15 Things to Do with Your Pumpkins After Halloween

15 Things to Do with Your Pumpkins After Halloween



Like most people, I get my pumpkins before Halloween and decorate with my home with them and carve jack-o-lanterns but then I wonder what the heck am I supposed to do with them on November 1st???






► Make Pumpkin Pie - Obvious, I know. Sorry, but FOURTEEN Things to Do with Your Pumpkins After Halloween just didn't sound right.  I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie so quite naturally I don't know how to make it. All I know is you open a can of stuff and dump it out into a pie crust. Isn't that all there is to it? Oh. Well, never mind. If you want to make your own pumpkin pie from scratch, try Paula Deen's recipe HERE. I'd try it. That' lady looks like she knows a thing or two about pie.


► Roast the Seeds - Every year I try to roast pumpkin seeds and every year I fail. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but practice makes perfect right? Not in my case. I've murdered so many poor seeds. Try this recipe  HERE that people swear is the ultimate way to make pumpkin seeds. I don't know if that's entirely true. It's the first link that came up when I searched for "how to roast pumpkin seeds". You can snack on the seeds, add them to salads, soups, all kinds of goodies.


15 Ways to Recycle Your Pumpkins After Halloween, 15 Things To Do with Your Leftover Pumpkins, How to Recycle a pumpkin.


► Express Yourself - Cut a big hole the bottom, put it on your head and frolic about your neighbor's yard to let them know that Halloween isn't over until YOU say it is. (I will not be held responsible for bad advice if they call the cops on you.)



► Punkin Chunkin - Grab some wood and your largest pumpkins and build yourself a fear-fetching pumpkin tossing trebuchetPunkin Chunkin is a real competition and competitors build all kinds of devices like catapults and even cannons to see who can chunk a pumpkin the farthest. If you don't have acres and acres of land to do this safely, try doing it on a smaller scale with mini pumpkins. BTW: You can find more info about the official Punkin Chunkin competition HERE.


► Pumpkin Fries - I didn't even know that was a thing until a searched to see if it was... and it is. Get a great recipe for baked parmesan fries HERE.


Stress Relief - Having a bad day? Smash some pumpkins on the ground, stomp on them, toss them from the roof or give them a satisfying whack or two with a baseball bat.


► Make Yourself Some Pumpkin Ale - I don't know a dang thing about brewing beer. I just know how to drink the good stuff whilst wagging the finger of shame at people who drink inferior pee-lagers like Bud Light and Coors. GAG. Get yourself a pumpkin ale brewing kit HERE for $38.99.


► Pumpkin Latte - Forget Starbucks. Make your own and brag to all your friends about how thrifty you are! I know I sure would! Check out this great pumpkin latte recipe  HERE.


► Pumpkin Bowling - Roll a pumpkin down a lane and knock over pins. Easy peasy. Wanna make it really interesting? Take your pumpkins to an actual bowling ally.... Tell em' Quirky Bohemian Mama sent you. (If you get in trouble, remember: The first call's to your lawyer, not to me.)


► Make a Killer Thanksgiving Centerpiece -  You can use mini pumpkins to make candle holders and larger hallowed out ones can serve as a vase for a gorgeous floral arrangement.


► Make Pumpkin Puree - You can use pumpkin puree for just about anything you want to add pumpkin to. I love making pumpkin cornbread dressing with sausage and sage. It is seriously one of my favorite things to make and eat. Mmm good! Check out this great post here: 21 Recipes to Make with Leftover Pumpkin Purée for... 21 recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree....


15 Ways to Recycle Your Pumpkins After Halloween, 15 Things To Do with Your Leftover Pumpkins, How to Recycle a pumpkin.
Pumpkin Soup

► Serve Out of Them - Serve your food out of  hollowed out pumpkins on Thanksgiving. It will look super pretty and you can just toss them when you're done!


► Give Your Farm Animals a Treat - Pigs, goats and chickens can eat pumpkins and rabbits may have a little bit so give your farm babies a nice autumnal treat!


► Simple Autumn Decor - Keep them around for fall decor; even after Thanksgiving, unless you're one of those weirdos who puts the tree up Thanksgiving evening.


► Plant the Seeds - We didn't plant a pumpkin vine on purpose but that's sure what we've got growing in our yard. I'm guessing last year when we gutted out our pumpkin to carve a jack-o-lantern we put the guts in a trash bag which most likely got ripped open by a neighbors dog. Come summertime a very resilient weed sprouted in the yard and we decided to give it a chance to live to see what it really was (because it looked familiar). Over a few months the plant grew from the size of your hand to a 12 foot long monster in the yard. The leaves and vines are withering and now we can see we have 10 beautiful little pumpkins that should be ready by Thanksgiving! Check out this article, How to Preserve Fresh Pumpkin Seeds to Plant Next Year.





14 comments

  1. Great ideas. You gave me some new ones -- thanks!

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  2. So many great ideas here! I love to roast the seeds - they are such a yummy snack! This year, I'm giving some of the pumpkin pulp to my dogs. Pumpkin is very high in fiber and helps their digestive systems and it's more natural than the pumpkin pie filling mix they normally get!

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  3. Pumpkin fries!? Those sound delicious! I love cooking up the pumpkin seeds, it's my favorite!!

    Rachel / www.seashellsandsparkles.com

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  4. Pumpkin fries? I've got to try those :-D I also think that soup looks delish!

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  5. I love the idea of pumpkin fries! I use the pie pumpkins for pies but the big carving gourds rot instantly here in Florida, too humid :\ haha. I can never get baked pumpkin seeds perfect either, they're always too chewy. I remember them fondly from childhood, my mom would bake them deliciously every year.

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  6. brilliant ideas, Hollie! thanks for being so lovely and creative! I always love seeing your colorful photos on instagram of you in your beautiful dresses!

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  7. hahaha!! You crack me up. We had a volunteer pumpkin plant in the middle of our yard, too. (I have to blame my own dogs, though.) Love these ideas! I never really thought about giving them to our goats before...

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  8. I don't think I would have been able to think of many things to do with pumpkins after Halloween. You have created a wonderful list, very creative! I especially love the "Express Yourself" ahahaha! Thank you so much for share!

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  9. Punkin Chunkin is something I definitely haven't ever heard of, but I'm glad people are having fun with it, hahaha.

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  10. I have 2 pumpkins sitting on my front porch that need to be used. This is going to be fun! My oldest and husband will love doing a punkin' chunkin'.

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  11. I wish I had space to plant the seeds. We're in an apartment building at the moment, but I'll definitely do that when we have our own garden in a few years time. Luckily, we only have one pumpkin and it's small. My daughter wants to keep it to remember her "first" Halloween. She's four, but it's the first time we've done anything with her properly and she was so excited to go trick or treating for the first time.

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  12. Thanks for sharing so many more great ideas!! Please come share with us at the Homesteader Hop https://www.floydfamilyhomestead.com/2016/11/02/the-homesteader-hop27/

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  13. What great ideas. One year our pumpkins were covered with snow before we could throw them away. There was a lot of snow that year and we forgot all about them. The next summer my young children were thrilled to find a pumpkin vine with a pumpkin growing. It now a favorite family memory. Congrats, you're featured this week at the This Is How We Roll Link Party.

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  14. Cool ideas! Wish I found this before I threw mine away :( Oh, well...saving for the next year :)

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