So, you're ready getting ready for Halloween but you're missing the cornerstone of every Halloween display--the jack o'lantern. Well, you can always run to the local market and pick up the biggest, roundest pumpkin you can find--wait, what?? You hate carving pumpkins!?

Well, hate no more, gentle reader. There is an alternative to digging into the middle of a pumpkin and yanking its guts out with your hands:

MILK CONTAINER PUMPKINS!!



I hear you laughing. But you're the one who said you didn't like pumpkin guts in your fingernails.

What you'll need:

• Plastic gallon milk container with lid
• Pen or pencil
• Craft knife or scissors
• 1 bottle orange acrylic enamel or gloss paint
• Sponge brush applicator
• Hot glue gun
• Flickering tea light (battery operated)
• Brown felt

How to make it:

Lightly draw a jack-o'-lantern face on the front of the milk container.

Cut out features with scissors or a craft knife. Cut a flap in the back of the pumpkin, big enough that you can fit a sandwich bag full of sand or a handful of rocks in to weigh it down.

Paint the container with three coats of orange paint. Allow it to dry between coats.

Holding the flickering tea light upside down, place it inside the mouth of the milk container. (You may need to trim down the opening until the tea light is able to fit inside.) Once you’ve sized the mouth, remove the tea light and set it aside.

Cut out a rectangle from the brown felt big enough to fit around the mouth of the milk container. Use hot glue to line the inside of the area, then fold the excess down felt around the outside of the mouth and glue in place. The tea light should fit snuggly inside and be pointing downward. (Do not glue down the tea light – you should be able to remove and replace it when the battery dies.)

Insert rocks or a small bag of sand into the back flap of the pumpkin for weight. Place pumpkin on the porch and when night falls, turn on the flickering tea light!

There you go!