Decorate a Pretty Pumpkin for Halloween

If you're not really into spooky, scary Halloween décor but you want to get into the “spirit” of the season, here are two elegant ideas for you to try:

• A white pumpkin decorated with black rhinestones and die-cut black scrollwork designs.
• A traditional orange pumpkin with shiny rivulets of rhinestones curling down the sides.

Instead of real pumpkins, which will deteriorate over time, I made these out of carvable foam pumpkins – they'll last forever.

You will need:

• Artificial foam pumpkin in the off-white color. You could use a real one, of course, but it won't last.
• Black “rhinestones.” I used faceted black plastic ornaments with self-adhesive backs. They are available by the sheet from any craft or scrapbooking store.
• Black die-cut scrapbooking embellishments. These are also available by the sheet, and have adhesive backs. You can find them at any craft or scrapbooking store.
• Hot or warm glue gun (or any quick-drying adhesive).

Method:

Since you're just working on the outside of your pumpkin, you are ready to decorate!

Separate out the black embellishments and arrange them on the top and sides. The adhesive on the die-cut embellishments isn't designed to stick very well to the curved side of a pumpkin, so you'll have to affix the pieces more securely using the glue gun or extra glue*

*Be careful: Hot glue is hot! The so-called warm glue is also very hot, so try not to get it on your fingers as you're working with the small pieces.

Add the black rhinestones as accents to the patterns you've created with the die-cut pieces.

You will need:

• Artificial foam pumpkin, orange color. Once again, an artificial one will do just fine.
• Clear rhinestones – in this case, I used a 2 in x 12 in sheet of adhesive-backed “gemz,” 3 mm acrylic gems that had to be cut apart for individual use.

Method:

Cut the acrylic “gemz” into individual squares using scissors, a craft knife or X-acto blade. Be careful! If you don't want to cut them apart, you can find individual round adhesive-backed “gems” in the scrapbooking embellishments section of a craft store, but this is a more expensive option.

With a pencil, draw long, looping curls from the stem of the pumpkin to about mid-way down the side. Vary the length of the curls, making some shorter and some longer.

Then add the gemz. Start by placing the gemz down the guide lines you've made, then fill in the gaps with more gemz to create a solid-looking line.

Who says Halloween has to be scary? Not me! Give these pretty pumpkins a try.