Cute No Carve Pumpkin Decorating

October is finally here and we are excited to embrace all things Halloween! This time of year is such fun for kiddos, and I love thinking up ways that we can celebrate the season together.

Visiting the pumpkin patch each year is one of our favorite family traditions! We bring our pumpkins home, and carve them together before Halloween. It’s definitely a messy process that requires adult supervision and assistance, but we have lots of fun making memories doing this!

We usually make our pumpkin carving into our own little party, Halloween music playing, fun snacks, festive plates and napkins, sometimes we’ll get into our matching spooky jammies —sweet family moments that I never want to forget!

While these traditions are a lot of fun, it takes time for preparation and clean up, so when we are looking for a halloween craft, or an alternative to pumpkin carving I love to go for something simpler and less messy! I’ve shared a few no carve pumpkin decorating ideas on the blog, and this one is another favorite that I think would be fun for anyone to try!

Painted Faux Pumpkins

All you’ll need is paper mâché pumpkins, hollow decorative pumpkins from a craft store, or home decor store made of a drillable material (not glass). These make for the perfect no carve pumpkin decorating ideas diy!

+ Drill holes in paper mache pumpkin.
+ Cut larger hole in the bottom of the pumpkin that is large enough to fit a battery-operated candle.
+ Paint pumpkin your favorite colors! Any pattern that you would like. Have fun with this and be creative!
+ Let your pumpkins dry fully
+ Add a battery operated faux candle inside of the pumpkin.
+ Enjoy these festive decorations all October long!

More No Carve Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

These pumpkins would be perfect for a no carve pumpkin decorating contest! Could include no carve pumpkin decorating contest kids, no carve pumpkin decorating ideas funny, and no carve pumpkin decorating Disney!

Find a pumpkin (or pumpkins) you like the shape and size of, but don’t like the color? Do you have some old faux pumpkins that need a facelift? Paint them yourself! You can spray paint, chalk paint, or use what you may have on hand. Add dimension by dry brushing a deeper color on! No carve pumpkin decorating for kids is always an option, if you’d like to avoid the cleanup that comes along with real pumpkin carving.

I love the idea of making a bunch of larger pumpkins for your front porch or mantel area. You can even mix in a few real pumpkins as well! I think the fact that you can reuse these year after year, as well as repurpose older decorative pumpkins makes these cost effective and worth the time that it takes to make them!

I’m so grateful to be settling into our home, and to make these memories with our kids around their favorite holidays. These are the moments we will always look back on with joy and thankfulness.

Shop this Post

All pumpkins + candle + paint from Hobby Lobby.
All garland from @pearlandjane
Black jack-o-lantern from Target.
Butterflies from Amazon.