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Halloween will be here in a couple of weeks and if you’re like most you haven’t carved your jack-o-lantern yet.

And why not?

Well the 2 most common reasons for not carving your pumpkin early are:

1. The jack-o-lantern won’t last until the holiday.
2. Procrastination – who wants to clean out the insides and stick their hands in all that gooey mess?

So rather than wait until the last minute to get some real pumpkin decorations out why not paint your pumpkin for Halloween?

Painting pumpkin Halloween faces can be enjoyed by everyone and can be done even when the holiday is still a couple of weeks off. And when Halloween is over you don’t have to throw out your pumpkin. You can use it as a Thanksgiving decoration. Simply turn it around and leave it plain or paint it again.

Now with just a few supplies anyone can transform a plain pumpkin into a fun homemade Halloween decoration. Here’s what you’ll need:

• paint
• brushes
• sealer
• your imagination or stencils

So how hard is it to paint a pumpkin?

It can be as easy as you want it to be as shown in this pumpkin face painting video.

Or it can be a bit more sophisticated.

The 6  important things to remember for Halloween pumpkin paintings are:

1. Choose only firm, sound pumpkins
2. Choose a good size and shape – smaller pumpkins usually have better shapes and take less time and paint
3. Clean and dry the pumpkin – don’t get the blossom-end wet because this makes the pumpkin rot faster. You may find it easier to clean the pumpkin and keep the blossom-end dry by using baby wipes or a wet paper towel.
4. Use a black Sharpie-brand permanent marker instead of black paint, for adding lines and lashes.
5. After your creation is completely use a dry clear shiny (gloss) spray sealer to protect it and make it shine.
6. Have fun

So this year why not try painting your pumpkins for Halloween.  It’s  easy and fun for the whole family. You can learn more about pumpkin face painting in this guide, “Pumpkin Painting, Anyone Can Do It, Really!” .

Happy Halloween,
Susan