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Pumpkin Carving Alternatives

October 10, 2012 By 61 Comments

No Carve Pumpkins2 Pumpkin Carving Alternatives

Last Halloween, I outlawed carved pumpkins in our house. I’m done with the mess, done with blistered fingers from those flimsy carving tools, and best of all- done with pumpkin rot. I made some fun painted pumpkins last October that were quite a hit with all our little trick-or-treaters. I decided to go with more of the same this year but also added some extra bling to spruce things up.

No Carve Pumpkins 2 714x1024 Pumpkin Carving Alternatives

No Carve Pumpkins 3 Pumpkin Carving Alternatives

I love how the herringbone pattern doubles as a spider web motif. Puffy paint was the perfect choice for this and adds a little dimension to the surface. I started out by drawing vertical lines in the grooves of the pumpkin and then drew in the chevron pattern. Tip: do this in sections to allow for better handling without smudging the paint.

No Carve Pumpkins 4 682x1024 Pumpkin Carving Alternatives

Last year, I hand painted each pumpkin white before starting on the patterns. It was quite time consuming so this year I opted for spray paint instead. After only a few minutes of drying time, I painted on the ghost and added the goggly eyes.  I bought jewelry chain and spliced it with wire cutters to create the chain. It was super simple and I think it turned out pretty cute!

It seems like no-carve pumpkins are all the rage this year, how do you plan on decorating your pumpkins this year??

 

Sharing at: Design Dining and Diapers, The Frugal Girls, My Repurposed Life, Tatertots & Jello, Western Warmth, Itsy Bitsy Paper Blog, One Artsy Mama

Sarah

Sarah

I am a twenty-something interior designer living in beautiful San Diego. Lacquer & Linen is a place for me to share new interior design products, budget friendly DIY ideas and my favorite art and design inspirations. Thanks for stopping by!
Sarah

@Lacquer_Linen

Sarah
Sarah

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  • http://www.bliss-athome.com Kristin Cadwallader

    Hi, Sarah! My favorites are the ghost in chains and the blinged-out gold one! So cute! Can’t wait to decorate pumpkins with the kiddos! xo Kristin

    • Sarah

      Thanks Kristin! Painting and adding fun things to pumpkins would be so fun for the kids. I’m actually teach a Moms group and their kids how to do this in a few weeks! :-)

  • http://happytreelife.com Troy

    Cool idea.I especially like the black pumpkin with the ghost!

    • Sarah

      That pumpkin is my favorite too. I used black chalkboard spray paint but it turned out surprisingly glossy. Thanks for visiting Troy!

  • http://TwoLeafClover Meghan

    These are amazingly fabulous! I can’t wait to play with no-carve designs this season!

    • Sarah

      Thanks Meg! It’s so much more fun than carving because there are so many options! I hope you post pics on your blog!!

  • http://www.faithtowersdesign.com Faith Towers

    Love the bling! So fun. I’ll have to add these ideas to my list. I just posted an article on creative pumpkin decorating yesterday also… http://designfixation.blogspot.com/2012/10/do-something-different-with-your.html ‘Tis the season I guess!

    • Sarah

      Thank you Faith :-) I like the bling too and it kind of shimmers so I don’t totally miss the glow of a candle inside. There are so many great ideas out there right now for decorating pumpkins!

  • http://www.monkeybreadandsweetpea.com Megan

    Awesome ideas! And the photos are great. I think this might be the 1st year EVER that I’m not buying pumpkins!! We have 3 tiny ones from my sis-in-laws garden, but that’s all:( Just not enough time this year. I’m keeping these ideas in mind for next year. I love the fact that by not cutting into them, they last so much longer. Thanks for sharing!

    • Sarah

      Hannibal doesn’t get to carve any pumpkins this year??? You should make a painted Sir pumpkin next year!

  • http://glamorousbride.blogspot.com GlamorousMommy

    Oh my goodness, these are too stinkin’ adorable! I painted some of mine a few weeks ago.. I’m a huge fan of painting rather than carving :)

    -Fotini { http://glamorousbride.blogspot.com }

    • Sarah

      Me too Fotini, though I do miss my pumpkin seeds! I think the best part about painting versus carving is being able to have them all month without them rotting.

  • http://wherehappybegins.wordpress.com Kara

    Very cool. I can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks for the inspiration!

    • Sarah

      Your welcome, let me know how it turns out! :-)

  • http://www.craftberrybush.com LUCY

    Sarah, these are just stunning ! They look like they;re out of One King’s lane website…seriously gorgeous…my first pin of the night !
    thanks for visiting us,hope to talk to you again soon…xo
    Lucy

  • http://www.sarahyorkpresents.blogspot.com Sarah York

    What a great idea! I’m sick of the mess and semi-demented looking pumpkins I always end up with. Love the blinged out one!

    • Sarah

      Oh me too! I always have the coolest idea/design to start out with and then I get bored and frustrated and it ends up looking like a preschooler did it.

  • http://designdininganddiapers.com Taryn @ Design, Dining + Diapers

    oh my word these are gorgeous! Seriously, that do look straight out of a magazine. Beautiful photos. I love the designs that you chose and the colors. Just gorgeous.

    • Sarah

      Thanks Taryn, that’s quite a compliment coming from you!

  • http://littlebigbell.com geraldine

    What a fantastic idea. Instead of that mess I totally agree. Thanks for sharing such originality :) x

    • Sarah

      Definitely try it out Geraldine, it’s a fun little project!

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  • http://westernwarmth.blogspot.com Bobi Jensen

    The glimmering gold paint is so cool!

    I love this!

    I’d love to have you link up at my Weekend party!

    http://westernwarmth.blogspot.com/2012/10/weekend-warmth-5.html

    • Sarah

      Just linked up! Happy Saturday!

  • http://delightfullynoted.blogspot.com Jennifer

    Ooh….Halloween glam! I’m all down for the non-gutting of pumpkins. Pretty!

    • Sarah

      Yah, I’m all for mess free!! Thanks for stopping by!

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  • Lindy@Itsy Bitsy Paper

    These are beautiful. The ghost is my favorite! I hope you will stop by and link this up to my Wickedly Creative Halloween Ideas Party if you haven’t already.

    http://www.itsybitsypaperblog.com/2012/09/2012-wickedly-creative-halloween-ideas.html

    • Sarah

      All linked up :-) There are some great projects on there, thanks for hosting!

  • http://oneartmama.blogspot.com amy

    These look great…so sophisticated and chic! Much better than having to scoop out all those pumpkin guts, lol! Would you consider sharing here? I’d be thrilled to have you stop by!
    http://www.oneartsymama.com/2012/10/shine-on-fridays-49.html

    • Sarah

      I totally agree with you there, I HATE pumpkin guts! Yuck! I would be happy to link up, I’ll swing by right now!

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  • http://www.picassohairfeathers.com Kate

    I painted pumpkins this year too! I used a lot of glitter. I love how you added the jewels to the bronze pumpkin. Beautiful!!

    • Sarah

      Oooo I love glitter! I was so tempted to use glitter also but it would have been sparkle overload! haha

  • Christina at I Gotta Create!

    Your pumpkins are AMAZING. I truly cannot pick a favorite among them, but I can say as a whole, these are my favorite I’ve seen yet this season. Pinning!

    <3 Christina at I Gotta Create!
    Wildly Original linky party is open

  • http://ohcuriosity.com Jane

    I absolutely love the herringbone pattern! I didn’t realize pumpkins could be so “glam”! Thanks for sharing :)

    • Sarah

      I love a herringbone pattern too! It was super easy also since the pumpkins already have perfect grooves for it.

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  • http://www.brigittepatton.blogspot.com/ Brigitte

    OMG… ok, so I totally took some (basically all, just slightly different.. but almost the same.. ok laugh now) of your ideas and created some painted pumpkins last night.. I’m waiting for them to completely dry and I’ll post pics.. probably via instagram. ;) btw, love your site!!!

    • Sarah

      Awesome girl! I can’t wait to see how they turned out!!!

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  • Simply Homemade mag (@Simply_Homemade on Twitter)

    These are amazing! Well done! Fancy submitting them for the readers’ pumpkin gallery on the new Simply Homemade website? (Launching next week…) Would love to share them with our readers!

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  • http://www.craftbaby.com Candie

    Ok, these pumpkins are hysterical! I wish I would’ve seen them when I was compiling inspiration for our latest Challenge, DIY a Pumpkin! You should enter it into our Challenge :) http://www.craftbaby.com/contests/34/diy-a-pumpkin

    • Sarah

      Hi Candie! Well thank you, I’ll have to check out your contest! Thanks for visiting :-)

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  • Claire

    These are such great ideas !!

    I featured them in my 5 no carve pumpkin decorating ideas :)

    http://polkadotpretties.com/2012/10/5-no-carve-pumpkin-decoration-ideas/

    Have a great day !

    Claire x

    • Sarah

      Thanks Claire, I am so flattered!!

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