Halloween is just around the corner and it’s time to break out all your favorite All Hallow’s Eve decorations. Recycling holiday knick-knacks each year can be a fun tradition for your kids, as each re-opened box of fake spider webs, scary ghosts, and skeleton hangings, brings with it the exciting memories of all the previous years’ trick-or-treating extravaganzas.

But there’s one much-needed Halloween decoration that can’t be recycled, and that’s your supply of fresh Jack-o-Lanterns. For some, recreating these festive pumpkins can be an adventure, but for those of us without an artistic bone in our bodies, it’s a daunting, messy chore that never turns out quite the way we, or our sweet, demanding, creative children, want it. And since it’s a slightly dangerous and involved task, one that you might not feel comfortable leaving to your kids’ unsteady hands, it usually requires you, as the responsible adult to be the one to wield the sharp knife required to penetrate those tough-skinned pumpkin hides. But luckily, this fact doesn’t have to cause you stress this year, because we have found the most brilliant solution to your problem: cookie cutters.

This method is so genius, and so simple, you’ll be wondering why it’s taken so long for someone to tell you about it. But the good news is, this year, and every subsequent year, your Halloween preparations just got a whole lot simpler. Now, the only part of the process you’ll have to spend any time thinking about is which orange fruit at your local pumpkin patch is your favorite, and which cookie cutters you want to purchase from the nearest Michael’s or WalMart.

After you’ve made your choices, cut out a small circle around the stem of your pumpkin. Pull this piece out, and scrape all the seeds into a strainer. These can be toasted in oil and seasoning later to make a delicious and nutritious holiday snack. Then grab your Halloween cookie cutters and, gently but firmly, hammer them into the sides of your pumpkin with a mallet.

When your Jack-O-Lantern is decorated with as many bat, spider or skeleton cutouts as your kids and you prefer, slide a candle inside and light the wick. Then, place your new Jack-O-Lantern out in a nice dark spot and enjoy your handiwork. Now wasn’t that so much easier than last year?

SHARE the love and pass it on!