ArcaMax

I tried to find the bumpy tacks. Those would look really cool but I am sure they come at a higher price too. Whatever you decide to use I'm sure will look great. The little packs of 100 regular tacks are about $2 each. The big pumpkin took 3 boxes of tacks. One option to keep it less expensive would be to decorate just one side.

On my taller pumpkin I did two designs. One for each side. The back is just vertical lines and the front it a spider web. I even thought about getting a little plastic spider and tacking that on the pumpkin. Just an extra touch.

One of the things I found is it's easiest to work in the direction of your writing hand. So if you are right handed you'll likely move faster and more efficiently if you put in the tacks from left to right.

You can draw your design on the pumpkin or go free hand. I did a light design with a water-based thin marker. That way I could work a little faster too. All three pumpkins didn't take me two hours though. And I could watch TV (sort of) at the same time. If your kids or grand kids are old enough to handle tacks they will love to get in on the action.

Don't stress about trying to get your lines perfectly straight. None of these are. For thing like the cross pattern or the spider I started in the middle and worked my way out. That made it easier.

I can't tell you how long these pumpkins will last. I am confident they will last longer than a carved pumpkin but they do have lots of holes poked in them so they are going to spoil eventually. I got mine done now so I could pass the idea on to you but otherwise I'd probably just do them a few days ahead of Halloween.

Enjoy your holiday.

If you're like me you'll have fun passing out little toys to the trick-er-treaters instead of candy. The kids love to get a toy.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

This perfect pumpkin treat invites all the spice and warmth of autumn into your mouth without the additional unwanted carbs.

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