One of the best things about Halloween, besides the costumes and candy, is carving a pumpkin to put out and enjoy until it, well, rots. Why not help your kids make a Jack-o'-lantern that's going to last and can be enjoyed year after year?

Step 1: Materials Needed

What you'll need:

Canvas- mine is 8x10", I got a pack of two for $3.99 at Hobby Lobby
Hot glue gun + glue sticks
Half Styrofoam balls (Hobby Lobby actually sells them like this!) - they are 4.5" half balls and come with 4 in a pack for $4.99
Paint and paintbrushes (I used orange, black, and green acrylic paint. You might want brown too, for the stem)
Newspapers to contain the mess

Step 2: Prep the Canvas

Lay the half styrofoam ball down on your canvas and lightly trace around it with a pencil. I placed mine on the canvas portrait style, but you could very well do two half balls and make your canvas landscape; then the kids could do two at once! After you have your placement down, paint in a stem and leaves (I just did leaves, but a stem will look good too).

Step 3: Paint the Pumpkin

While the leaves and stem dry, paint your styrofoam ball orange. Put down one initial coat and let it dry. You'll end up doing at least two coats to get a good orange color.

I alternated painting the pumpkin and the canvas so each had time to dry while I was working on the other.

Step 4: Paint Your Canvas

While the pumpkin is drying, paint the background of your canvas! I just opted for solid black but there's really no limit to what you can do. I painted slightly inside of the lines of my circle just to be sure there would be solid color there if I didn't place the pumpkin quite right when gluing.

Step 5: More Painting

While I was waiting for the canvas to dry, I painted the face of the Jack-o'-latern (sorry, I don't have an image of that).

Then I painted Happy Halloween on the canvas- paint whatever you'd like on yours!

Step 6: Hot Gluing

This is an adult step. Using hot glue, put a few dots on the back of your Jack-o'-lantern and quickly adhere it to the canvas. Leaving some of the canvas unpainted from earlier can help you center the Jack-o'-lantern.