Unique Pumpkin Decorating Ideas and Tips

Make your pumpkins stand out this Halloween by decorating yours in a fun and unique way.  Your neighbors will be oohhing and aahhing over your awesome pumpkin creation.  Read below for pumpkin selecting tips and how to create mummy pumpkins, Franken pumpkins, alien pumpkins and more.

• Have an idea of how you are going to decorate it before you pick a pumpkin.
• Find a pumpkin that has a shape that will work with your idea.   
• Don’t be afraid to choose a color other than traditional orange.  Having a different colored pumpkin makes yours instantly stand out. 
• Decorate a gourd instead of a pumpkin.
• Look for details on pumpkins such as stems, leaves, and unusual patterns on the rind.  These can add to your design.  Last year I found a pumpkin that had crusty growths in a circular shape that made it look like the face had hair around it.
• Decorate plastic pumpkins.  They are available at craft stores and can be used again and again and won’t rot away.

Dress your pumpkin in a Halloween costume by turning it into a mummy.   White pumpkins look ghostly and work best as mummies.  Other colors would be fine, though.  Find something to use as the body of the pumpkin.  Make sure it is sturdy enough to support the weight of your pumpkin.  I used a large vegetable can painted white.  An old crate or box painted white would work. 

Arms can be made from sticks or you can use pipe cleaners.  Glue google eyes on the pumpkin or draw your own eyes.  Then wrap the pumpkin and the pumpkin’s body in gauze.  Simple first aid gauze will work fine. 

For a spookier effect, use glow in the dark paint on the gauze.  For a gorier effect, use ketchup or paint to make the mummy look bloody.   

The shape of the pumpkin is important for making a Franken pumpkin. Choose one that is elongated rather than round. A green gourd in the right shape would work well as Frankenstein. Your pumpkin can be painted green to look like Frankenstein skin.

If you want Frankenstein to have a body, look for a box or can that has a clunky shape. Paint it black or brown to look like Frankenstein’s jacket. Pipe cleaners work for arms. Sticks look like arms also.  Draw a mouth on with a sharpie marker or with paint.

Get two big bolts attached to thick screws to stick near the base of the pumpkin. Any hardware store should carry them.

Use a knife to cut a scar on the top of the pumpkin’s head. Make it jagged and look like it was where the brain was inserted.  You can also paint a scar on by drawing a jagged line and putting small tick marks across it. 

Pick a pumpkin that has an odd shape.  Glue googly eyes onto the pumpkin.  Give it just one eye or three eyes or one big eye and one little eye.  You can even use lots of tiny wiggle eyes.  Or you could use tiny pumpkins as alien eyes.  Attach them to the big pumpkin using shish kabob skewers.

Form antennae out of pipe cleaner and stick them in the top of the pumpkin.  Find other alien looking items that can be attached to your pumpkin.     

• Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes in the pumpkins. Stars work well. So do bats and other spooky creatures.
• If you want a gross pumpkin, carve an open mouth and spread pumpkin seeds and pumpkin innards out of it to look like the pumpkin vomited it up.
• Put wigs, hats, glasses, jewelry, or scarfs on pumpkins to give them character.
• Use smaller pumpkins as props. Attach them to a larger pumpkin using skewers or long nails.
• Make eerie fog roll out of your pumpkin by putting a piece of dry ice in a cup of water inside the pumpkin. See link below for how to use dry ice.
• Use flashing pumpkin lights in your pumpkin. It is safer and looks cool too.
• Painting pumpkins can be easier than carving.  Paint your pumpkin black and draw a spider web on it.  Or paint your pumpkin silver and gold and have a bling pumpkin.  Paint a funny face on it. 
• Find a deformed or creepy looking pumpkin and put it in a jar to look like a strange specimen from a mad science collection.