Making a Jack-o-Lantern Light Show

So you’ve been thinking that you want to bring some outdoor Halloween decor to your yard. Not just the regular pumpkin on the doorstop, but something that will really bring Halloween to the whole neighborhood. You want it to be something unique, original. Something spooky, especially at night, when the magic of Halloween truly comes alive. Here’s an idea: make your own Jack-o-Lantern Light Show.

Here’s how to do it: First, get a bunch of your friends and family together to have a pumpkin carving party. Each person should bring at least one pumpkin. You could also have the party with just your immediate family, a few friends, or do it yourself! Make sure to have all different kinds of pumpkins of various shapes and sizes.

Carve all sorts of designs into the pumpkins. Various faces, scary images, spooky sayings, anything you like. For inspiration, try looking at some Halloween magazines or Halloween art online and print out your favorites.

After carving as many jack-o-lanterns as you want to include in your light show (15? 20? More?), place them throughout your front yard. Line the fence, the walkway, the trees, the porch swing. Place others randomly throughout the yard on flat surfaces or level ground where they will keep steady. For additional lighting, set hanging lanterns and standing lanterns throughout the yard. Space groups of pumpkins and lanterns apart to make your light show appear much bigger. You can also make the show grow as the season goes on by adding a few more pumpkins each week.

Light the jack-o-lanterns and lanterns each night at sundown with tea lights. You can buy big bags of these candles in any craft store for only a few dollars. Keep the tea lights in a plastic pumpkin or cauldron by your door, along with a long lighter that can fit into the narrower pumpkins easily. Keeping the candles where you’ll readily see them will help you remember to light the show each night.

Remember to take pictures of your Jack-o-Lantern Light Show to show your friends! And they won’t be the only ones admiring your work. Before you know it, the neighbors will anxiously be awaiting the light show to begin each night, and cars will be slowly driving by to take in the live Halloween event that you’ve created.