Everyone knows (and has probably participated at least a time or two) in the age old tradition of carving Jack-o-lanterns.  It is one of our Halloween traditions.  We never did them as kids (ok, not never, but in my whole 18+ years at home I can count on one hand the number of times we made Jack-o-lanterns) because my mom didn’t like the mess and they didn’t last, not to mention the time and work that goes into them.  When My Mr. Right and I got married, we talked about traditions we wanted to have with our kids.  Some were ones we were bringing from our childhoods and some were ones we wanted to start on our own.  So, we did from the very beginning.  Carving Jack-o-lanterns was a tradition we chose to start with our family.  But, maybe you’re like my mom and don’t want the mess of carving Jack-o-lanterns.  Don’t worry, you can still get your pumpkin fix this Halloween.  Here are some other ways to decorate pumpkins, real and fake:

1)  Paint.  Whether you spray paint your collect or get a little more artsy with some acrylic paints, the choice is yours.  You can combine techniques and methods to achieve some really cool pumpkins.  Apartment Therapy has some fun ideas.

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2)  Glitter.  I am loving the sparkle and bling that’s all the rage this year.  But don’t overdo it.  A little sparkle can go a long ways…

3)  Ribbons.  Grab your glue gun and go to town.  Add some pizzazz with some ric rac, satin, grosgrain or whatever else suits your fancy.

4)  Puff Paints.  For a little more control and intricate detail, use puff paints to squeeze your design on to your pumpkin.  Young House Love has a great tutorial and ideas on what to put on your pumpkins.

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5)  Rub on decals.  Simple and mess-free.  Choose your design and rub it on to your pumpkin.  No drying time.  They are ready to go in a pinch and look fantastic.  A Cultivated Nest has some wonderful examples.

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6)  Stamps.  With some patience, you can use Stazon ink and some of your favorite Halloween themed stamps to decorate your pumpkins.  This would be a good way to incorporate some decorated gourds into your Halloween.

7)  Rhinestones.  Bling out your pumpkins with some spooky colored rhinestones for an added bit of sparkle.  Loving that spider web…

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8)  Sequins.  Sequins have never looked so good.  A small bag of sequins and some Halloween colored straight pins would work wonders on a plain pumpkin.  Simply use a straight pin to secure each sequin to your pumpkin.  Sparkle and texture, love it.  Making Lemonade will show you how.

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9)  Fabric.  Use some fun, spooky fabric and mod podge to glue your fabric to the pumpkins.  Easy to do and completely customizable with your choice of fabric.

10)  Decoupage.  Print out some clip art, clip them down and mod podge your clippings to your pumpkin.  A fun photo collage from Halloweens past might make a fun, unique display.  Don’t stop there though!  Decoupage some pretty fall leaves onto your pumpkin.  Or some vellum decals.  Or use tissue paper with some fun patterns like Kimberly did.  Go crazy.

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11)  Thumb tacks.  This is genius.  Cute and easy.  You can spray paint your thumb tacks any color you want for some more variation.  There’s a great tutorial at Madigan Made.

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12)  Polka Dots.  Grab your power tools and make this cute little pumpkin.  All you need is the drill and drill bits.

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13)  Chalkboard paint.  Paint up your pumpkins with some chalkboard paint and then use chalk to decorate.  Want to change it up a little?  Erase your pumpkin and you’ve got a blank slate to decorate again!

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14)  Stickers.  If you have little ones, this would be a fantastic diversion while you do your stickers (or whatever), let your little one do their own pumpkin.  Your little one gets his Elmo pumpkin and you don’t have to dissuade your stubborn little pumpkin to leave your stickers alone.  There’s a tutorial at Babble.com.

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15)  Flowers.  Whether you opt for real blooms or ones of the silk variety, you can create all kinds of pretty arrangements with this combination  Use your pumpkin as a standard vase or get a little more creative and put them all over the outside.  BHG.com will show you how.

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UPDATED: Sorry I didn’t have time to add features yesterday. Basically, it was because I spent the last 6 months procrastinating and had to use a Groupon before next week when it expired. So, I spent all day putting everything together so I could make my order. Whew! It was a long day. But, here are a few features from last week’s party. There were soo many good projects shared (in our biggest party yet!), it was hard to only pick a few. But… I did my best.

The only rules are:
1.  Keep it family friendly, please.
2.  Please don’t link up a commercial site.
3.  Mingle.  No one likes a wall flower.  Visit some of the other links.

If you have Halloween themed projects, you can link them to the Halloween Link Party too!  And don’t forget to enter the costume contest!  P.S. the Say It On The Wall Giveaway is still open through the weekend.  Come on over and enter for some free vinyl.  And… GO!

This year, I have a thing for witches.  Not creepy, tormenting, evil witches.  The cute witches.  You know, the ones with the cute, wacky hats, the pointy black boots, the broomsticks, the striped stockings, the frizzy hair and even the spell books.  They just don’t use the spell books for evil…  Only good spell-casting witches here…

So, I decided I need some of those cute, pointy hats…  And I came up with a way to do it for less than $5.  I’d call that a win-win situation.
 
Here’s the How:
Supplies-
– Floral Cone (I found mine at Dollar Tree)
– Black Felt large enough to cover your cones (I used the leftovers from the car play mat I made back in March).  You could probably use two 9×12 sheets for one hat.  Thee sheets for two hats, four sheets for three hats, five sheets for four hats and seven sheets for five hats.  (Basically, you’ll need about one and a quarter sheet per hat).
–  Ribbon or other embellishments to decorate your hat with
–  Hot glue and glue sticks

1)  Start by unwrapping your floral cone.  Wrap the black felt around the cone.  You may have to do some manipulating to get it to end in a point.  Hot glue one side of the felt and stick it to the cone.  Wrap the felt around the cone and glue the other end.
 
2)  Fold all the excess at the bottom over the bottom of the cone and glue it down.  You’ll need enough to stick the felt to more of the felt.  It doesn’t stick well to the styrofoam cone. 

3)  Cut a large circle from another sheet of felt.  How big is up to you and how many hats you are making, but it should be bigger than the base of your floral cone.  The bigger it is the more brim your hat will have.  And, as you can see, it doesn’t have to be a perfect circle.  Or even close.

4)  Spread glue over the base of the floral cone and stick it in the middle of the circle you just cut.  Press firmly for a few seconds while it dries.
 
5)  Wrap ribbon around the base of the cone where it meets the brim.  Secure with hot glue.  Embellish your hats any way you like.