pumpkin from Michaels, or order one from Michaels.com. You’ll first want to paint on the donut’s “frosting.” We did white (vanilla), brown (chocolate), and pink (strawberry).  Make sure you just paint the top portion of the pumpkin and not the whole thing! That would be one heck of a frosted (& yummy!) donut. We did 2 light coats of paint and let it dry.

Step 2: Once your frosting is dry, it’s time to add the best part…the sprinkles! If you don’t want to keep washing your paint brushes, you’ll need to have a paint brush for every sprinkle color.  The sprinkles can be a tad tedious to paint on, but just like a donut ,they don’t have to be perfect, right? Have fun with it and add as many or as few as you want!

DIY Donut Pumpkin Painting: Finished Product. Doesn't it look delicious? | DIY Playbook
Make as many colors of the DIY Donut Pumpkin as your heart desires!

That’s it! Seriously, what an easy craft project! <—our favorite kind!

Want your DIY donut pumpkin with chocolate frosting and white icing? We made ours to match the donuts we were serving at our brunch. How cute is this setup?

We think these pumpkins should be showcased at your next brunch or breakfast party! Create a yummy spread of donuts (obvi), milk, coffee, and other breakfast goodies and let the entertaining begin.

We think the pink paint matches the pink frosting wonderfully!
We love this idea for mini-donut straws! Drink your milk and eat those donuts!

A breakfast party like this would be the perfect way to start a crisp autumn day! Display this gorgeous spread, fuel up on sugar, and then head out with your girls for a day of apple picking, tailgating, or some other fun fall activity! Heck, any day that starts off with a donut is bound to be a GREAT one in our playbook.

We know it’s only September 1st, but this donut pumpkin project was the perfect way to dip our toe into the fall season. We are pumped up for all of the activities (& deliciousness) that accompany our favorite season!

Bridget&Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.