Decorate That Pumpkin With A Power Drill! As Discovered In Pinterest

Pumpkin "carved" with a power drill.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Oh Pinterest, you never fail to make really unique designs actually look easy!

Examples of pumpkin carving with a drill from Pinterest.

One day, while looking for pumpkin decorating ideas, these brightly lit beaded pumpkins caught my eye. They look so different from any glowing pumpkin I'd ever seen, and they actually looked like I could tackle the design! My patience level for carving is very slim. Slim to none. Hence this pumpkin decorating idea on gilding a pumpkin from local artist Deborah Bigelow. I have never carved a pumpkin and have little desire to draw a design, only to struggle with carving it, which most likely results in carving outside of the lines. Unlike these prize-winning pumpkins in the City Of Beacon's Pumpkin Carving Event!

Where can I get more precision? A power drill! And I'm not even that great with a power drill. But hey, by using various drill bits, I got different sizes of perfectly formed circles. Pop a glowing candle inside for glowy Halloween effect, and your friends will surely be impressed.

What follows below is what you need to decorate your pumpkin with a beaded effect using a power drill. My kids and I also made a demo video on Periscope and then published to YouTube, which you can watch at the bottom of this post! The picture at the top is the finished result of our drill bit–carved pumpkin.

MATERIALS
1 big pumpkin
1 big knife to carve top
1 big spoon to scoop out seeds and slimy stuff
1 paper bag to contain pumpkin guts
1 power drill
2 sizes drill bits: use bits that are at least two sizes larger or smaller than each other
1 candle
broom & dustbin

STEP 1: Cut out the top of the pumpkin and scoop out your pumpkin with a spoon.

STEP 2: Get your power drill ready! For the beaded look, you can do 4 or 5 large holes in a line, and then switch drill bits to the smaller size. When you use drill bits that are more than one size different from each other, you will get a more dramatic beading that is more noticeable from the street.
Note: You could draw tiny dots where you want your circles to go. But don't get too precise, because your drill may spin out the first few tries until you get in the flow.

STEP 3: Mess alert! As your drill bit spins, the pumpkin shell spins onto the floor. You can see what I mean in the video below.

STEP 4: Once you have drilled all of your holes, place your candle inside of your pumpkin and enjoy!

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Back in season for Fall, the famous cheese fondue pumpkin! A great party food idea, or order by the slice. Delicious.

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Watch our video that we broadcast live on Periscope! To catch more of A Little Beacon Blog's live broadcasts, follow us at Periscope: www.periscope.tv/alittlebeacon.