Decorating Pumpkins Without Cutting

Pumpkin carving is a traditional task in Halloween and Harvest parties, but it can be very dangerous. Especially for kids (though one of the adults I was living with in college got stitches from carving a pumpkin). Therefore, it is the goal of this article to provide safe, easy, and fun pumpkin decorating without a knife that will keep everyone safe and happy.

The first step in any good craft is to gather your supplies. This keeps you from running around while you are in the middle of a craft, desperately trying to find your super glue or that next color of paint.

For these crafts, you will need the following supplies (though all of the supplies are not needed for each craft):

Tempura or acrylic paint
Paint brushes made for little hands
Felt in assorted colors
Safety scissors
Glitter
Confetti
Bells
Black construction paper
Hot glue

After you have gathered your supplies, thoroughly wash and dry your pumpkin so you have a clean slate to work your Halloween magic.

For a 'traditional' Halloween Jack O' Lantern, you can cut black construction paper into a toothy grin, pointy eyes, and a proper pumpkin's nose, and simply hot glue (get adult supervision) the pieces, and arrange them as you would wish onto your pumpkin. Save the 'scrap' pieces of construction paper, and use them as a stencil in which to paint a mouth, nose, and eyes onto another pumpkin. This makes two pumpkins with the effort it would take to decorate one.

For your next Jack O' Lantern, paint your pumpkin a solid color, and let it air dry overnight. The next day, paint a contrasting color onto it. You can make a checkerboard design, you can do pokadots of several different colors, or you can even turn your pumpkin into an entirely different Halloween spook.

Try doing a thick base of white on your pumpkin, and when it dries, paint round eyes on the pumpkin, and paint the stem black. If you are really creative, you can use something black to stand the pumpkin on, so at night it 'floats'. To take it a step further, paint black triangles around the base of the pumpkin to give the ghost a ragged look.

There are many different ways you can decorate your pumpkin for your next Halloween or harvest party that can be safe, fun, and very unique. For those of you who like Project Runway, use different pieces of felt, glitter, and hot glue to make a one-of-a-kind designer pumpkin. Add a pair of fancy high heeled shoes from the thrift store, and set the pumpkin on them for feet. Underneath the Jack O' Lantern (or would that be Jill O' Lantern) you can put a long strip of red felt to resemble a runway.

Enjoy your pumpkins, and be safe this Halloween season!