Pumpkin Door Hanger Blanks: 5 Designs to Cut, Paint, and Sell This Fall
We know — it's July, it's 95 degrees in Georgia, and the last thing on your mind is a pumpkin. But here's the thing every experienced door hanger maker learns the hard way: customers start hanging fall decor the week after Labor Day. If you want pumpkins on porches in September, they need to be on your work table in July and August. The crafters who paint through the heat are the ones with full booths and stocked Etsy shops when the first cool front rolls in.
Why Pumpkins Outsell Every Other Fall Shape
A pumpkin isn't just a Halloween shape — that's exactly why it earns its keep. A well-painted pumpkin door hanger goes up September 1 and stays up through Thanksgiving. That's nearly three months of porch time, and buyers know it. When a customer is choosing between a design they can hang for two weeks and one they can hang for twelve, the pumpkin wins almost every time. It's also a forgiving shape to paint: round, simple, and recognizable even in a loose, hand-painted style. If you're newer to door hangers, fall is the friendliest season to start.
5 Pumpkin Designs That Sell
1. The sentiment pumpkin. A solid orange (or white — more on that below) pumpkin with hand-lettered or vinyl wording: "Welcome," "Happy Fall Y'all," "Hey There, Pumpkin." This is the bread-and-butter design, and it moves at every price point.
2. The buffalo plaid pumpkin. Black-and-white or black-and-orange plaid, painted or done with stencils. Plaid photographs beautifully, which matters when most of your sales start with someone scrolling.
3. The white farmhouse pumpkin. Whitewashed base, brown stem, a few greenery sprigs and a bow. Neutral fall decor keeps growing every year because it matches everything — some buyers skip orange entirely.
4. The floral pumpkin. A pumpkin with a swag of painted sunflowers or fall leaves across the bottom third. This one supports a higher price because the detail work shows.
5. The stacked trio. Three pumpkins stacked with a name or monogram on the middle one. Personalization is the easiest upsell in this business — a name adds $10–15 to your price for two minutes of vinyl work.
Which Blank to Paint Them On
You've got a couple of routes, depending on how you like to work.
If you want the pumpkin shape already cut for you, our 7-pack of 18" pumpkin blanks in 3/8" MDF is ready to paint straight out of the box — MDF takes paint smoothly and the 3/8" thickness feels substantial on a door. For a birch option, the 12-pack of birch pumpkin blanks pairs 15" pumpkins with little 5.5" minis, which make perfect tiered tray fillers or add-on items at your booth — sell the door hanger, then offer the matching mini.
If you'd rather paint your pumpkin on a circle (a classic look with a border painted around the edge), an 18" birch round in 1/4" is the standard door hanger canvas — sanded both sides, flat, no burn marks to sand off before you start.
One more thing worth adding to the cart: staple-proof backers. If you hang ribbon with staples, a backer keeps the staple from ever pulling through — one less thing to get a message about in October.
Price for the Season, Not the Piece
Because pumpkins hang for three months, don't price them like a two-week novelty. Most makers we work with land finished 18" pumpkin door hangers between $45 and $65, with personalization pushing them higher. Track your time on the first one — blank, paint, ribbon, and hours — and make sure you're paying yourself, not just covering supplies.
Get your blanks ordered, put on something cold to drink, and start painting pumpkins while it's still shorts weather. September you will be grateful. Questions about which pack fits your plans? Email us anytime at order@borowood.com — we answer for real, usually same day.
