Use Plain Plastic Pumpkins To Create This Hanging Porch Décor For Halloween

Feeling festive for Halloween? Or do you need a little help getting into the holiday spirit? Either way, we've got a fun, quick craft to prepare your home for the spookiest season of the year. It comes from the TikTok account for Tableshoppe Co., and it involves decorating plastic pumpkin buckets and then hanging them from your front porch or deck.

One perk of this DIY is that you only need three things to make it: a pair of scissors, a plastic jack-o'-lantern bucket, and ribbon. Walmart carries all of these supplies — and you can pick up everything for around $5 per pumpkin. For example, the retailer sells jack-o'-lantern trick-or-treat pails for $1.97 each. Meanwhile, 10 yards of black/white buffalo plaid ribbon (like the one pictured in the TikTok) costs $9.95. You can choose how much ribbon you want to use based on what looks good to you. (In the video, Tableshoppe Co. uses 2 to 3 yards per bucket.)

All in all, this is a simple project that only takes a few minutes to complete. It could even be a fun activity to do with kids — as long as there's an adult to handle the scissors. Plus, you can customize it based on what you like. For example, you could just craft orange pumpkins, or you might mix them with some white, purple, or pink ones. You can also, of course, use multiple colors and patterns of ribbon. In fact, this could be a fun way to repurpose leftover ribbon from past projects and reduce the overall cost of this Halloween DIY.

To start, grab your scissors (or power drill) and make two holes in the bottom of the bucket. These should be a few inches apart and placed in the center of the pail. Then, cut a length of ribbon so that when folded in half, it's how long you'd like the pumpkin's tails to be. Push one end of the ribbon into the pumpkin pail from the bottom, then pull it out from the other hole. Alternatively, you could just push the ends of the ribbon into each hole from inside the pumpkin and then pull each end through the bottom. And that's it!

@tableshoppeco

How to zhuzh up your classic pumpkin pails for Halloween 🎃 Use scissors or a drill to punch two holes into the bottom of your pumpkin pails, thread your ribbon up and back through the holes, pull the ribbon to your desired length. I used about 2-3 yards of ribbon per pumpkin. Best for covered areas but if you want to hang in uncovered outdoors areas I'd punch extra holes for water drainage. #halloween #90shalloween #halloweendecorations #diyhalloween #halloweendecorating Halloween decorating ideas | nostalgic Halloween | 90s Halloween | diy Halloween decor | Halloween decor | Halloween front porch | whimsical Halloween | home decor | home decor ideas | seasonal decor | fall decor

♬ original sound – Tableshoppe Co.

When you're ready to hang them up, you've got a few options. If you already have hanging plants in your outdoor space, you could temporarily take them down and replace them with the pumpkins for the Halloween season. Alternatively, since the pails don't weigh much (around 4 ounces), you could hang them up with nails, thumb tacks, or Command hooks. Keep in mind, though, that the handles on these buckets typically aren't very long. So if you want a little more distance between your roof and the pumpkins, you might want to add extra ribbon to the pail's handle and string it up with that.

If you want to take this Halloween hanging-pumpkin DIY a step further, one way is to add battery-operated tea lights inside the pumpkins to keep them glowing all night. You also could hang string lights around the pumpkins for a little extra brightness (and create a more inviting atmosphere for trick-or-treaters). Just be sure there isn't rain in the forecast, as rain will likely ruin the tea lights; as for your string lights, make sure they're for outdoor use and check for a waterproof IP rating.

On that note, ideally, you should hang these fun Halloween pumpkins in a covered area so they're protected from rain and snow. If that's not possible, the TikTok creator recommends drilling drainage holes in the bottom of each pumpkin so that water can escape after a storm. However, if that's the case for your area, the tea lights might not be practical, if you have to remove them from the gourds often. Meanwhile, adding fake spiderwebs and plastic spiders are a safe and classic way to crank up the spooky vibes a bit, and both can withstand the rain.