Day 3 of Dollar Store Pumpkin Week!  We’ve had rope and glitter and today is a simple distressed finish.  The same finish I’ve shared before.  Crackled with wood glue and then distressed with a glaze. 
The drastic change for this project is really clear when you put the before and after side by side:

Supplies:

What you need for this project is pretty common stuff (you probably already have everything at home):

White or School Glue (You could also use crackle medium if you wanted to spend more!)
Small paintbrushes
Latex or acrylic paint (In the final pumpkin color)
Dark brown craft paint for glaze
Grey or black paint for splatter (you could also use more of the brown color)
Old toothbrush
Small wooden branches
Hot Glue Gun 

First cover the pumpkin in white glue until it is just tacky.  The direction of the stroke marks will influence the direction of the crackling. 
Once the glue is tacky, coat in a thin layer of paint.  Again, paying attention to the direction of the brush strokes.
Allow the paint to dry and crackles will automatically appear. 
I didn’t share a ton of details since I’ve shared this tutorial before, and this time I created a  Facebook Live video demonstrating the technique if you want to see the process in real time:

I didn’t like the look of the small nubby little stems (which make these look like dollar store pumpkins) so I popped them off and found a few sticks in my yard that I cut down to use as stems. 
The crackle finish is pretty, but it doesn’t look truly distressed.   Once i had the crackle finish I wanted to age the pumpkin further, to give it more dimension and feel more authentic.

I used some watered down craft paint and spread it over the entire pumpkin, and then wiped most of it, leaving behind the brown color in only some areas.

After the glaze had dried, I used an old toothbrush to flick paint splatter onto the pumpkin. 
Finally I used a hot glue gun to attach the new stick stems. 
I really do love the new look. They look more expensive.  Like something you’d find at Magnolia Market! 
And it was nothing more than school glue and paint!!