We are approaching the time of year where people dress up and decorate their homes with all types of spooky and festive decorations. It's the holiday season for trick or treaters who walk around collecting candy or hide in bushes waiting to scare those who pass. There is one thing that nearly all homes in America have for a decoration: a round, orange, fruit that varies in size and exact shape. These fruit are decorated and carved, which can seem to be repetitive as they all start to look the same. The fruit I am referring to is the ever so famous pumpkin and I have come up with a fun and creative way to decorate one. I am going to make a small root-beer float mug out of a mini-pumpkin, and of course it will be an A&W float.

Supplies

1 mini Pumpkin
1 can of Brown Paint
1 can of cream colored paint (optional)
A&W Sticker (printed A&W logo)
Clear tubing
Hot glue gun with sticks of glue
Paint Brushes
Cotton Balls
Newspaper for painting (optional)
Exacto Knife
Straight Pins (not shown in picture)
Cutting Board/ Matt (optional)
Paper Plate (for paint, optional)

Step 1: Painting the Pumpkin

Before you start, put down your newspaper to avoid making a mess. Take your brown and cream paint and pour some of the paint onto a paper plate. Next take your paint brush and tap it into the brown paint, until almost fully covered. Once you have the brush covered in paint, begin to paint your pumpkin by gently swiping up and down with the brush on the pumpkin. If you want, leave a little extra space towards the top of the pumpkin to paint with the cream colored paint. Paint the entire pumpkin a dark brown shade and use as many coats until you are satisfied with the color or you may choose to paint the pumpkin 3/4 from bottom to top and using cream colored paint for top 1/4. Once you have painted, let the pumpkin sit until all the paint is dry, mine only took a couple minutes but yours could take longer, depending how many coats of paint you use.

Step 2: Adding the Logo

First print out the A&W root-beer logo. Once it is printed you can use the Exacto knife to cut out the logo, or you could just use a pair of scissors. It does not need to be perfect, as you can tell from mine. Once you have cut out the logo, use the hot glue gun to put dots of glue around the edges and in the middle of your logo. It works best if those dots are also made on the area of the pumpkin in which you will be placing the logo. You should do this rather quickly as the glue dries fast. Next, press the logo onto the pumpkin in the desired spot. If needed, go back and put more glue on the pumpkin while pressing the logo on. See pictures above for more detail as an example.

Step 3: Making the Handle

To make the pumpkin more detailed and look even better, you can choose to add a "handle" to the float. Take your clear tubing and cut it to the desired size of the float "handle". To add the handle, take the piece of clear tubing and one straight pin and stab a hole through one end of the tubing, angling it towards the pumpkin. Next, stab the straight pin into the pumpkin and press firmly until the pin is pushed completely through the pumpkin and is holding the tube to the pumpkin securely. Repeat this process for the bottom side of the tubing, making it the bottom of the handle. You can see the process in the pictures above.

Step 4: Adding the Cotton Balls

Plug in the hot glue gun and allow it it to heat up. Once it is heated and ready, use it to connect the cotton balls to the pumpkin. Start by adding a drop of glue to one cotton ball and place and press it onto the pumpkin for a couple seconds. Continue this process of gluing the cotton balls and pressing them to the pumpkin until it looks like foam on the top of the float. There is no specific way to place the cotton balls or how many to use. Have some fun and make the foam to what feels right to you. This makes your root-beer float unique and special to you. Once you are done with the decorations, display your beautiful pumpkin on your porch for viewers to see.