Polka Dot Pumpkin Lanterns

Easy to create polka dot pumpkin lanterns. All you need is a serrated knife and a drill!

I might be stating the obvious here but carving pumpkins can be a bit of pain. Especially when your kids don’t have a long attention span. Last year we didn’t get around to carving and, in years passed, we’d spent hours laboring over fun creations. It was fun, but time consuming. If you’ve gone through the same thing, we have the perfect (and easy) Polka Dot Pumpkin Lanterns. These are actually inspired by pumpkins a neighbor created last year. We saw them trick or treating and I said to her, “gosh, I love those!” She proceeded to tell me that they were as easy as hap-hazardly drilling holes into pumpkins.

I knew we had to do them this year! So I thought it would be a fun project to try with Conor. He LOVES DIY and tools. I’m excited to be sharing these DIY Polka Dot Pumpkin Lanterns in the Seasonal Simplicity tour hosted by my good friend Krista. This week is all about Halloween DIYs and crafts.

Aren’t they cute?

Last week was all about muted colors in our fall entry with pretty heirloom pumpkins. I’m really drawn to the soft, natural shades.

This week we’re out on the back deck, carving pumpkins. We’re going with the very traditional bright orange and some white 😉

How to Make Polka Dot Pumpkin Lanterns

I’ve included a few affiliate links in the materials, you can read my full disclosure policy here. If you purchase via a link, I may receive a portion of the sale.

Materials

• Pumpkins
• Serrated knife
• Drill  with various drill bits
• Bowls
• Lights
• Spoon for scooping

Method

Draw a circle on the bottom of your pumpkin and cut carefully with a serrated knife.

Clean out the inside of the pumpkin, remove all the seeds and flesh.

You may want to reserve the pumpkin seeds for roasting. We did and I have fun recipes to share with you next week 😉 Yay! 5 pumpkins provided loads of seeds (which are also great if you’re following Keto).

I remember carving a pumpkin with my mom when I was around 3 or 4 years old and reaching into the pumpkin for the first time. Yuck. It feels so gross. Even now at 41, it still feels pretty gross. Conor doesn’t like that part, so I got to clean all the pumpkins out.

Once the pumpkin guts were cleaned out. It was time to make our polka dots. We used a drill and drill bits in varying sizes to create large and small dots.

If your kids are helping just make sure to keep an eye on them while they’re working with the drills. We had so much fun doing this, but it was very messy.

Pumpkin guts and pulp was going everywhere! Conor was gleefully laughing and I was saying, “Be careful”. “Oh, maybe do a bit more over here.” We’ve never carved pumpkins so fast before.

I recommend using faux candles or string lights inside.

I love that by cutting the bottom it makes the pumpkin appear to be on touched except for the sweet little holes.

Here you can see them as it got darker:

I sprayed them with hair spray to make them last I’ve also heard you can use bleach or vinegar.

I’ll be sharing a few ways to use these Polka Dot Pumpkin Lanterns in home decor later this week. For now, here’s a little peak:

Be sure to visit all my friends who are taking part this week:

Today I’m excited to be joining a group of 16 bloggers who are also sharing a Halloween DIY or Craft project today! Hop around to take in all this stunning inspiration…

DIY Black & White Sharpie Pumpkins at The Happy Housie
DIY Halloween Doormat at Lolly Jane
DIY Felt Bat Pillow at Paint Me Pink
Spooky Glam Halloween Dollar Store Wreath at The DIY Mommy

DIY Lighted Halloween Sign at Confessions of a Serial DIYer
Tips & Tricks for DIY Hand Lettered Pumpkins at Lemon Thistle
Scrap Fabric Lighted Halloween Garland at Clean and Scentsible
Polka Dot Pumpkin Lanterns at Finding Silver Pennies

Cheesecloth Mummy Lanterns at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Decorated Baby Boo Pumpkins at Town and Country Living
Spooky Wispy Halloween Wreath at A Pretty Life
Halloween Cloche DIY at Deeply Southern Home

DIY Creepy Halloween Floral Arrangement at House by Hoff
Easy & Elegant Halloween Wreath at Hallstrom Home
10 Minute Glam Halloween Masquerade Mask at Summer Adams
Crow Halloween Wreath at So Much Better With Age