20 easy pumpkin decorating ideas
The amount of waste we produce at Halloween from pumpkin carving is terrifying. Try our fun pumpkin decorating ideas for a more sustainable alternative
The scariest thing about Halloween isn't the spooky costumes, ghoulish snacks, eerie decorations or trick-or-treating, it's the amount of waste we produce. It's estimated that every year in the UK we throw away 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins as a result of carving them into jack-o-lanterns.
You don't have to miss out on the fun of decorating pumpkins, just make planet-friendlier choices by painting Halloween faces on them, wrapping them up like mummies or covering them with stickers. Keep kids entertained all October half term with our pumpkin decorating ideas, from scary painting ideas to more creative decorations suitable for all ages. Discover our autumn baking projects for kids for more activity inspiration.
Good Food's food director Cassie Best recommends picking out Crown Prince, Red Kuri or Blue Hubbard varieties of pumpkin as they will taste much better when cooked – the ones typically sold for carving can taste watery and less pleasant. Make sure to remove the skin and wash well before cooking.
Get inspired with our top pumpkin recipes, top pumpkin soup recipes, pumpkin recipes to make with kids and roast pumpkin recipes. For more low-waste ideas, discover our pumpkin seed recipes and ways to use up leftover pumpkin.
If you've had enough of pumpkins this spooky season, try our things you can carve for Halloween that aren't pumpkins – but make sure that those veggies don't go to waste either.
You will need:
- A selection of paintbrushes and paints
- Thin and thick pens and markers in various colours
- Newspaper
Optional extras
Depending on how you're decorating your pumpkin, the following may also be helpful:
- Bandages (or toilet roll)
- Black card
- Colourful stickers
- Glue
- Googly eyes
- Pipe cleaners
How to paint a pumpkin
1. Start by washing your pumpkin. Use a vegetable brush if it's particularly dirty or wipe it down with a damp cloth
2. Dry your pumpkin – make sure it's completely dry before decorating otherwise the pen, paint or glue won't stick
3. Lay it on newspaper to stop paint or glue contaminating surfaces
4. Follow our designs below or simply use them as inspiration, then allow to dry fully before moving your pumpkin to its new home
5. Remember not to leave your pumpkin outside in the rain otherwise you might lose your beautiful design
Pumpkin decorating ideas
1. Paint a cat's face
Paint about two-thirds of the pumpkin black, with two half-moon shapes on one side to create the shape of a cat’s mouth. Use a white or silver marker pen to draw the eyes, nose and whiskers. Cut out ears from black card or felt, and attach with pins (or use a cat's-ear headband).
2. Wrap up like a mummy
Wrap bandages (or even toilet roll) tightly around the pumpkin, leaving a thin slit exposed for the eyes. Cut out eye shapes using black card, then paint or draw on the pupils. Pin the eyes to the pumpkin.
3. Make a face out of stickers
Be inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, which falls on 1 November, and paint a black skull face onto a white pumpkin. Decorate with round neon stickers or blobs of paint to outline the eyes, then add little daisies all the way round.
4. Give it stripes
Earn your eco Halloween stripes with this alternating-colour design. Paint alternating gold and black sections using the natural curves of the pumpkin as a guide for a classy Halloween party decoration.
5. Add googly eyes
Even something as simple as stick-on googly eyes can transform your pumpkin from an inanimate vegetable into a convincingly spooky addition to your Halloween decorations. Using a variety of shapes, sizes and varieties of pumpkin will add interest, and you can always draw on ghoulish expressions for extra Halloween fun.
6. Make it monochrome with black
You don't need expensive paints or materials to make a spooktacular pumpkin. Simply use a thick black marker or paint to outline and fill in your design. Use our Halloween templates for more inspiration.
7. Paint a floral design
Who said pumpkins have to be scary? If you're feeling artistic, you can paint a beautiful floral design with a variety of colours or use felt tip pens for a pretty alternative to the typical Halloween designs.
8. Give your pumpkin a hat
Fashion your pumpkin a fetching paper witch's hat out of black and orange card, or even knit one if you're feeling crafty.
9. Write a Halloween message
Think of your pumpkin as a blank canvas and the options are endless! Draw on all of the classic Halloween images of spider's webs and bats and decorate with Halloween messages ready for 31 October.
10. Use pipe cleaners
Use pipe cleaners to fashion eyes, ears and more onto your pumpkins.
11. Make them extra-colourful
Get creative and paint your pumpkins like your favourite cartoon characters and TV show villains - the more colourful the better.
12. Paint it white
Painting your pumpkin white transforms it into a blank canvas for your own designs – think spooky Halloween lettering, multicoloured bats or (even more) pumpkins.
13. Get glittery
Transform your pumpkin into a shiny disco ball with non-plastic biodegradable glitter.
14. Draw cartoon faces
Simple cartoon designs with animated expressions like these will make your pumpkin stand out from the crowd.
15. Make it into a unicorn
Turn your pumpkin into a unicorn with fluttery eyelashes, flowers, greenery and a golden horn.
16. Give it legs
Terrify your neighbours with a pumpkin-sized spider in your front garden. Poke sticks into your pumpkin and then twist pipe cleaners round them for fluffy spider legs.
17. Draw a spiderweb
Kids of all ages can have a go at painting or drawing a simple spider's web onto their pumpkin, while older ones can include a convincingly spooky spider in the middle.
18. Use crackly paint
Using special paint that turns into a crackled texture when it dries will give an extra Halloween effect to your pumpkin with minimal effort.
19. Make it luminous
Using bright or even glow-in-the-dark paint will mean that trick-or-treaters won't forget to pay your house a visit come 31 October.
20. Keep it simple
The great thing about Halloween pumpkin painting is that kids of all ages and abilities can get involved. Younger kids can keep it simple with their designs while the more ambitious can let their imaginations run wild.
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Last-minute Halloween party ideas
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