Haute Halloween

This easy DIY project, inspired by similar gourds found online, is a chic take on the jack o’lantern—and could not have been easier.

I found lots of white pumpkins, including the two biggest globes seen here, at Locally Grown Gardens, between Carvel Ave. and the Monon Trail, next to the strip that includes Zest! Exciting Food Creations. Most of the options were just what you’d want: smooth, round, and creamy white, free of nicks and flat sides. At $1.75 per pound, the two big pumpkins cost around $18. I then filled in with a few smaller pumpkins from Sullivan’s Hardware, 6955 N. Keystone Ave.

Next stop was JoAnn Etc. in Castleton for three items: five yards of black crafters’ lace (one yard per pumpkin), a can of flat black spray paint for the stems, and rubber bands for the bottoms.

Here’s all you do:

1. Tape around the stem bases to protect them from paint, then spray black and let dry.

2. Drape a yard of lace over each pumpkin (less may be OK, but you’ll probably need more than you think). Cut a hole in the center just big enough to poke the stem through.

3. Smooth the lace over the sides and gather as tightly as possible at the bottom. Some online instructions would have you sew the fabric at bottom, but I just rubber-banded it and trimmed off the excess, and you can’t tell the difference.

 And voila! Sexy pumpkins. I’m perching mine in beds of black gravel on my front-porch urns. Where will yours heat up Halloween?