I can’t let myself freak out that Halloween is about a week away. No, really. DON’T FREAK OUT. I just have an entire Skylanders costume to make for one very, very excited little boy. No pressure.
So instead I’m going to show you, my fellow procrastinators (or you super early birds already planning for next year), some super easy last-minute decorating ideas using everyone’s favorite gourd.
This first one was inspired by my friend Chelsey at ThePaperMama.com (swoon all over her beautiful creations!). She crafted a very adult-like Spooky Halloween Terrarium that inspired me to turn this idea into a kids craft.
We followed her tutorial, but filled the inside of ours with stuff from the kids section of the craft store.
Instead of the floral foam, we used some Model Magic. We used paper shreds (used for gift packaging) in place of the moss. Then we got some lollipop sticks (you can find them in the cake baking section), and stuck them to the back of adhesive foam shapes and stuck them in our Model Magic. We also hung some adhesive bats with jewelry wire from the top of the pumpkin.
We added a safe pumpkin light and a mini pumpkin for some pumpkin cannibal action. It’s a pumpkin eating a pumpkin! Ahhh! (The kids found that joke hilarious. Many laughs.)
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The next few come together with the help of mini-pumpkins. They are cheap! I found a bag of 4 of them for less than $3 at most big-box stores. These crafts came together with $24 in pumpkins.
First, I love this tall vase full of pumpkins and white lights. I got the vase with a 50% off coupon at Michaels, making it about $11. We just fetched the lights from the box of Christmas stuff. I can’t take any credit for this idea. I found it floating around Pinterest in various forms, and haven’t been able to track down an original source. If that’s you, let me know! Happy to link back.
I love this idea for those who want to forgo a traditional carved pumpkin on their front porch.
Also, think of other containers you already have that you can fill with mini pumpkins. What about a cake dome filled with pumpkins as an easy centerpiece?
These chalkboard pumpkins can say anything you want them to. Just pick up a can of chalkboard spray paint, put them on some cardboard outside, and give them a good coat.
It’s helpful if, after the paint dries, you first coat the entire pumpkin in a layer of chalk, then wipe it off. That will prime the chalkboard surface. It will be easier to write on the pumpkins after that, and will give them a great dusty look.
They go perfect with our Bixby the Black Cat Wreath!
This last idea is super fun. Once again, the creative cans of spray paint can do amazing things. This can of glow-in-the-dark spray paint really works! All I did here was spray a couple pairs of pumpkins, then freehand some eyes on them with Sharpie.
How fun is that?! We have them resting inside of windowsills. They would be great sitting inside bushes and on tree branches, too.
I was on The Broadcast last week showing off these ideas. Click through to check out the segments!