I love Halloween. It is my favorite holiday. I love scaring the bee-Jesus out of kids. Ok, I do take it easy on the little ones. Older kids are fair game! My house is that house in the hood where kids love to be scared! Every year, they come and expect something creepy! I hate to disappoint. But I also love making the most of my decorations and repurposing them through the fall season. Pumpkins are one of those things I love to reuse.
Last season, I made this little pumpkin man turned Frosty. He stuck around for 9 weeks. It was easy and cute and made a great greeter on my porch. Here’s how I did it.
Supplies
3 pumpkins, varied sizes to stack neatly
White gloss spray paint – 1 can
Hammer or rubber mallet
2 rail road stakes to stack the body
2 sticks for arms
Buttons for eyes and nose and straight pins
Hat and scarf of your choice – pins to tack it down
Cloves – enough for a smile
Large Nail
Step 1
Wipe pumpkins clean and spray with white paint. Use trap of cardboard under pumpkins and let them dry fully
Step 2
Gently pound stake into top of largest pumpkin to bore a hole. Remove stake and use it to pound hole into base and top of middle sized pumpkin. Then push stake into largest and middle pumpkin to connect them. Spin pumpkin to position it best for balance. Now take smallest pumpkin and bore hole into bottom of it with the other stake. Drive stake into base and push it into hole on top of middle one to connect it with stacked pumpkins.
Step 3
Bore holes on side of pumpkin body with nail to accommodate arms. Gently push them into place.
Step 4
Create face. Position button eyes and nose using pins. Then make a smile with cloves by gently pushing them into pumpkin’s surface.
Step 5
Place top hat upon his head and enjoy until New Years Day!
Seriously if it is cold enough, he will last you 8+ weeks. If it gets a little warm, he may start to sag. But he will be fun while he lasts!
But you are not done repurposing, when your little man has “melted”, take the pumpkin matter to the woods and let the critters feast on it. They will love you for sharing a winter harvest with them.
