By: Nazli Islam
As October 31 approaches, the spookiness in the air begins to build. The skeletons come out, bats fly, and pumpkins pop up. If every time you pass by a pumpkin patch you get an overwhelming urge to participate in the Halloween fun, here is a little inspiration.
Firstly, you’ll need a pumpkin. Several local places can provide you with a real pumpkin. One option is Trinity United Methodist Church on Millhopper Road. If you don’t want the hassle of finding, buying, and maintaining a real pumpkin, many craft stores—such as the Michael’s in Butler Plaza—have fake pumpkins. The pumpkins come in both conventional and unconventional colors and sizes.
Here are the different ways to decorate the pumpkin:
Classic Carving
This requires a real pumpkin, a sharp knife, a candle, and a lot of skills and patience. On the bright side, you can come out the other end with a pumpkin pie as well as a decoration.
You can make a jack-o-lantern with triangle eyes and a crooked grin, or whatever variation comes to mind, and that you can manage to carve.
Another option includes carving words to light up with different fun.
Painting
Spray Paint: This requires a pumpkin (real or fake), spray paint, and masking tape. Place the tape around an outline of your design and on anything you don’t want painted, then spray your chosen color. The possibilities for designs ranges from classically scary to something classily festive, which you could leave out until Thanksgiving.
Brushes: If you’re truly artistically talented and are searching for another canvas to paint or if you really want a challenge, you can paint the pumpkin using brushes. This would require a pumpkin (real or fake), brushes, and for the best results, acrylic paint. The opportunities for this are endless.
Adorning
This option gives the space for anything you have the ability to hot glue to your pumpkin, real or fake. One choice, which I am partial to, is bedazzling.
The pumpkin possibilities have no end; the sky, and your creativity, is the limit.
UF PRISM 