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The eerie jack-o'-lanterns are lined up on the porch... the ghoulish ghosts are waiting in the bushes... the bats are swooping through the trees... and the skeleton bones are rattling in the dark corners... what are you missing? The Haunted House, of course, with its candle light softly glowing through the windows, beaconing all the little Trick-or-Treaters to take a look inside... if they dare!

After you paint one of these Haunted House Pumpkins, you'll be hooked. You might even paint a whole Haunted House village!

What You’ll Need

pumpkin
large knife
small knife
large spoon to scoop insides
black acrylic craft paint (additional colors if you choose to create more detail on or around your house)
paint brushes
pencil
votive candle (option: tea-light, or battery operated light)

Instructions

1. Wash and dry pumpkin.
2. Cut hole in BOTTOM of pumpkin, scoop out insides until you have a clean interior. (The size of the hole will depend on the size of the pumpkin. Be sure it's big enough to get your hand in there to clean the pumpkin out.)
3. Draw outline of haunted house with windows and doors on the pumpkin. There are many templates available, or just look at Halloween cards and decorations to get some ideas. The windows and doors will glow with the candle light, so be sure you think about your design. Practice drawing your own design on paper before you draw it on the pumpkin.
4. Paint your pumpkin. You can do this several ways: Paint the entire pumpkin (except the Haunted House area) black, and leave the House orange; Paint just the House black leaving the rest of the pumpkin natural orange; Paint the House with details like shingles, siding, shutters, brick, etc. and paint trees, moon, stars, bats flying, etc. around the whole pumpkin. The ideas are endless.
5. Lower your Haunted House Pumpkin over a lit votive candle and the windows will be glowing with candle light.

Submitted by Gramma