Learn how to Easily Paint Your Pumpkins

With each annual visit to the pumpkin patch, teachers, room mothers, scout troop leaders and parents alike often wonder how to make the most of the prize pumpkin that was chosen by a child.

Forget the messy and dangerous ideas of carving.  Pumpkin Painting is the perfect solution to a creative dilemma!
Painting silly, goofy or scary faces or other designs can be a fun, yet relatively simple activity for children and adults.
Preschool age children can even participate in creating their own designs for their pumpkins.  You certainly can't say that about carving pumpkins!
The easiest design to paint on a pumpkin is a traditional jack-o-lantern face. But here are some other ideas for festive designs:
- silly or goofy faces
- favorite cartoon characters
- fall leaves
- scarecrow
- witch
- princess
- turkey
- spider
- ghosts
- cats
- goblin

Painting pumpkins is a very economical craft as most supplies are readily available (you probably already have some of these in your home):
- washable markers
- acrylic craft paints
- newspaper
- spray sealer
- accessories such as raffia, jewelry, hats, etc.

Before beginning, decide what design you are going to paint and trace that design onto a clean pumpkin. You can freehand the design or select one of the many designs in the ultimate e-guide for pumpkin painting, Easy Pumpkin Painting.

Once you or your child has painted their first pumpkin, chances are you’ll want to paint an entire pumpkin family to proudly display at your home.

Pumpkin Painting is an annual family tradition at our house. We hope it will be at yours as well.

Easy Pumpkin Painting is a guide that contains step-by-step instructions and color photographs of exactly how to paint the cutest Halloween pumpkins.  It also contains templates that you can use to paint your first pumpkin in about an hour!  Easy Pumpkin Painting makes painting pumpkins, well, Easy!

A base of semi-circular heavy wire with feet at the bottom, which is covered by wide strips of orange crepe paper forms the base for this sleepy taffee apple favor.

The broomstick is made of rolled crepe paper with a fringed end.

The peaked hat is of orange crepe paper with fringed black hair.

Resting on the wire base with the stick thrust through is the taffee apple, which has features of licorice strips.

Besides the edible parts of this favor, you can get everything at MisterArt

Use pipe cleaner to form the body and tail of this Hallowe'en kitty, and glue to it a cut-out face.

She stands guard over individual table fortunes.

You can get everything you need to make this cat from Mister Art - click below to get great deals on arts & crafts supplies

If the place where the festivities are held is in the country, the lawn in front of house should be decorated with hanging lighted jack-o'-lanterns. The eyes, nose, mouth in each one should be different and as grotesque as possible. If there is a fence around the grounds, put a jack-o'-lantern on each post. Drape black above entrance to house; and, at center, over door, skull and cross-bones.

Entrance to house:

On Hallowe'en put a sign up telling guests to knock low and slow.

Hall:

The hall should be in total darkness except for light coming from jack-o'-lanterns of all shapes and sizes on tables, and hanging from doors and ceiling, or from frame in open fire-place. The hall should be draped in black; and the person who opens the door, and those who conduct guests to dressing-rooms, should all be gowned in black.

Parlors:

Decorate parlors with jack-o'-lanterns made from apples, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, etc., hanging them somewhere in room or place on stand, piano or mantle. Use also green branches, autumn leaves, apples, tomatoes, ears of corn—red and white—and drape room with red and yellow scrim and cheese-cloth. If possible, have an open fire in parlor—a grate fire will do. Have white portieres.

Place of mysteries :

The best for mystic rites is the barn; second best is an attic full of shadows; third best is a cellar into which guests descend immediately after removing wraps; fourth best is large hall; lastly the kitchen. If affair is held in barn, build a large bonfire in front for use of guests for after-supper sports. The place where the mysteries are performed should be decorated with gruesome things — jack-o'-lanterns, skulls and cross-bones, black draperies, witches made out of cardboard and suspended from the walls, cats, bats, owls, etc. The shades and spirits should flit about.

Dining-room:

The dining-room should have festoons of nuts, branches of oats, strings of cranberries, autumn leaves, goldenrod, odd lanterns, yellow chrysanthemums, etc. All the decorations of this room should be cheerful and suitable to the season. Charming maidens flit about serving the guests. For table center-piece use a large pumpkin with top cut off, pulp removed, and filled with water holding a large bunch of chrysanthemums or goldenrod. Bay leaves should be scattered over table and around the dishes. The menu card at each guest's plate should be of burnt leather bearing a sketch of a witch. After all unmask, lights in dining-should be turned up and room made brilliant.