Wow ’Em With Pumpkin Totem Poles
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| Photo Credit: Totem Pole |
| This Halloween, take your pumpkin decorating to new heights with a fun and wacky totem pole. |
Painted pumpkins, carved pumpkins, pumpkins left alone – yes, it’s time for those seasonal, beautiful orange globes to make their yearly appearance on porches, steps and fence posts. But if you’re looking to create some different pumpkin Halloween magic this year, consider creating a totem pole! There’s a creative couple in a neighboring town from where I live who treats passersby to a new version every year. It magically appears each October, much to the delight of every child-filled school bus traveling to the local elementary school.
A pumpkin totem pole is really quite simple, and you don’t need too much to create one. Here’s the list: - Wooden dowel or pole
- Sturdy container or pot with a hole in the bottom
- Bricks or rocks
- Leaves or hay
- Pumpkins (small, large or a size assortment)
- Weatherproof paints (and any other decorations you like)
- Brushes
- Newspaper or drop cloth
| Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Donna W. Moramarco | | Be sure to pick firm pumpkins for your totem pole project. |
Just gather everything you need, and then take the project step-by-step:
- Choose a location for your totem pole. (A sidewalk leading up to a front door makes a great spot to greet your trick-or-treaters.)
- Decide if the totem pole will be viewed from every side, so you know how much of each pumpkin you’ll need to decorate.
- Place the wooden dowel or pole on the ground, and line up your selected pumpkins (in order) so the pole can be cut just slightly shorter than the top of the last pumpkin. (You want the top of the pole to be just below the top of the last pumpkin so it’s inside the pumpkin and not seen.) Before you cut, remember that the pole has to be hammered into the ground for stability (about 10-12 inches deep).
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| Warnings |
- Always supervise children with any carving activities!
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| Facts |
- Don’t buy pumpkins that are dented or mushy. Look for the firm ones – they’ll last longer. And don’t make your totem pole too early in the season. Once you carve a pumpkin, you greatly reduce its shelf life.
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| Tips |
- This is a wonderful project to do with kids. Make it a family activity so everyone has fun. Make a totem pole for each child that’s just their height. Boy or girl – paint them up, throw a cap on their heads and let them shine! Short on ideas? Suggest different themes: scary faces, happy faces, favorite pets, comic book or television characters – the possibilities are endless. Just hand them a brush, and let their creativity come into play!
- Live somewhere too warm for carved pumpkins to last outside or prefer not to use real pumpkins at all? Don’t fret – head to a craft store and look for foam facsimiles. You can carve, stack and paint these in the same fashion – and reuse your totem pole year after year!
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| Resources |
- We’d love to see your totem pole creations! Please take a picture of your completed project and post it on our forums so we can all enjoy!
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