10 Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

From carving, to painting, to doing something totally unique, here are ten pumpkin decorating ideas to use this Halloween.

1. Carve your pumpkin using a knife and stencil (or try free-hand). There are many pumpkin decorating ideas using this method. Traditional jack-o-lanterns are always popular, but you can be creative here and carve words, scenes or other figures into the pumpkin.
2. Need a safer pumpkin decorating idea? Have young children try painting jack-o-lantern faces onto the pumpkins, rather than risking injury by carving.
3. Paint your pumpkin white. After the paint has dried, use black paint to create abstract designs over the white. This gives a really interesting effect.
4. Use a linoleum cutter to carve a design into the pumpkin, without carving through the whole pumpkin. If you want to illuminate your design, you will have to carve the top of the pumpkin to remove the seeds from inside.
   
5. Gilded pumpkins can be made by painting a base coat of any color onto the pumpkin. I suggest black. Once dry, apply stickers of any shape around the pumpkin. Next, apply small pieces of gold and silver leaf and smooth with a soft cloth. Carefully remove the stickers with tweezers. Finally, apply a toner with a paintbrush.
   
6. Place a pumpkin in a large wrought iron planter or planter chandelier. This makes for a very festive pumpkin decorating idea.
   
7. Carve out the insides of miniature-sized pumpkins (jack-be-little pumpkins). Then create candle holders for votive candles.
8. Use self-adhesive ribbon. Wrap this around the pumpkin for a unique and rustic pumpkin decorating idea.
9. Decorate and paint a variety of pumpkins. Try gathering some pumpkins of all shapes & sizes and piling them inside an unused fireplace.
10. Create a snowman pumpkin. Just pile two or three pumpkins of different sizes on top of each other (largest on the bottom, smallest on the top), and add decorations, such as a scarf, hat, arms, etc. to complete your snowman.

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