Pumpkins, Parties and Perky Pirates!

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Nothing says Halloween like stacks of festive, orange pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. With today's advances in hybrid gardening, artistic creativity and the invention of Funkins*, the opportunities for pumpkin adornment and decor is nearly endless. Now pumkins can be made and kept for years to come. Pumpkins have come a long way from the simple jack-o-lanterns of our youth.

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Some of my favorite Pumpkin Decorating Ideas are:
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-Cookie Cutter Pumpkins. using cookie cutters and a mallet to cut out shapes, faces & patterns. Ceramic & Linoleum Tools work great too! (See photo)

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-Holey Pumpkins. using a drill and different sized bits to bore out holes in the pumpkins; either in a pattern, or random holes all over. These end up looking almost like lace. You can also use this methos to carve words into the pumpkins. (see photo)

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-Glowing Black Pumpkins. Paint the pumpkins solid black, and then carve the pumpkin as usual. This creates an amazing glowing contrast when lit up at night.

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-Glittered Gourds. These sparkling pumpkins are spectacular and well as sophisticated. Thin some white glue or Modge Podge with a bit of water; and use it to paint the pumpkins with. Then pour the glitter on. The stems can be left plain, glittered a contrasting (or the same) color, or even painted. One of my favorite colors of Glittered Pumpkins is mixture of 3 parts orange, 1 part red or burgundy, 1 part iridescent. This makes for a rich, vibrant, Autumny colored pumpkin.

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-Gilded Pumpkins. You can create Gilded Pumpkins for yourself by spray painting your pumpkins with Gold, Copper or Silver. It is also nice to add silk leaves and a curled wire vine to the top of the stem. Be sure to paint those as well, so they look like they are part of the pumpkin. (Tip: cover the wire with floral tape first, or use already covered wires so that they paint will stick.)

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-Black & White Pumpkins. I like to start with a white pumpkin, and then use black acrylic paint, Sharpie* marker, or a paint pen. Sometimes I merely write a spooky greeting in cursive; and others I paint a pattern on the pumpkin. Anything from plain polka-dots or diamonds, to intricate tattoo-like tribal or swirly designs makes for gorgeous gourds- not to mention that painted pumpkins last throughout the entire Autumn season. These ideas also look great on orange pumpkins as well.

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-Stacked Pumpkins. This is a breeze! Find 2 or 3 pumpkins that sit well together, usually in varying sizes from big to little on top. The pumpkins can be used plain, or spruced up in a number of ways. They can be turned into pumpkin creatures, such as witches, cats, owls and other animals. Add pops and decorations to finish the features and clothing.

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-Painted Character Pumpkins. This is another quick and easy way to decorate your pumpkin without the mess. Not to mention that they last much longer than their carved companions. This is also a safe method for the smaller set to decorate their pumpkins.

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-Pumpkin Topiaries are made in much the same way as Stacked Pumpkins; but you use wooden dowels to skewer the pumpkins and hold them up. Place them in a proper sized urn or pot, and add some moss if desired. The dowels can be painted black, and even striped. Add a black crow for added ambiance. One of these is nice, but 2 or more is spectacular!

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-Masked Pumpkins are a quick and easy way to add character to your pumpkins. You need not even carve them -just add a mask and maybe a wig or hat to make instant pumpkin pals. (See photo)

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-Vegetable Pumpkin Characters are made by adding various veges, nuts, moss and other nature goodies as features. Again, they can be carved or left plain. Use wooden skewers and toothpicks to attach the additions. Think outside the box- radishes for eyeballs, zucchini for a warted nose, broccoli or kale for hair. Check out Martha Stewart's Website for years worth of ideas and awesome inspiration.

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-Sideways Pumpkin Creatures. Turn your pumpkin on its side to create an instant face. The stem makes for a great nose- and many times the natural lines and shape of the pumpkin will yield a perfect expression for your pumpkin's face. Then carve, paint or decorate your pumpkin in the way you like. If you choose to hollow and carve your Sideways Pumpkin Creature, create the opening in the bottom of the pumpkin, and place the candle on the bottom 'lid'; and then place the pumpkin face on top.

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-Crazy Kiddie Collage Pumpkins. Sit the kids down with their pumpkin and an assortment of craft supplies. Pipe cleaners, google eyes, foam shapes, buttons, holiday confetti, stickers, fabric, yarn, glitter, paint, tooth picks, cotton balls, nuts & bolts, beads, magazine pictures & character cut outs, scrapbooking embellishments and the like, make for a ton of fun for little crafters. The kids can place them randomly around the pumpkin or can use them to create faces for their Pumpkin Characters.
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I have done this craft for several years at our Annual Pumpkin Potluck Party with much success. Year after year the kids amaze me with their creativity! This is a super easy way for kids to safely and successfully decorate their pumpkins -and they can do it all by themselves! BONUS for us Moms! We usually do this with mini-pumpkins or the small to medium pie pumpkins; but this can be done with any size, shape or color pumpkin.

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Stacked Pumpkin Characters

These cuties were crafted by the incredibly creative folks over at Martha Stewart Magazine (& Website) They are the perfect example of how quick and easy you can create your own Stacked Pumpkin Creations. A few pumpkins, and a couple of costume props are all you need to craft your own.

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Holey Pumpkins Bat Man!

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I was gonna save these beauties for another post- but I figured I should pop them into this one to go along with all of these cool pumpkin ideas.

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They are uber easy to create with Ceramic Cutters (think mini cookie cutters) and a rubber mallet. These ones have a lace-like pattern, but different patterns create different effects. You can also use this idea combined with the black Painted Pumpkins with great results. When these are lit- they are amazing!

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My Own Little Creepy Critters!

This is a photo of my kiddos, taken just before Trick or Treating last Halloween ('08). Makayla was a Gothic Dark Fairy, and Jeremiah was a Pirate. (Which is fitting because he has played on the Pirates team for the last 2 years in T-Ball.)

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This year Miss Red will be a little Devil and Mr. Bump is going as the Bleeding Grim Reaper.

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I think I may end up being the Gypsy Witch or Vampire Witch (again!) this year. Its my good ol' stand by for the years that I don't have anything special to wear. And thankfully, conjuring up Witchy gear is never a problem for me!

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Over the years we have done some good family and couples costumes. (I wish I had a scanner to share the photos with you all here!) Each year we Trick Or Treat in the neighborhood where my Hubby (& his Mom) both grew up (& still live to this day.) It is a great Trick Or Treating neighborhood and alot of fun because (almost) everybody celebrates- BIG TIME! The other fun factor is that since many of the neighbors knew Steve & his Family growing up- they get a kick out of seeing him & our kids (& our crazy costumes) each year.

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The 1st year that my Hubby & I were together, we went as a Hooker & 'her' John. Except I wasn't the Hooker! Steve was such a good sport. He let me dress him up in my black mini-skirt, leather coat, purse and a belly showing crop top. We stuffed his sister's bra until he had 2 GIGANTIC torpedo shaped ta ta's! He looked HILARIOUS with my make-up and his goatee! I looked pretty funny myself, dressed in his suit & tie, with my own mustache and goatee painted on. I must've done a pretty good job because when my Dad looked at the pictures later- he asked who 'that guy' was! 'That guy' was ME!.

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Then another year we went as The Wizard Of Oz family. My daughter was an adorable Dorothy, with her handmade pinafore dress, red ruby slippers, and her basket with a stuffed Toto dog. My Hubby (who is a Sheet Metal Worker by trade) went as The Tin Man. He made a terrific costume out of a silver, metal trash can, gray shirt and pants and a tin cone hat. I was the simple minded Scarecrow complete with overalls and real straw hay, and my baby boy J.D. was the cutest little Cowardly Lion.

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The next year we went as the Flinstone & Rubble Family. He made J.D.'s costume, and I made the rest of them. Steve was Barney, J.D. was Bam Bam, our little red-headed Makayla was Pebbles, and I was Wilma. I made an awesome white fur dress, with one side strap and a jaggedy hemline. Big wooden 'pearl' beads topped off the outfit perfectly. Makayla sported a brown & black animal print dress, trimmed in black maribou; and I made her a fang tooth & beaded necklace & a big bone for her hair. (The teeth & bones were made from Fimo* clay)

I think that may have been our best one yet.

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The year after that Steve was Rob Zombie, J.D. was a Lil' Zombie, I was a Witch and Makayla was a Lil' Witch.

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Unfortunately now that me and Mr. Man are no longer together- the family & couples costumes are no more... but we still Trick Or Treat together and we always have a blast.

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One costume I had wanted to do together was to be (a sexy) Little Red Riding Hood, and to have him be my Big Bad Wolf. I wanted to put a spike collar around his neck and a chain to lead him around with. I guess I will have to put that one in the 'files' for a Halloween somewhere in the future when I am once again 'a couple' with someone. Lol.

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So what are you planning on being this Halloween? Anyone have any good costume ideas? Either from past or present, single, couple or family, adult or kid costumes. I would love to hear about them.

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~Danae