Pumpkin Teeth and Other Jack-o-Lantern Ideas

When I was a kid, the pumpkins we carved were the same every year - they had two triangle eyes and a triangle nose and a big grin with one or two teeth on the top and bottom. Every year, it was always the same, and we thought it was great.

My kids barely know what these classic jack-o-lanterns look like.

I usually carve one "old-fashioned" pumpkin each year just for old time's sake, but the rest of our pumpkins have bats, witches, ghosts, and other spooky designs created from pumpkin carving templates. The kids love these. Unfortunately, my youngest is too little to carve and my oldest usually gets bored part way through the process, leaving me to finish whatever he started, which is usually some creepy face he drew himself, with lots of sharp fangs that are impossible to carve. This year I'll be ready - I've found pumpkin teeth.

If people can wear false vampire teeth, colored contact lenses and spooky makeup at Halloween, why not pumpkins?

Someone thought it was a good idea, and now you, too, can get glow-in-the-dark pumpkin teeth for your jack-o-lantern. If you like scary pumpkins, there are sharp, pointy fangs, but if that's a little too scary your your taste (or for your kids), they also come in silly buck teeth. Both kinds come with 18 individual pumpkin teeth that you can push into your pumpkin to give him a full set of pearly whites. When Halloween is over, just take them out, wash them off, and you're ready to store them for next year. Easy, huh?

If you like the idea of pumpkin teeth or other push-in accessories for your pumpkin, you can get Mr. Potato Head kits designed specifically for pumpkins. There are several decorating kits available to turn your pumpkin into a skeleton, pirate, vampire or witch. These are great for little kids who can't carve yet, and they can be used year after year.

You can also create some great-looking pumpkins by adding other accessories such as a witch hat or wizard cap. You can either add these to carved faces or create no-carve pumpkins using paint or other accessories.

Look around your house. What kind of objects - fruit, vegetables, old buttons, loose screws, etc. - do you have that could be used to make a pumpkin? The video below gives some ideas for using common household items, like the head of a mop and hardware pieces, to create great pumpkins. All you need is a little imagination and a few accessories, and you'll be ready to make a jack-o-lantern your whole neighborhood will be talking about.