Don’t Toss Your Small Halloween Pumpkins After October 31, Here’s What to Make With Them
Halloween decorations come down after October 31, but those small artificial pumpkins don’t have to go back into storage. Instead of buying new Thanksgiving decorations, you can reuse them to create a colorful display with paint and wooden letters. Eight pumpkins are enough to spell out a word that fits the next holiday: THANKFUL.
In a DIY project shared on Homedit, Katie King transformed orange artificial pumpkins into a Thanksgiving arrangement using acrylic paint, wooden letters, twine, and small flower accents. The finished display trades traditional fall colors for green, yellow, coral, and orange, with each pumpkin carrying one letter.
Small Artificial Pumpkins Became Thanksgiving Decorations
Eight miniature artificial pumpkins formed the base of the project, along with unfinished wooden letters spelling THANKFUL. The supplies included DecoArt Americana acrylic paints, a foam brush, hot glue, brown twine, and small decorative flowers.
Artificial pumpkins work for this idea because their surfaces can be painted and kept for future holidays. Their compact size also allows several pieces to fit across a mantel, shelf, or dining table without taking up much space.
Bright Paint Replaced the Original Orange Finish
The pumpkins received individual coats of acrylic paint in citrus green, yellow, coral, and orange. One photo shows a green pumpkin beside the paint bottle and foam brush, with the original orange surface covered and the dark green stem left exposed.
Rather than using deep red, brown, and burnt orange, the creator chose colors inspired by the 1960s and 1970s. The different shades gave each pumpkin its own appearance while keeping the same shape across the display.
Wooden Letters Turned Each Pumpkin Into Part of a Message
The unfinished wooden letters were painted off-white before being attached to the pumpkin fronts with hot glue. One letter went onto each pumpkin, with the first carrying a T and the remaining seven completing the word.
The pale letters contrast with the painted surfaces and remain visible against the rounded pumpkin ribs. Their flat fronts also provide a defined shape without requiring a separate sign.
Twine and Small Flowers Added the Final Details
Brown twine was tied around the stems, with loose strands extending outward like vines. Small autumn flower embellishments were attached near the tops, adding yellow, orange, and cream accents.
The close-up shows how the flower decorations sit beside the stems rather than covering the wooden letters. These details were optional, allowing the painted pumpkins to work as a simpler display without them.
Eight Pumpkins Created a Thanksgiving Display
The completed pumpkins were arranged in a row across a wooden shelf beneath a decorative backrest with heart-shaped cutouts. Green, orange, pink, and yellow pumpkins alternate across the word THANKFUL, with off-white letters connecting the different colors.
The finished arrangement keeps the shape of the original Halloween decorations but replaces their October theme with a Thanksgiving message. No carving or permanent alterations to the pumpkin bodies were required.
The same idea can work with shorter words such as FALL or GIVE, using fewer pumpkins for a smaller shelf or mantel. For this project, eight painted pieces created a display that could remain in place through Thanksgiving rather than disappearing into storage after Halloween.