A Bright Eyed Pumpkin

Don't want to carve up a pumpkin for a jack-o'lantern too soon but still want a Halloween decoration? My advice is to look around your yard and use some of the fall foliage and natural stuff (like nuts and fresh flowers) to make a unique pumpkin design.

I had some zinnias and a ton of fallen black walnuts and acorns that were begging to be used somehow! I also had a huge pumpkin that really needed some self-expression. I did not want to carve that orange vegetable (fruit?) up so early in October, but I did want to have a jack on the porch to delight the kids. This page will show you exactly what I did to achieve my goal.

All images belong to me, Mickie_G unless otherwise stated.

(Page created on 10/9/2012 for Pumpkins Galore Quest)

The stark pumpkin you see here is approximately 18 inches tall. He is a beautiful fella and has lovely ridges and bright orange color. He was found at the local Farmer's Market. I have no idea where he was grown.

He was chosen because of the nice stem and rugged, handsomely ridged skin.

Potatoes have eyes, pumpkins do not.

Looking around my yard, I spied some zinnias that were begging to be picked. Some of the blossoms had already lost petals and were loaded with seeds that I can plant next summer. I love zinnias so I am so glad to be given this gift.

I picked every one of those flowers and brought them inside and put them on a piece of newspaper to sort them by color and size.

The only color that would compliment my pumpkin was the fushia zinnia. I trimmed as much of the stem as I could without having the zinnia fall apart.

I thought about putting the stem end of the zinnia out for the eyes, but I decided that I liked the yellow stigma (if I am calling those yellow parts in the disk of the zinnia the wrong name, please let me know) that made up the ring in the center of the blossom. The looked more like an iris for the eye.

I just learned that zinnias are native wildflowers in Mexico? The locals thought they were ugly and called them "mal de ojos" or "sickness of the eye"! That makes my choice a very appropriate one!

In my opinion, every crafter needs a hot glue gun. I have owned mine for over 20 years and it is still working. The only problem I have is that I forget that the glue gets pretty hot and I usually burn my fingers at least one time each time I use it.

I have a high temp glue gun and am always burning my fingers. I will most definitely buy this kit with the earnings from this page.

Again, this will aid every person who loves to create arts and crafts all year long.

....and two nostrils!

My grand-daughter loves to pick up acorns in the yard. We have a ton of them so when I needed a nose for the "jackolantern" I had no problem finding the caps to use. Thanks, Mother Nature, for this great design!

I wonder if I have any gummy worms to crawl out of the nostrils? You might want to see how I used gummy worms on last year's pumpkin by clicking here!

Here was my real problem--making a mouth. The image above shows me holding up pieces of bark to see if that gift from nature would work. Bark did not work for me. I wanted something more jagged, like a real jackolantern would have. That is when I remembered the husks that fall off the black walnuts that are also plentiful in my yard in the autumn.

I first arranged the husks on a flat surface to see if would like the way they looked and to make sure I had enough to make a good sized mouth. Then I used my hot glue gun to put a smile on this bright eyed jack.

When October 30th comes around, the face I have made can be easily pulled off. Sounds cruel, doesn't it? Why take off a perfectly good face?

Our family has a pumpkin carving contest every year and this beauty will be used to carve a true jack-o'lantern. Maybe this year we will win with one of our "Classic Jack-o-lantern Patterns" (click to see some free patterns to use on your Halloween Pumpkin).

I must admit that every year I am finding it more difficult to think of a new way to decorate my October pumpkins. Did my Mother Nature inspired face give you some ideas? I certainly hope so. Tell me what you do with your pumpkins, if you have them.

After Halloween, I will most likely use the flesh (ewwwwh! Freaky language!) to make pies or pumpkin bread. I do have a favorite chocolate chip pumpkin muffin recipe that I really should share with you readers.