Tricks & treats: 5 ways to decorate gourd-geous pumpkins
Halloween pumpkins have come a long way from triangle eyes and goofy grins, and there are now more ways to jazz up a jack-o’-lantern than all the princess and pirate costumes combined.
We asked five crafty bloggers with wicked good ideas to show off their spellbinding style and tell us how we can do the same.
Very pun-ny
“I wanted to put a fun spin on Halloween and not make it so scary,” said Kelly Mindell, founder of Studio DIY in Los Angeles, who came up with the witty and whimsical idea of “pun-kins”: pastel-painted pumpkins emblazoned with cheeky puns.
She painted her pumpkins with craft paint, printed out the puns on tattoo paper and transferred them onto her super-stylish squash.
“We took popular song lyrics or phrases and put a Halloween twist on them,” Mindell said. “The best part is, it’s very customizable and easy, so you can use an inside joke with your friends … or a quote you love from a movie and change it to whatever you want it to be.”
You can check out Mindell’s “Pun-Kins” post at StudioDIY.com.
Drill, baby drill
Put down the knives, pick up the power tools. Kathy Woodard and Steve Bates, founders of the Garden Glove blog, used a drill with different sized bits to create luminaria-style pumpkins that glow with cool, geometric patterns.
Tiny holes can look like a sprinkling of stardust, while larger circles shine bold and bright.
Another tip: Woodard suggests using glow sticks or simple LED stick-up lights inside the pumpkin instead of candles.
For a complete tutorial, read the Garden Glove post “DIY Pumpkin Carving With a Drill”
What a stud
Punk rock pumpkins, like the “punk-ins” designed by Julia Konya on the Cuckoo4Design blog, offer an edgy, and we think awesome, alternative to carving.
Konya began by painting her pumpkins with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey, Scandinavian Pink, Graphite and Old White, then used Rub ’n Buff on the stems and created patterns using triangle studs from JoAnn’s Fabric and spikes from Amazon.
You could also push round brass brads, or paper fasteners, into the pumpkin and create a design with a nailhead-inspired look.
Konya finished off her designs with a clever twist of gold wire.
For complete instructions, go to the “Studded Chalk Paint Pumpkins” post at Cuckoo4Design.
Cutesy creepy-crawly
Unless you’re a garden flower, a jack-’o-lantern carved like a giant snail is more sweet than scary.
In a Halloween post for the Alpha Mom blog, contributor Brenda Ponnay designed a darling 3-D snail using a pumpkin, a butternut squash, wooden skewers and ping-pong balls.
The pumpkin is hollowed out, turned on its side and carved with a spiral to create the shell. The butternut squash is sliced on the bottom to make the head, and the ping pong balls, one each on a skewer, become the eyes. A black marker finishes the eyes and draws on a smile.
For Ponnay’s complete directions, read “Snaily! The Terror of the Garden Jack O’Lanterns” at AlphaMom.com.
Decoupage it
Using Mod Podge glue and sealer — found in the glue aisle of craft stores — you can get creative with your decoupage. Use pieces of cut tissue paper, real leaves, newspaper strips or shapes cut from old books, magazines or sheet music.
Blogger and bestselling author Lauren Conrad spray painted a pumpkin white, cut out leaf shapes from tissue paper, applied Mod Podge to the dry surface area, placed the leaves and finished with a top layer of Mod Podge.
To see how she did it, check out her post at LaurenConrad.com.
Pumpkin magic: All that glitters
Impressive crafts that are easier than they look are the holy grail of DIY.
Behold, glitter pumpkins and gourds, a decidedly unghoulish way to usher in this holiday season.
An elegant mixture of simplicity with just a hint of shine, this craft requires only white glue, a sponge brush, clear crystal glitter and white-ish or fairy tale pumpkins.
Using a medium-sized sponge brush, apply glue over the top of the pumpkin and swipe down the sides. Then, working over a sheet of newspaper or a baking sheet, generously sprinkle the gluey area with glitter. As it dries the glue will become clear and the pumpkins will have a glossy sheen and a layer of sparkle. Scoop up the excess glitter for reuse.
The glitter pumpkins shine especially well in candlelight and look great adorning a festive entryway or holiday table. The best part: These pumpkins will easily last until Thanksgiving and look just as gorgeous.
Bonnie McCarthy contributes to the Los Angeles Times as a home and lifestyle design writer. She enjoys scouting for directional trends and reporting on what’s new and next. Follow her on Twitter @ThsAmericanHome
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