It’s pumpkin-picking season! A time when kids young and old travel out to their favorite pumpkin patch to pick the most perfect, or most imperfect, autumn pumpkin. As your porch quickly becomes the gathering place for all these gourds, why not try some new alternatives to the traditional Halloween carving parties. It just might save you the goopy, stringy mess now and the mildewy, mushy pumpkins later. There are so many amazing, clever, beautiful options for decorating with pumpkins! Here are just a few that I loved. For even more, be sure and check out our Halloween board on Pinterest.

Sharp(ie) dressed pumpkins

Don’t want to have to purchase a set of pumpkin carving tools this year? Don’t want to scrape out the guts of that pumpkin? Want to create an artful decoration for your front porch instead? All you need is a Sharpie and a few patterns! Simply clean up that pumpkin, dry it off and then trace, or freehand a beautiful pattern onto the rotund gourd. Ideas for designs can be as simple or lavish as you want. A naturally white pumpkin would look stunning with an artistically drawn black monogram. Grab your entire color collection of sharpies and let your children create their own rainbow of designs. The popular patterns of India’s mehndi art would also create stunning pumpkins perfect for an autumn tablescape or even front porch decor to last throughout the autumn months. My favorite design was the family of Sharpie-drawn owls, created in a sugar skull-type pattern. 

Glitz and glam

Transform that boring old pumpkin into a simple-yet-stunning work of art this year. Instead of reaching for the carving tools, pull out your crafting supplies and grab everything that shimmers and shines. Adding glitter to a pumpkin is a wonderful, low-cost way to further enhance your autumn decor, especially when you are hoping for a no-carve pumpkin display. Any color of glitter would work, too. Maybe even try layers of glitter colors for a candy corn look. Leftover jewels and crystals and beads could also transform an ordinary pumpkin into a lovely conversation piece. Even a string of gold or silver beads left over from Christmas can be adhered to a pumpkin for some beautiful bling. Create a simple spiderweb pattern with glue, pile on the glitter and add a glittered plastic spider for a perfectly creepy effect. Don’t forget to spruce up that stem, too. 

Kid-friendly ideas

Going for a no-carve Halloween? Don’t let your kids feel left out of the pumpkin decorating. There are dozens of clever ways children can decorate their hand-picked pumpkins. Gather up some googly eyes, bottles of glue, and maybe even some old strips of gauzy material or burlap. Let the kiddos create pumpkin mummies. Glue on the eyes and then let the kids wrap the pumpkins in the glue-soaked material strips like papier mâché. Grab some Washi Tape or even patterned Duct tape and let the kids wrap the pumpkins in various sticky patterns. Let the kids gather up some of the fallen leaves and spray paint them in their favorite colors. Once dried, let them glue them onto the pumpkin. Break out the paints and let your children create their own artwork. 

– Jennifer Durrant, Daily Herald