Bookish Pumpkin DIYs!

The thesaurus may not agree with me, but I’m 99% sure that “Halloween” and “Edgar Allen Poe” are synonymous. After all, the best time to read the Tell Tale Heart is obviously in chilly October, and the Raven is always spookiest when leaves are coming down. So it only made sense to go Poe in my pumpkin decorating this year!

Because I spend all my money on books, all five of these Diys were made only with paper, Sharpies, and (real) pumpkins!

 

Pumpkin #1 – Poem Pumpkin

Being the writer that I am, my big idea in decorating is, “I’m gonna put words on this!” So that’s what I did. I choose to feature the Raven on my big pumpkin, because as I was mentioning earlier, it’s the perfect October poem. This pumpkin is easy to make, but it does take some time.

1. If your local pumpkin patch sells white pumpkins, get one! It is possible to paint an orange one white if you don’t have any other options, but I definitely recommend getting a white one to begin with to avoid having to wait for it to dry.
2. I used one of the skinny Sharpies to write out the poem on the pumpkin. Sometimes it would die out a bit, so I dotted it on a paper towel until the ink began to run again. I spiraled down the pumpkin. It was around then that I realized how long The Raven is! I got a huge pumpkin, and still was only able to fit half the poem, so if having the entire poem is really important to you, choose something shorter. (Or, if you’re a heavy lifter, buy a gigantic pumpkin.) You don’t have to have gorgeous handwriting to do this- just try to keep your handwriting consistent.
3. Let it dry. Make sure not to smear your writing! Sharpie dries pretty quickly, but let the pumpkin rest for a couple minutes after you’re done before you move it just in case.

 

Pumpkin#2 – Raven Pumpkin 

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AN ARTIST TO DO THIS ONE, I PROMISE! I know this looks a little more complicated, but take it from a stick-figure drawer: It’s not hard. I created a Raven pumpkin to compliment the poem pumpkin, and to feature some actual orange, but this could be done with most animals.

1. Print out a black silhouette of the raven (or other creature you want on your pumpkin)
2. Tape the silhouette to your pumpkin.
3. Using a black sharpie, trace around the raven/other creature.
4. Take the silhouette off
5. Fill in the outline with black Sharpie!

And voila! You can now convince all your friends and family that you are a pinterest-artist-extraordinaire. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed on how easy this is. 😉

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Pumpkin#3 – Nevermore Pumpkin

Isn’t this little pumpkin just adorable? This purchase was a side-effect of my obsession with buying small, cute things without knowing what to do with them. (Still waiting for a purpose for that 2inch binder that was “oh-so-cute-” at Staples.) After a while, I decided to have it be the finishing touch to my Edgar Allen Poe vignette. I put a slide show in to show you how the text wraps around- you can get that effect by just drawing loopy lines between each letter.

Pumpkin#4- Emily Dickinson Pumpkins

I have a huge little obsession with Emily Dickinson, so I made my little white pumpkin Emily-Themed, but you can do whatever poet/author is your favorite! This pumpkin follows about the same directions as my first poem pumpkin, but since its obviously a much smaller surface, choose a short poem!

Pumpkin#5- Bat Pumpkin

This bat pumpkin is a win/win, because not only is it traditionally Halloween, it also happens to be my Patronus! (according to Pottermore, anyway.)

I made this bat using a tutorial found here. Instead of black paint, I just used a black sharpie to color the pumpkin in, and cut the eyes, ears, and wings out of the template provided (They said to use  foam, but I’m cheap so I just used printer paper that I colored black, and it held up okay!) Again, make sure to let the pumpkin dry before trying to move it around, or else it will smear.

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So what do you guys think of my bookish pumpkins? Do you know any awesome literary pumpkin designs or halloween decor?