Summary: I love fall! With its fantastic colors, smells, and textures, and Halloween it’s one of my most favorite seasons. I just think there should be more days when adults are permitted to dress up and take on a new persona with some fantastic costumes! Here’s a list of 23 ideas to decorate your pumpkins for Halloween and 3 alternate uses for pumpkins: Traditional carving (BONUS: bake up the seeds with a little salt to snack on while decorating) 2. Power drill holes to create patterns or faces 3. Paint instead of carve (my youngest chose to create a self-portrait and the oldest carved and painted) 4. Sculpt with clay - form eyes, the ears, noses, and mouths 5. Recycle - Use old toilet paper rolls and paper bags to make hats, scarves, tiaras, and more for your pumpkin creations 6. Beads & Buttons - Glue on for effect 7. Duct tape - use your imagination! 8. Sharpie marker drawings 9. Push pins faces 10. Glitter and glue 11. Artificial flowers or pieces of nature (twigs, leaves) 12. Fabric scraps for patchwork pumpkins or clothing 13. Cotton balls - big, small, colored and white could become bushy eyebrows, hair, fuzzy teeth 14. Pom poms - mosaics, traditional inspiration 15. Pipe cleaners - fairy wings, hats, shapes for facial elements 16. Halloween Stickers, colored dots and stars 17. Glue and tissue paper for textured looks 18. Jewels/small rocks - texture and bling 19. Foam - easy to cut and glue for little hands 20. Feathers - head pieces, beards, mustaches 21. Ghost Pumpkin - drape white fabric over the pumpkin to create a ghost 22. Candy - glue on candy corn, gumdrops, chocolates, gummy worms, and anything other candy of the season 23. Scarecrows - add a body to any of the pumpkins above or use your imagination to dream up another Other pumpkin ideas suggested by my kids Candy Dishes - cut in half, scoop out the seeds and line the inside with plastic or bowls 2. Punch Bowl - cut off the top, hollow out the insides, drop in some dry ice, and add your favorite punch 3. Treats - bake and use fresh pumpkin to make delicious pie, cookies, cakes, and smoothies Enjoy this week before Halloween to engage your kids critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well as sparking their artistic genius. I would love to see all your pumpkin creations!
