Can I be totally honest about pumpkin carving for a minute? I mean really and truly totally honest, okay? It kinda sucks and I prefer no-carve pumpkin decoration by far! Yup, I said it, pumpkin carving kind of sucks. Why? Because it's messy, you gotta stick your hand in there and get all the pumpkin guts out and yes, you can turn the guts into yummy pepitas and all, but I swear the pumpkin guts irritate my skin. Also, if you have young kids they have like zero knife skills! Really, you shouldn't even try carving pumpkins with your kids until they are old enough to carry a switchblade. I'm kidding! The switchblade thing is a joke, but the not carving pumpkins with kids who can't handle a knife is not.
If you have young kids I suggest you go the no-carve pumpkin decorating route and I've even got a pumpkin load of ideas and examples for you.
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I would also like to point out that no carve pumpkins last longer than carved pumpkins. You work so hard on carving a calabaza masterpiece only to watch it start turning into a moldy pulp almost instantly and you know the kids aren't going to want to clean up that mess either, so it's just one more thing for you to do.
Okay, now use your twitchy carving hand to click through this fabulous gallery of #nocarvepumpkins and be inspired!
Image via Thinkstock
Mummy and Minion
Okay, that mummy pumpkin looks so great and really it's just gauze and googly eyes. Love it. Oh and here is a tutorial for how to make a Minion pumpkin.
Candy corn
Some paint can turn an oblong pumpkin into candy corn. How clever is that?
Pollack pumpkins
Tell me your kids wouldn't have a blast channeling their inner Jackson Pollack and splattering paint all over their pumpkins? Not that you need a tutorial, but just in case you'd like to see how to create a Jackson Pollack inspired pumpkin, you can click on over.
Black and white
I love the way these black and white pumpkins look, they're so chic and give me so many ideas. You could do a white pumpkin with just a black cat painted in the middle or a white pumpkin with pieces of black lace glued on to it.
Sugar skull
I love all of these pumpkins, but the one with a sugar skull is my favorite because it combines Día de los Muertos and Halloween, which is perfect for my bicultural self. I found some great instructions for how to make your own no carve sugar skull pumpkin, in case you want to make your own!
De colores
You know all those bits of broken crayons that you have just laying around because your kids don't know the power of their own strength? You can glue then to the top of a pumpkin and then use a blow dryer to melt them to create an awesome crayon drip pumpkin.
Pure gold
I cannot believe that a little spray paint can make a pumpkin look like it's made out of solid gold. I love how posh this looks.
Frijolitos
Look at that! You add some frijolitos to a pumpkin in a geometric shape and you've got yourself a work of art!
Hello Kitty
Although I'm devastated that Hello Kitty is not a cat That doesn't stop me and my kids from loving her though. This pumpkin looks super easy to make, I can't believe this has idea never occurred to me before.
