Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 222 Comments

Four No-Cut Pumpkin Decorating Ideas For Kids

Since one-year-olds aren’t really “of age” when it comes to pumpkin carving, we’ve been trying to figure out a way to involve Clara in pumpkin decorating this year. And she deserved a promotion from last year’s job as hand model:

Pumpkin Hand Tracing

Pumpkin Hands Done Light

So a few days ago we finally figured out a way for Clara’s hand to come in, um, handy again. But first – let’s introduce our subjects. We’ll call them Big Brother, Middle Child, and Little Piggy.

Pumpkins 1 Before

On Monday night I broke out my favorite all-purpose medium (aka painter’s tape) and marked out a traditional jack-o-lantern stencil on Middle Child.

Pumpkins 2 Face Tape

Then with an exacto knife I cut out the pattern carefully (okay, not that carefully – I sliced into the pumpkin a bit) and peeled away the extra tape.

Pumpkins 3 Cutting Face

Voila. He’s not done – just ready to be painted. Do you see where we’re going with this?

Pumpkins 4 Face Done

For Little Piggy I used a ruler to slice some thin strips of painter’s tape and created a stripe pattern all around the pumpkin.

Pumpkins 5 Striped Pumpkin

And for Big Brother we decided to go with a P to represent the whole Petersik family of four (four-leggers count in our house – so this isn’t a baby announcement).

Pumpkins 6 P Taped

A few more cuts later, and our trio of pumpkins were ready to meet their artist.

Pumpkins 8 Tape Is Done

And here she is now. Stripped down to a diaper and ready to make a mess.

Pumpkins 9 Clara Ready

We poured out some Crayola Washable Paints on a few paper plates and with some minor urging, Clara delicately started coloring her orange canvas.

Pumpkins 10 Clara Dipping

Pumpkins 11 Clara Diving In

She grew a bit tired of touching the pumpkins after the first two (she liked just dabbing her hands in the paint instead), so Sherry took over the task of painting Big Brother. Which was probably for the best since we decided that a rough circle around the monogram might be fun (and there was no way little miss toddler hands could contain herself to such a strict parameter).

Pumpkins 15 Painted P

The verdict? Clara seemed to have a blast. But eventually we got the “all dawn!” signal (aka: all done) and decided to call our art session officially complete.

Pumpkins 13 Clara All Done

Not before snapping a few more cute pics, of course.

Pumpkins 14 Clara All Done

Once Sherry had whisked Clara off to the bathtub, I got to seeing what our artiste had accomplished. Yup, it was tape-peeling time…

Pumpkins 16 All 3 Painted

I carefully peeled of the painter’s tape to reveal our final result (with the paint still wet, since we feared that peeling it off once the paint was dry would result in the paint peeling off in chunks). Behold: Psychedelic pumpkins!

Pumpkins Outside

Sure, they’re not über sophisticated – but they were fun. And we think white pumpkins + a more refined color palette (yellow & gray? emerald and navy? teal & grellow?) could be really fun instead of the rainbow-inspired color scheme that Clara chose. Oh and we sprayed them over with a sealer (we had Aileen’s Gloss Spray Acrylic Sealer around, so hopefully that’ll do the trick) because this paint is washable, so we don’t want a rainstorm to send colors bleeding all over our bench (hopefully our porch awning + sealer = enough protection).

And on the subject of pumpkins, let’s take a walk down memory lane. You’ve already seen our handprint-eyed jack-o-lantern from 2010 (first pic) but that was actually in addition to the crazy puffy painted versions that we also did last year (without Clara’s help). I think they’re our favorites of all time – and they could be fun to do with kids too.

Pumpkins Final 1

In 2009 we went the creepy route and painted insects on white pumpkins (and yes, monograms or initials tend to be a theme for us – but kids could have fun painting these too).

Halloween Porch Pumpkins

You can even watch that pumpkin project on time lapse video:

And last but not least, here’s one where we actually cut our pumpkins. In 2008 we tried our hand at intricate carvings – only one of which really worked out that well, if you ask me. Which one? The monogram of course. Wow, we really do like to see letters on pumpkins don’t we?

Johnsdamaskpumpkinsmall

Monogrammedpumpkinforweb

So, with all that said (and shown) – what are you guys doing for pumpkins this year? We’d love to see links and photos if you’ve got ’em. Or if you have any great tips for including kids and toddlers in the festivities, I’m sure Clara will thank you when next Halloween rolls around…

Psst- We had some fall fun this past weekend (more over on Young House Life).

Comments

  1. Anne B. says

    Your monogram J&S pumpkin inspired my pumpkin carving this year!
    I wish I could share it on here- turned out really cute!

    Love the painted ones with little Clara!

    Reply

  3. laxsupermom says

    I did a painted pumpkin this year too. I did mine so early that I didn’t want it to be mush before Halloween. It looks like your middle child’s albino cousin.(A stenciled face, but in white.) Unfortunately I don’t have a link to it, because I haven’t posted our pumpkin pics yet this year.

    Love your psychedelic pumpkins! Very fun! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  4. Tara says

    Since our twins’ birthday is November 1st and we’re having a pumpkin themed party, I’m actually painting “Happy Birthday” (with purple paint. Our party colors are orange and purple) on our largest pumpkin and tying a bunch of balloons from his stem. I’m excited!

    Reply

  5. katy says

    Not sure if another commenter suggested this (I’m too lazy to read them all) but we spraypainted ours with chalkboard paint and then my daughter colored her design on the pumpking with chalk! (I saw it originally from the site lrstich.com)

    They look pretty cool because they are black (very Halloween-y), and you could always erase designs and do new ones!

    Reply

  6. angela says

    Such a cute idea! Love it and can’t wait to try it with my just-turned-one little guy! Thanks for all the great ideas, as usual! =)

    Reply

  7. Michelle says

    LOVE the paint!!

    I plan to steal an idea from the Lowe’s craft mini-magazine. I am going to try to make a “MUMpkin.” You poke holes in a small pumpkin with an awl. Then trim blooms off of a mum, leaving the stems 3 – 4″ long. Strip off the leaves and poke down into the holes. The moisture from the inside of the pumpkin is supposed to keep the flowers fresh for several days.

    Reply

  8. Carley @ On One Hand says

    I’ve been looking for ways to decorate pumpkins without carving them…for some reason this year it just doesn’t seem appealing. I’ve been contemplating using puff paint/beads in a bottle like you did before, but I love the finger painting idea – the kids would love that! I love the P, as our last name is Peters, so I might have to make us one too! Fun!!!!

    Reply

  10. Lindsey says

    That’s such a cute idea! Maybe I’ll try this with my 17 month old little man.

    Unrelated to decorating pumpkins (but not entirely)… a close friend of mine just launched his online shop of home goods TODAY! Check it out here http://www.matthewmeadcollection.com/ and be sure to visit his main site and keep you eyes and ears peeled for his other beautiful work. He’s amazing! A great person to add to your network of creative style peeps perhaps :)

    Reply

    • Lindsey says

      Oh! You’ve already heard of him! That’s awesome! Do you have any of his books or magazines?

    • Lindsey says

      Such a small world! So sad Country Home is no longer. I loved their magazine. If you ever get your hands on “Gifts from Nature” his first book, you’ll see my 16 year old mug wearing a daisy head wreath. His wife worked with my mom and through that they ended up renting our second home (where most of GFN was shot). This was way back in 1997ish when he was just getting started. So great to see how far he’s come! Just saw him this past weekend and got a sneak peak of the new product line.

  14. Janice says

    Very clever. My jack-o-lanterns are always so boring compared to yours! Cute little Clara is the spitting image of John’s dad. She’s a mini TomTom.

    Reply

  16. Debbie says

    as a family, we all help out at my brothers 38 acre pumpkin patch & retail store. its safe to say by halloween we are collectively all pumpkin-ed out.

    Reply

  17. Crystal says

    Clara is a doll! She looked like she is really concentrating while she paints.

    I saw a cool tip on pinterest about using the silicone gel inserts that come in shoe boxes inside of carved pumpkins to keep them from getting moldy and shrivelled.

    Reply

  18. Jen @ The Decor Scene says

    OMG…love how they turned out. What a great way to let your child join in and help. Looks like she had fun. Yesterday I posted about some pumpkin ideas I found on Good Housekeeping. Such cute ideas. If you want to check it out, here is the link: http://thedecorscene.blogspot.com/2011/10/some-ghoulish-pumpkin-ideas.html

    I really love the studded pumpkins, such an easy project and could even use this idea on faux pumpkins for inside the house. I might do this project myself this year or next year, not sure yet. ;)

    Reply

  20. Debbie says

    Was it a mess to clean up all the paint off the table? I’m surprised you didn’t put newspaper down to protect it. Wow, the designs from this year are almost the same as last year—just a different painting style!

    Reply

  22. Jennifer says

    My daughter’s first grade class is having a pumpkin painting contest next week. Thanks for the perfectly timed ideas!

    Reply

  25. Hera says

    Great pumpkins. Sherry,in a previous post I think you mentioned how Clara looks like John, or at least others thought so. No dice! You can’t deny her. She looks just like you!Happy Halloween.

    Reply

  27. Christine says

    Wow! Clara is looking all sorts of Sherry in those photo’s. I’m not big into halloween (or any holiday- only child syndrome I think) but this totally makes me want to try my hand at some pumpkin carving… or painting… or anything…

    Reply

  29. Maggie says

    I love them! I also love how you guys are constantly addressing any small statement or comment that could start any possible baby rumors :) can’t wait to hear that announcement in another year or two!

    Reply

  30. debbie c says

    Your puffy paint solid-color pumpkins are so glam! I just read Centsational Girl’s post about using split peas to create Thanksgiving decor and when I first saw your pic I thought you did the same thing. :)

    Reply

  33. Christa says

    Those pumpkins are fantastic! Clara’s got an eye for design ;)

    Since this is the first year that I’ve both lived somewhere other than my parents’ house AND lived somewhere where I expect trick-or-treaters, I’m super excited about all the decorations for my front porch – especially carving the pumpkins my 1-year old picked out!
    I’m sticking with a more traditional theme for the front porch this year… but I found these amazing stencils of Eric Northman and Bill Compton…and I went a little weak in the knees.

    http://zombiepumpkins.com/gallery.php?gal=2010&t=129382910330355&image=3097
    &
    http://zombiepumpkins.com/gallery.php?gal=2010&t=129382912534329&image=3098

    I can’t believe how accurate they are! I am afraid they’re not quite creepy enough, however, so I may go with the Sweeney Todd collection…. paint the pumpkins white, carve, and drip blood all over the place :)

    http://zombiepumpkins.com/sweeney-todd-pumpkin-pattern/180/

    Only 11 days left to make up my mind!!!

    Reply

  34. Becca says

    Cute! Another idea using paint would be to use colors from your alma mater, and a bonus if your school colors include orange. I’m a Hokie and I know John is a UVA grad, so it would work for both schools :)

    Reply

  40. heather says

    We’re roasting ours in the oven and then mixing the mash up with brown sugar and butter.
    And turning it into purees for pie.
    And making pumpkin and squash soup.
    And..and…and…

    The point is, we aren’t putting any outside. I pretty much decorate for Christmas and that’s about it – though I’m sure that will all change once we have kids!

    Reply

  42. kathy says

    Stripped down and artistic Clara is ADORABLE. Seeing her in all of her creative goodness reminded me of my daughter at Clara’s age. Instead of seating her at the table for messy projects (who doesn’t love finger painting?), I purchased a big unattractive cloth-backed plastic table cloth (cheeeeep) and spread it on the floor. We used that table cloth for years… no clean-up required (well, except for your child) and no worry about spilling or making a mess.

    Reply

  44. Julie says

    I let my not quite 4 year old paint mini pumpkins for inside the house but for outside I’m stuck on carved pumpkins to light!

    We’ve been saving some glass jars to paint the way you did your first one. Tape off a face, let her go nuts with orange paint and then when you remove the paint drop in a tealight candle. I can’t wait to pull them out every year! :)

    Reply

  48. Di @ DoofyDizee says

    My boys love to paint their pumpkins, although this year, I put the pumpkin in a bad spot. All the washable paint came off in the rain, so we had to re-paint them.

    I love baby handprints, so I absolutely love the pumpkin with the handprints – such a cute idea.

    I actually had my first son’s handprint tattooed on my foot. I just need to figure out a spot for the second son’s handprint before he realizes his is missing.

    Reply

  49. Amy says

    What a great idea using the painters tape! I bought a pumpkin for my almost 2 year old to paint and now I know i’ll put tape down first so it has some sort of design instead of just smeared finger paint!

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *