Creative Ways to Decorate Pumpkins

Five Alternatives to Jack O' Lanterns, No Cutting Required

Sep 12, 2008 Karen Perkins

Carving isn't the only option for decorating Halloween pumpkins. Get creative with paint, glue and personality.

Forget about drawing a spooky face. Forget about making straight cuts. Forget about the mess. You may never carve another jack o’lantern again after looking at these five ideas for decorating pumpkins. From plainly simple to majorly decked-out, one of these looks is sure to fit your style, budget and time constraints. Since there is no carving involved, use them to decorate you home until Halloween is over or save them for a spook-tacular holiday bash.

Colorful Pumpkins for Halloween

You can do so many things with paint. One of them is taking pumpkin patch selections from ordinary orange to unexpected color choices. Before you start, make sure the pumpkins are clean and dry. Apply a paint sealer first to prevent flaking. Then get painting, using acrylic paints in colors of your choice. Stick with one color – black, perhaps – or multiple shades for a surprising rainbow of pumpkins.

Making Metallic Pumpkins

Like using bright colors, painting pumpkins in gold, silver and other metallic shades completely alters the look they bring to your Halloween displays. More dressy than scary, these glammed-up gourds look just as good decorating a holiday table as they do greeting guests by the front door. Prepare pumpkins in the same way you would for painting in other colors.

Stenciling On Pumpkins

Thanks to numerous designs available, stencils allow creative juices to flow when it comes to decorating pumpkins. Go formal with patterns of lace and flourishes, playful with stripes and polka dots or creepy with spiders and bats. Draw your own stencil design, or search online for a template to use.

Monogramming Pumpkins

Monograms make everything seem a little more special, even pumpkins. Instead of carving a random face, personalize one with your family’s last-name initial or make several using the first letter of everyone’s name.

1. Print off letters in the font and size of your choice.
2. Cut them out using a utility knife.
3. Tape paper to the front of the pumpkin.
4. Using a stencil brush or paint pen, fill in the letter.

This technique also works as a unique way to display house number or for spelling out short messages like, “BOO.”

Embellishing Pumpkin Designs

For a look that doesn’t involve paint, you can embellish plain pumpkins with almost anything. Use thumbtacks, nail heads, or scrapbooking brads to create textural designs. Dried leaves, twigs and other seasonal objects glued on make festive, although not spooky, fall displays. Even themed stickers will work, especially for a fun kid’s craft project.

The copyright of the article Creative Ways to Decorate Pumpkins in Entertaining is owned by Karen Perkins. Permission to republish Creative Ways to Decorate Pumpkins in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Dress up a pumpkin without carving

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