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Pumpkins are one of the quintessential elements of the Halloween season. The orange gourds often are featured in decorative Halloween displays, as they not only represent the holiday, but they also create a brilliant pop of color. If you're creating a festive Halloween display in the front of your home, liven up the trees and make them a part of the decor by hanging pumpkins from them. Instead of using real pumpkins, opt for the artificial variety, which are easier to hang and can be used year after year.
A shadow jack-o-lantern is a pumpkin carved so that some of the pumpkin skin is still visible after the carving. This type of carving results in an eerie, shadowy illumination once a lit candle is placed inside the pumpkin. You can try this method for your next Halloween party or celebration to set your carved pumpkin apart from the basic, ordinary designs you see every year.
Carving a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern is more than just a Halloween tradition; it's an art. Instead of hacking a face into the front of your pumpkin with a butcher knife, create a cool jack-o-lantern by using a little creativity. Put a twist on the standard pumpkin carving patterns to create a more eye-catching design. Your home will stand out after the sun goes down and the parade of Halloween revelers commences.
One of the surest signs that Halloween's on the way is the pumpkins and gourds stacked up outside grocery stores. Since they come in all shapes and sizes, pumpkins can be turned into a variety of craft projects. Pumpkins and gourds will last up to a few weeks after picking, so make the most of them by starting on your craft projects as soon as possible.
Bat crafts commonly enhance a house's dreary, frightening Halloween décor. There are various ways to create these nocturnal winged creatures. A typical bat wing is made by cutting away a series of three or four semi-circles along the bottom of a horizontal oval. Add your own creative elements to projects or attach magnets or pin backings to smaller versions for refrigerator decorations or holiday clothing accessories.
Jack-o-lanterns have been around for centuries, and are thought to have originated in Ireland. Historically, jack-o-lanterns were carved from turnips, potatoes or large beets. However, early settlers in America found that pumpkins, a vegetable native to the United States, were more suitable for carving jack-o-lanterns. While jack-o-lanterns were once thought to ward off evil spirits, today they are typically carved during the month of October to use as decorations for the Halloween holiday. Jack-o-lanterns are often shaped into scary faces, although a variety of shapes can be carved, including animals, words and monsters.
Legends and myths surround bats. In fact, bats make up about one fifth of all mammalian species. Bats range in size from the smallest mammal to flying foxes with wingspans of up to 6 feet. Of over 1,200 species of bats, only three are vampire bats. While the facts about bats might not show them to be the stuff of nightmares, bats and Halloween are tied in culture. Various bat crafts serve as enjoyable Halloween projects.
Long before pumpkins took over as the Halloween carving vegetable of choice, early jack-o-lanterns in Ireland and Great Britain were carved out of any vegetables on hand, including turnips, beets and potatoes. In that sense, carving vegetables other than pumpkins for Halloween is actually quite traditional. Watermelon, because it has three layers of color from the rind to the pulp, carves beautifully and makes a perfect base for creepy -- and edible -- Halloween brains.
Pumpkins by definition qualify as fruits. About 90 percent of a pumpkin is water and they range in size from less than a pound to over a thousand pounds. While most pumpkins are orange, other colors include yellow, green and white. Roughly 80 percent of the US pumpkin supply is available in October. That supply, and the connection to Halloween makes them prime candidates for craft projects. White pumpkins lend unique characteristics to craft applications.
Pumpkin carving is an age-old Halloween tradition. The squash is ideal for the job because Halloween happens around the fall harvest when pumpkins are ripe and their size and shape make them great candidates for designs. In the spirit of the holiday, pumpkins are usually decorated with ghoulish, skeletal or silly faces. A fun variation on the activity could be to carve an animal silhouette, such as a horse head.
The tradition of the Jack-o'-Lantern began with carved turnips in Scotland and Ireland, and beets in England, based on a legend about Stingy Jack. Candles were placed in vegetables carved with faces and used to ward off Stingy Jack and other evil spirits. When immigrants traveled to America, the tradition came along but pumpkins, which were more readily available, replaced the turnips and beets. Make your own Jack-O'-Lantern as a fall decoration that has a historical past.
Halloween wouldn't be the same without eerie, glowing jack-o'-lanterns. Celebrate the tradition by decorating your own pumpkin for Halloween. Invite your children to help you make a jack-o'-lantern, but be sure to handle all the cutting yourself. Customize the jack-o'-lantern by enhancing it with craft items and display it on your front porch to welcome guests into your home. Fresh pumpkins can rot quickly, so don't make the jack-o'-lantern too far in advance or it will be spoiled by the big day.
Drawing on pumpkins is one way to decorate them without the mess of cutting the pumpkins open and carving them. With the use of colored markers, you can make the pumpkins as bright and cheery or as scary as you wish. One of the very few drawbacks to using markers is the colors will be limited -- light colors won't show up very well due to the color of the pumpkin. Blue, black, dark brown, purple and green markers, however, should show up well.
In nature, bats are harmless, beneficial insect eaters. Despite the good intentions of bats, their dark coloration, menacing features and mysterious nocturnal activity incite fear and stimulate the imagination. As a result, many find bats creepy, associating them with vampires and all things Halloween. With a few craft supplies, you can make an assortment of bat-related decorations to display throughout the Halloween season.
Halloween is the ideal time to let diets fall by the wayside. If you're going to enjoy sugary treats, you might as well make them Halloween themed. Buy pumpkin-shaped cookie cutters from a craft store or Halloween store. Mix up a batch of sugar cookies, since these can easily be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters. If you prefer more flavorful cookies, make up a batch of pumpkin- or spice-flavored cookies. Let the cookies cool completely before you frost them so the frosting doesn't melt.
Anyone can take a knife to a pumpkin, but getting an accurate design takes time and preparation. By using a stencil and the correct tools, you can create well-articualted designs that are spooky, funny, cute or whatever other emotion you might want your pumpkin to communicate. Carving pumpkins is a safe activity to employ with your kids just before Halloween and can get your family in the spirit of the holiday.
The most traditional method of decorating a pumpkin for Halloween is carving a Jack-o'-lantern. This poses a problem when working with preschool students, because you obviously cannot hand them knives. There are still many ways that you and your students can decorate pumpkins, and many of them are more fun than the standard carved pumpkin.
Halloween is celebrated every October 31 and is commonly traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer. Today's festivities include trick-or-treating, dressing up in costumes and navigating haunted houses. Many people also host Halloween parties, which can be geared toward adults, children or families. No matter the demographic, decorating and carving pumpkins, playing spooky games and offering Halloween-themed dishes will keep guests occupied and amused.
Jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins are a big part of Halloween decorating, and while many people stick to decorating pumpkins in traditional ways by carving smiling or scary faces into them, more extreme ways of decorating pumpkins are increasingly popular. Halloween pumpkin decorations can range from paint techniques to using materials you might not normally associate with pumpkin decorating. Use your imagination to create your own extreme Halloween pumpkin, and make the holiday even more exciting.
Pumpkins are a colorful way to decorate the house for Halloween. Although many people keep it traditional with a carved jack-o-lantern face and candle, you can decorate your Halloween pumpkin in various ways. One alternative incorporates Christmas lights, which offer a variety of color choices and are safer to use than candles.
Halloween decorations don't have to consist of ghosts, ghouls and other scary things. Pumpkins are a traditional Halloween decoration and are less scary than giant monsters or bleeding zombies. Whether you have small children or are just looking for classic holiday decorations, pumpkins are a versatile option. They are inexpensive, widely available and something everyone enjoys at this time of year.
While carving jack-o-lanterns remains a Halloween classic, more and more people are seeing the benefits of decorating their Halloween pumpkins without cutting into them. Decorated pumpkins last longer than carved jack-o-lanterns, especially indoors, and they don't involve cutting blades, making them ideal for children.
Though most people go the traditional route of buying pumpkins at pumpkin patches and carving them at home, you can do a lot with artificial pumpkins from arts and crafts stores. The great thing about artificial pumpkins is their diversity. With many shapes, sizes and colors, there are pumpkins that can be used for a variety of decorating needs. So, clear off a few spaces for Halloween, Thanksgiving and fall-related decorations, and fill your home with one of the season's most popular accessories.
Decorating the outside of your home isn't just for Christmastime. Many people choose to decorate both the inside and outside of their houses 12 months out of the year. Decorating your porch during the fall months can be both fun and relatively inexpensive. Because there are plenty of great things about that particular time of year, there are also many different ways that you could approach this task. Here are some simple ways that you could decorate your porch in the fall.
