Project Pumpkin

Find a few fun ways to use your traditional Halloween pumpkins and gourds.

As Halloween rolls around each year, one of the most prominent decorations to be found is the famous Jack-O’-Lantern. Truth be told, this long-standing tradition will likely always top the list of things to do with a pumpkin in October. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t many more ways to turn your seasonal purchase of pumpkins and gourds into an arts-and-crafts bonanza!

Try these unique ideas:

• A great addition to any Halloween-themed display is a vase full of fresh fall flowers – using a hollowed-out pumpkin as your vase! Bouquets of apricot-colored roses, cockscomb, hypericum berries, seeded eucalyptus and bittersweet vines will fit beautifully into a medium-sized pumpkin that has been 3/4 filled with water.
• Hollow out and carve a hole in the center of a few small pumpkins and gourds. Place a small candle inside each one. Add a few pinches of glitter on top to make these “princess candles” an attractive option for lighting front porches and walkways. The kids might just feel like they’re performing on stage with such an elaborate setup!
• Instead of straw baskets or glass bowls, opt to store this year’s Halloween candy in special containers made from hollowed-out pumpkins, a coffee filter lining and festive cellophane wrapping! If you use a large pumpkin, it would be perfect as a seasonal candy bin to leave on the front porch, should no one be home to greet trick-or-treaters.