Pumpkins with Bat Stamps
Give your pumpkins the perfect Halloween touch with bats made from black paper or paint. Use a white or light-color pumpkin for extra contrast, and get creative with the size and placement of the bats.
Skeleton Key Pumpkins
These pumpkins might be covered with skeleton keys, but they're far from scary. Use a permanent marker to sketch an old-fashioned key onto a small, medium, and large pumpkin. With a vegetable peeler , follow your sketch to slowly carve away the first few layers of pumpkin and reveal the key shapes. Display your pumpkins on top of vintage trunks or your porch steps for a classic look, then complete your cheery fall arrangement with bright yellow mums.
Book Page Pumpkins
Bring a literary touch to your Halloween decorating with this bookish pumpkin arrangement. Purchase four pumpkins in different sizes. Ensure that your pumpkins are room temperature and dry, then spray-paint one of them with black glossy paint and one of them with black matte paint. For the book page motif, tear pages out of old books and use a decoupage crafts glue to layer them onto additional pumpkins.
Family Name Pumpkins
This fall , welcome your friends and family with personalized no-carve pumpkins that display your family name. Pick enough pumpkins that you have one for each letter of your last name, then use glue and twine or crafts string to spell out your name. Arrange the letter pumpkins in a line and surround them with smaller decorated pumpkins.
Harvest Pumpkin Basket
There's no better way to capture the essence of autumn than with a simple basket filled with cute miniature pumpkins and gourds. Pick different colors , sizes, and shapes, then layer them in a wicker basket or old bowl and place the arrangement on a patio table or porch railing.
Video: How to Pick the Perfect Pumpkin
Watch how to pick the perfect size, shape, and texture of pumpkin. For unusually shaped or textured pumpkins, we offer some fun design ideas.
Pumpkin with Floating Candles
Setting the perfect autumn ambience starts with exquisite Cinderella pumpkins. Cinderella pumpkins are large and deeply lobed, making them ideal for holding water and floating tea lights . Hollow out the pumpkin and remove the top with scalloped cuts to emphasize its natural shape. Add water, light the floating candles , and let the moonlit magic (or mischief) begin.
Dinner Party-Theme Pumpkins
Jack-o'-lanterns get an elegant makeover from a fresh coat of black paint and sophisticated designs. Hollow out a large pumpkin and spray-paint black, making sure to cover every surface. Let dry completely, then use a metallic permanent marker to outline drawings of wine bottles, wine glasses , and goblets.
Following your metallic outline, use a vegetable peeler to remove the first few layers of paint and pumpkin until you?ve etched away about 1/3 of the shell. Use a black permanent marker to draw swirls and decorations on the bottles and glasses, then place a tea light inside each pumpkin. Arrange on your patio table or along your steps for a grown-up take on Halloween pumpkins .
Trick or Treat Pumpkins
It?s fun to create a strikingly sweet pumpkin grouping with a little masking tape, spray paint, and a drill. Use the tape to outline stripes, and cover the parts you?d like to remain orange; spray-paint black. Let dry completely, then remove the tape to reveal your design. Use a permanent marker to adorn each pumpkin with your favorite Halloween sayings, and arrange in a vintage metal washtub for a rustic feel.
Pumpkin Mouse House
From its Swiss cheese cutouts to its miniature residents, our funny mouse-house pumpkin packs a lot of charm. Just hollow out a large pumpkin, then use a power drill and 1/2- and 1-inch flat wood bits to cut holes in the pumpkin. Spray-paint the pumpkin yellow, making sure to cover the cut edges of the holes. Purchase plastic mice and place them in the holes and around the pumpkin.
See How to Make an Owl Pumpkin
Let this cute owl pumpkin haunt your porch this Halloween . We'll show you how simple he is to create!
No-Carve Animal Print Pumpkins
Put the carving kit away -- these trendsetting pumpkins require no messy hollowing or cutting. Instead, use patterned duct tape in animal prints, such as zebra and leopard, to create different patterns and designs on each pumpkin. Strips of black tape add simple and elegant accents to the fun patterns.
Green Lantern Gourds
Illuminate your Halloween decor with pretty and fresh luminaries made from large, smooth-skin gourds. Their green colors lend a fresh look to the season?s harvest motif. First, make a hole in the side of each gourd that?s large enough for your hand, then scrape out the inside. Pick your favorite design and use a pencil or ball-point pen to mark it on the skin.
Using an awl, paring knife , or crafts knife with a v-shape blade, carve out your designs. (You can also use a power drill with different-size bits.) Finally, tuck a strand of LED lights inside to light up the night.
Metallic Leaf Pumpkins
Bring beautiful shine to your home this Halloween with a pair of pretty metallic pumpkins. Collect fallen leaves and spray-paint them gold; let dry. Paint one pumpkin white and the other gold. When dry, use crafts glue to attach the metallic leaves to the white pumpkin, then arrange the pair together on your porch or front step.
Add Pumpkins Inside a Lantern
Transition your favorite glass lanterns from summer to fall by filling them with gourds and miniature pumpkins. Try adding cut paper silhouettes for extra drama, then set up on your porch or patio .
Pumpkin Stack
Add whimsy to your yard this fall with a colorful stack of pumpkins decorated with flowers, swirls, and dots. Find three flat-bottom pumpkins in graduated sizes and different colors . Without hollowing them out, use a 3/4-inch hole-saw bit and drill circles in different patterns and shapes. Switch the resulting "plugs" between different pumpkins for extra pops of color, then use a vegetable peeler to etch the swirls.
Finally, remove the stems from the two larger pumpkins and stack them up. Try placing them on an old wooden barrel or pedestal in your fall garden or next to your front door.
Light Bright Pumpkins
Give your porch a ghostly glow with a trio of shining pumpkins. You can use any kind of pumpkin, but we like the different colors and sizes of the Lumina, Long Island Cheese, and Jarrahdale types. Hollow out each pumpkin, making sure to scrape the sides smooth. Use a drill and a small bit to create different patterns of holes that will snugly fit the string lights . (We used a strand of 50 LED lights because they?re brighter than ordinary lights.) Finally, create a larger hole in the back so you can connect the cords to power.
Candy Corn Pumpkins
Place these colorful no-carve pumpkin decorations around your yard for a fun display this season. Choose cone-shape pumpkins and clean their surfaces. Spray-paint the bottoms and tops of the pumpkins, gradually getting lighter toward the middle to achieve the candy corn effect.
Editor's Tip: Cover stems with painter's tape to keep clean.
Stacked Pumpkin Message
Create a welcoming, no-carve pumpkin decoration for guests and trick-or-treaters this year.
Pick three short, wide pumpkins for this front porch display. Download and print the free Pumpkin Pattern, available below, onto transfer paper. Transfer one word per pumpkin, and use black acrylic or crafts paint to fill in the outline. Stack pumpkins on an urn laced with creepy vines or spooky spiderwebs for a festive entryway.
Editor's Tip: For an alternative method, transfer the pattern onto tracing paper. Then, tape the tracing paper pattern to the pumpkin, and outline the shape by puncturing the outline with tiny holes. Remove the pattern and use paint to fill in the outline.
Pumpkin Silhouettes
Encorporate large and small pumpkins into your front porch decoration with coordinating silhouette designs. Download our free template, available below, and trace the cat and mice onto a set of pumpkins. Or try other fun design ideas, such as a spiderweb with crawling spiders or a crescent moon with flying bats.
Spider Pumpkins
Create these life-size critters for a creepy lawn decoration. Choose orange or white medium-size round pumpkins to pull off this project. Poke four holes in each side of the pumpkins with an awl and attach jumbo black chenille stems to create spider legs. Use adhesive glue dots to connect white and black crafts foam circles for spider eyes. Place around the lawn for a frightful surprise.
Pumpkin-and-Gourd Wreath
Decorate your door with bright fall colors using pumpkins and gourds. Start with a straw wreath, then gather an assortment of small pumpkins and gourds. Tap a small nail into the bottom of each pumpkin and insert a sturdy toothpick. Coat the protruding end of the toothpick with hot glue and immediately stick into the straw wreath. Hot-glue faux fall leaves in gaps and around the edges of the wreath for more autumn hues.
Pumpkins on a Chair
Carve a monogram into pumpkins and place them on your front porch to welcome guests to your bewitching abode. Using a small, medium, and large pumpkin, carve the initial in different sizes and fonts. Layer the pumpkins on an old chair or stool to show off your handiwork.
Carved-Message Pumpkins
Enter if you dare. Welcome guests with spooky words of warning. Using stencils, trace the letters onto your uncarved pumpkins; scrape surrounding areas. Place the pumpkins on a walkway or driveway and watch passersby marvel.
Gourds & Pumpkins Display
Place a variety of pumpkins and gourds on a garden bench for an easy and attractive way to add fall beauty to your yard. Use different colors , sizes, and textures for an extra-special touch.
Pumpkin Phrase
For an entertaining pumpkin design, spell out a word or phrase. A spooky word like "eek" or "boo" makes for a creative Halloween decoration. For longer phrases, stick to one word per pumpkin.
Hanging Bat Pumpkins
Skip the carving and cast a spell by drawing bats on white pumpkins using a permanent marker. To hang, cut a length of thick jute and knot one end through a large washer. Drill a hole in the top and bottom of each pumpkin and use wire to pull the twine through the holes. The washer supports the pumpkin's weight; the jute loop attaches to a shepherd's hook.
Halloween House Numbers
Scrape your house number into a set of pumpkins and stack them together as a Halloween display at the door. Remove the stems from the pumpkins except for the one on top. Trace number stencils onto pumpkins using a crafts knife. Then, chisel the pumpkin skin out of the stenciled numbers, revealing the lighter pumpkin flesh beneath.
Pumpkin Greeting
What better way to welcome guests this fall season than with a wheelbarrow filled with pumpkins and gourds? Use a paint pen to write a friendly greeting on one of the larger pumpkins. Choose a variety of colors , shapes, and sizes to make the display especially pretty.
Editor's Tip: Add a jack-o'-lantern to the pile to get ready for Halloween .
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