When I came up with this project, I was thinking of calling it a no-carve pumpkin DIY. Except that there technically IS carving. So I guess it’s low-carve? It doesn’t require the degree of artistic talent (or time) that real pumpkin carving does, and if you use a fake pumpkin, it’s way less messy. No pumpkin seeds to roast up and munch on at the end, but also no guts to clean up. Plus, if you use a fake pumpkin, you can keep this around after Halloween and just restyle it for a Thanksgiving table. And it’ll be all ready to go next year–you just have to keep the plant alive in the meantime. Or you can even replace the potted plant with a vase of fresh flowers. So many possibilities!

Pumpkin Planter

Materials:
Pumpkin – Real or fake, though I used this fake one
Small serrated knife
Marker
Plant pot – Mine is from Ikea
Plant that fits in the pot
Preserved Spanish moss (optional)
Miscellaneous containers or pieces of wood for raising the height of the plant pot

Steps:
1. Put the pot you’re using on top of the pumpkin, and trace around it with the marker. If the top of your pot is wider than the bottom, like mine is, you’d actually be better off flipping it over upside-down to trace it.

2. Stab the pumpkin along the line you just drew, then carefully cut out the circle until you’ve gone all the way around.


3. Check to see if your pot fits. If not, trim evenly around the perimeter of the hole until it fits. In order to make the top of the pot even with the top of the pumpkin, you might need to put something underneath it. I used a plastic container from my recycling bin, but wood slices or a small box could also work.


4. Pop in a plant! I didn’t even need to repot mine, I just put it in the pot in the plastic container that it came in. Now you can either leave it like this, or add some spanish moss to help hide the pot (and make it a bit creepier).

5. Creep it up! To get that Halloween feeling, add fake spiders and webs, bats, skulls, and anything else you find sinister.