Celebrate Green Blog

by Lynn

Last night I was out in the garage placing jars of homemade applesauce in the freezer, when out of the corner of my eye, I spied some pieces of wood that had probably been in the bin since before our kids were born (the oldest is 40!).

In a flash, I was hit by a need-to-craft attack!

What popped to mind in that moment was a fence painted with pumpkin faces I’d seen last weekend when we were on a trip to the northern Cascades.

I thought about doing the same, but quickly realized there’d be no fence painting for me–not because I thought it wouldn’t look spectacular, but because doing so just might put an end to my marriage of 41 years.

But, I thought triumphantly, I can paint that leftover wood without sticking a major pin in the balloon of our wedded bliss.

So instead of making dinner, I grabbed three pieces and raced into our studio. Mixed some yellow and red to make orange and painted the wood, let dry then added the eyes.

I looked around for something to make stems and happily, I had some green pipe cleaners which I attached to the top of the boards by wrapping one end around a push pin which I then hammered in.

Voila! An odd-shaped pumpkin family to lend a bit of humor to our Halloween decor.

This project cost nothing, took about ten minutes not including paint drying time, and can be reused for years. What’s not to love?

What do you think?

If you’re looking for another craft that’s fun for the whole family, there’s still time to make a Halloween tree.

Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of  Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®.