Pumpkins and other squashes are gorgeous. They’re smooth and shiny, and sometimes they are bumpy and grooved. They are the perfect addition to a fall table or the outside of a home during the Halloween and Thanksgiving seasons. You can do so much more than carve them, too!
Use pumpkins or other squashes to serve food. Bake the pumpkin, then add chili or an autumn soup. When you’ve finished the soup, cut up and pumpkin and serve it with butter, or turn the whole thing into a pie after washing it.
Use miniature pumpkins to hold candles at the table. You don’t need to worry about cleaning up after the wax drips all over the candle holders. These ones are compostable! Or turn miniature pumpkins into little tea lights by filling them with wax and a wick.
Use pumpkins for crafts. If you and your children love doing potato prints, pumpkin prints with a solid piece of pumpkin will work just as well.
Hollow out a pumpkin and use it as a bird feeder. Place holes in the sides, hollow out a small pumpkin, and then fill it with seeds. Do this on a cool fall day and hang it somewhere cold, and it should last for a long time.
Pumpkins also make fun miniature houses. If you’re finished using a pumpkin for something else but don’t want to compost it quite yet, little Playmobil characters rather like playing in a pumpkin house. Just give them a good wash after the fact!
Outdoors, use pumpkins to create a scarecrow. Use a big pumpkin for the chest and stomach, and dress it up in some old clothes. Use a smaller pumpkin for the head. You can even put small pumpkins in some stockings and use them as hands and feet!
What creative ideas do you have to play with pumpkins this fall?