Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Drilling Holes In Your Pumpkins For Spooky Wood Snakes

Just to be clear, that post title is meant to be said in a Dr. Dre-esque fashion like he does in this song (aw yeah, $herdog still rocks out to the clean version of this 1999 classic). And now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about something hardcore. Pumpkins, yo.

This year we got lumpy bumpy orangy-red ones instead of the usual smooth yellow-orange guys just for kicks. The coolest thing about them is that they have stems on the bottom and top, which is kind of fun. Pretty much as soon as we got them home we got to work hollowing them out, and I directed John to make a face like a serial killer (am I the only one who types cereal killer and then has to backspace and correct myself every time?) and we got this stellar shot. In John’s defense, he does look awesomely creepy… so… mission accomplished.

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Mmm, pumpkin seeds. Those were all eaten before these photos were even uploaded. What does that say about us? Either we’re sadly slow bloggers or just very hungry for seasonal delicacies. I’ll go with the latter. And now, just because I’ve been having fun with “___, there it is” lately…

Scoop, there it is.

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Once we had both pumpkins hollowed out we got to break out the power tools. Yeah buddy. I told you these pumpkins were gonna be hardcore. We actually came up with this crazy idea in bed a few days beforehand (wait, that sounds wrong, we were just doing some horizontal brainstorming, wait that sounds wrong again – we were just thinking about pumpkins before bed, ok?).

Pumpkin3

We were saying how it would be fun to do something wormy for our worm-loving Clara (like carving holes and then sticking gummy worms into all of them so they looked like they were creeping out) when we realized that we still had these wooden craft store snakes that I painted last year.

Halloween Decor6

And since Clara loves these wiggly little snakes just as much as worms, we realized we could combine them with pumpkins for a snake-tastic Halloween effect. And thus, the idea of using the more snake-sized bit on the drill to make the holes was born. I loved how the drill made little ribbons of pumpkin as it went through.

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Oh snap. Those are some bad a$$ pumpkins. Mixed in with some pretty sinister ceramic animals. You totally wouldn’t want to run into them in a dark alley, right? Let’s get a little closer…

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Aw yeah, there it is. A lumpy wart-ish double-stemmed pumpkin that has been infested with snakes! And then a ratty old crow came down and landed on it. That’s some tough luck for Mr. Pumpkin, eh? Bummers for you dude.

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Here’s the other guy. All holed up and snaked out.

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And I couldn’t help myself so I rearranged my printing block letters that spell LOVE to say EVIL (I drew in the “I” on the back side of the O a few years back here) along with adding a few other you-shouldn’t-be-surprised things like…

Pumpkin8

… ceramic animals! Holla. Don’t they look awesomely creep-tastic when they’re grouped with a crow, some snakes, and two gnarled old pumpkins? I love how the frog and the pumpkins both have warts.

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I even grabbed our white ceramic rabbit from the deck because for some reason he seemed like he could be a little “rabidly scary” in the right setting. I think it works. Plus, if you were a ceramic bunny, wouldn’t it be a little bit thrilling to end up displayed with other tougher creatures like snakes and crows? It’s like he gets to take a walk on the wild side for a hot second before ducking back over into cute fuzzy bunny territory the rest of the year.

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I kinda wished I could paint “blood” in drippy red paint over the word “love” in the art, but that would be permanent, so maybe I’ll cut out the letters from red construction paper and delicately stick them on with poster putty or something. Or I’ll just leave it and ignore the uplifting and happy quote above my spooky little table of Halloween goodness.

Oh and we still have to frame our skullified selves (made a few years back thanks to Photoshop) in the hallway frame wall. This baby comes out every year and we play the “slip it into a frame grouping and see who notices” game.

Halloween Scary Wedding Pic

Speaking of ghosts of Halloweens past, we have nearly a dozen Halloween posts on our Holiday project page, complete with a bunch of creep-a-delic projects, tablescapes, and more – so if you’re looking for puffy painted pumpkins, maniacal monograms, batty bid-ness, or bloody candles, we’ve got you covered.

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What are you guys doing to spook things up at home? Does it involved ceramic animals and a power drill? If it doesn’t, $herdog strongly encourages you to reconsider. Ya heard?  *mic drop*

Psst- John misses you guys and is sorry he hasn’t blogged for a few days. He’s been working on our powerpoint presentation for our talk in Cincy this Saturday (I’ll pause while he mimes pushing his glasses up his nose and putting on his pocket protector) but he’ll be dropping in later and tomorrow with those posts for ya!

Comments

  1. Christa says

    If you wanted to add creepy red blood to the love painting, would a red dry erase marker over the glass work? I’ve seen lots of calendars with dry erase on frames in pinterest world.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I wish! It’s actually not a painting with glass, it’s one of those framed canvases that’s open and glass-less. Great idea for anyone with glass though!

      xo
      s

  3. Jimmy says

    Ha! I like that a lot. Very Tim Burton of you guys. And now when I walk around the neighborhood I’ll know which of my neighbors are fellow YHL readers (because this is bound to inspire a few repeats!).

    Pumpkins aren’t just for show. Hot off the presses I’ve just posted my recipe for Creamy Roasted Winter Squash Soup: http://www.thebookofjimmy.com/creamy-roasted-winter-squash-soup/

    Works with pumpkins, butternut and acorn squash – your choice – and is pretty easy to pull off. Happy Halloween and assorted fall holidays, my favorite time of the year (for food!)

    Reply

  4. Julia says

    We just got some pumpkins and had planned to carve this weekend, and I was just saying to my hubby we need to get out the drill! Then I saw your
    snake idea – nice!

    HOWEVER, went out to the porch to discover our dog/puppy had chewed the pumpkins! She actually had one out in the yard, whole. Lord knows how she carried it!

    Reply

  5. Liz says

    You should try experimenting with cheap clear things like wax paper or plastic wrap, writing creepy bloody letters on it and tacking it discreetly with painter’s tape over the painting. It could work! :)

    Reply

  6. Angie says

    Check the Halloween sections of Walmart and Dollar Tree. I bought a set of gel clings to put on my patio doors that look like blood splatters and drips. That would work great on your picture frame!

    Reply

  7. Taya says

    Just a useful FYI: if you come across those little silica packets (the ones that come in packages of random items), put them into your carved pumpkins. Apparently, they stave of molding and rotting of a pumpkin once it have been carved! :)

    Reply

  8. Donna Jean says

    pumpkins + drill = awesome! I did that with a few pie pumpkins a few years back – I hollowed them out and drilled holes in them (some around just the top, some all over) and made pumpkin votives for a Halloween party that we were hosting. They looked pretty cool. I wanted to make a vase out of one, too and put a pot of mums in it, but I couldn’t find a good pumpkin in the size I wanted.

    Reply

  9. Claudia says

    Sometimes pumpkins start to get shrivelly after a while, but if you rub a little vaseline on the cut parts, it will seal them. No more pumpkin top shinking up and falling inside! Although the shriveled look could be awesomely creey with the snakes…

    Reply

  10. JennyA says

    I was going to say clearly the rabbit is Bunnicula — but I see I was beaten to the punch there! Anyway, very, very cool and creepy little vignette there!

    Reply

  12. Katie says

    The display looks fantastic! It makes me wish I had some warty pumpkins and toads. I definitely think you should go all the way and cut out the dripping blood letters for the painting – it made me laugh out loud thinking about it.

    Reply

  13. Cynthia says

    I said the title of this post that exact way before i even read the first sentence! hahah. I love Dr.Dre! Cute pumpkin idea!

    Reply

  14. heather says

    I rarely ever decorate for Halloween or Christmas (maybe it’s just because everything is already so crazy around here I’m just waiting until things are more done to buy decorations? Or maybe i’m just decorlazy). That said, I LOVE these pumpkins! LOVE them. My other favorite? A comic I saw that said “3.149…” painted on pumpkins and the words “pumpkin pi” after. That warmed my nerd heart enough I almost made my own.

    Reply

  16. Melody says

    Maybe you could write the word “blood” with that fake stained glass stuff. I can’t remember what it’s called, but you probably know about it. You squeeze it out of a bottle and make a design, then you can stick it on glass and remove it when you’re done.

    Reply

  18. MamaG says

    Snakes, fun. We might have you beat though. We have tons of slugs that come out at night at our house and they like to slime all over and in our pumpkins on our porch. Super yuck and creepy but free decoration!

    Reply

  19. Cassie says

    We carved our second pumpkin yesterday! I had my 3 year old draw a face and I carved it… what resulted was 2 GIANT eyes and a small “o” for a mouth that looks more like a nose and mouth-less pumpkin face haha.

    Reply

  21. Maria says

    Oh my gosh. That is actually really creepy! Even in broad daylight it’s making me squirm :) I would definitely be that person who walks by it at night and shrieks, forgetting it’s not real.

    Also, I am SUPER creeped-out by white bunnies (especially ones with red eyes). I read “Bunnicula” when I was like 8 years old and have been terrified of the darn things ever since. Monty Python did nothing to assuage that fear. *shudder* So, adding the white bunny in here makes perfect sense to me. Creepy.

    Reply

  22. Maureen says

    So cute! This year we have a little Halloween tree on our entryway table with cute ornaments we got at Pier 1. I have other stuff but an soooo behind in decorating! I have that feather wreath too, but I have to hang it inside so it doesn’t get ruined. Boo.

    Reply

  23. sue says

    oooh, how about a bit of perspex or some kind of plastic overlaid on the canvas & then you could drip blood down that… perhaps crossing out the word LOVE and replacing it with something more sinister… mwahahahahaha
    love the lumps & bumps on the pumpkins by the way!

    Reply

  25. Mina says

    Woohooooww ! Excellent !! I love that ! This idea is really great.

    We don’t make Halloween in France, that’s not in our traditions, but it seems to be funny.

    Thank you for your blog and sorry for my english.

    Mina

    Reply

  27. Nichole says

    draw on the glass of the picture with whiteboard markers (red for dripping blood, black for spiders, etc) & then it will wipe right off after Halloween. But make sure you use WHITEBOARD markers!

    Reply

  30. Sandra T says

    Bwahahaha! John SO does not look like a cereal killer! More like a surprised “this thing in my hand cuts?” Ha Ha! Now if he found a bowl and milk in the pumpkin…

    Reply

  32. Katie Rose says

    I’ve used a drill to “carve” my pumpkins the last few years…SO much easier than the traditional way (course I always manage to make just as big of a mess). I like just drilling holes of various sizes all around. It looks really pretty lit up with a candle in the dark, like stars!

    Of course I don’t have a personal pic of this as I am at work, but we put silhouettes in our windows to up the creep factor. LIKE THIS (except ours is a big jack-o-lantern face): http://www.natscorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/halloween_window_decor.jpg

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      OH yes, we used water-based non-toxic paint for the Clara painting pumpkin. And the spray painted ones we just composted so they broke down in our compost bin.

      xo
      s

  34. Kesley says

    Hey! When you mentioned adding “Blood” to the artwork above the console it reminded me of something I did when I was younger. I would take the white Elmer’s Glue and create my own window clings. Obviously they weren’t the best but I was thinking you might be able to find a DIY window cling tutorial online. You could make them red and spell blood and put them on the underside of the glass :) Just a thought.

    Reply

  38. Sabrina Riggs says

    I LOVE the way you think about your ceramic animals as ‘real’ and think that the bunny wants to walk on the wild side. I love your blog overall, but I especially love how you just let the inner corny you show through. Makes me feel not quite as alone in the world…..especially compared to all the other women in the world who seem to be perfect and composed all the time.
    Oops-mistook you for my therapist for a minute. LOL
    Keep on being you!

    Reply

  43. Molly says

    I saw someone comment on the window cling– good idea! I was thinking red vinyl letters from a cricket cutter… whatever works! I think that would really make this space look creepy!

    Reply

  45. Megan says

    Love it!

    What do you guys use to carve your pumpkins (other than power tools, of course)? We usually pick up a few of those pumpkin carvers at the pumpkin patch, and they always break in 3 seconds. Then we try kitchen knives, which never really work.

    Reply

  46. Rachel says

    It makes my whole day that you used a Dr.Dre reference! Now its in my head…..10 points for you. I need to find some worms and ceramic friends for Halloween decor, my 17 month old would love it!

    Reply

  47. TriciaJP says

    For the bloody painting, I can’t remember if it’s covered in glass?…

    If it is, I saw these AWESOME blood or ooze window clings at the craft store the other day. They’d be perfect!

    Reply

  48. Jenn says

    Sherry, what if you COULD paint over your painting without it being permanent? I was thinking, maybe you could get some sort of clear plastic (something with some rigidity but also some flex – not saranwrap, in other words) which you could fit over the painting. You could paint “blood” on the clear plastic, and it would totally look like you painted over the actual painting without permanent repercussions. Whatdaya think?

    Reply

  49. Maggie says

    LOL, love those snakey pumpkins! We don’t make such a big deal of Halloween over here in UK on the whole, but I do look forward to playing around with it when the GrandTwins are a bit older. We have a wonderful park just down the road from us, Sefton Park, and the last few years they’ve done great Lantern Festivals for end of October. Twins a bit small to go last year, and we’re waiting to find out if they might go this year. Prob a bit weather dependent too!

    Here’s link to this year’s Festival:
    http://lanterncompany.co.uk/halloween-lantern-carnival/

    Here’s a video of last year’s:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-EZ_eIy0phc

    Best wishes from Liverpool!

    Reply

  50. Juliet says

    Have you ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

    You need to add some “nasty, big, pointy teeth” to that rabbit. That will make him perfectly creepy. A little Sculpey and some fake blood ought to do the trick.

    :)

    Reply

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