DIY Cinderella Carriage Pumpkin Carving for Halloween

I love decorating for Halloween. Pumpkin carving with the entire family has been a tradition since the eldest kids were small. When the kids started to get older they started carving their own pumpkins but the littles helped once the carving was out of the way and it was time to get our hands dirty pulling pumpkin brains out. Muahahahaha. One out of six pumpkins we carved naturally became a Disney princess themed pumpkin, a DIY Cinderella Carriage Pumpkin.

I noticed my sister-in-law had done one with her girls on Facebook recently and had seen it on Pinterest and thought it couldn’t be too hard to make as a last minute pumpkin carving idea. We usually carve pumpkins the weekends before Halloween but this year time got away on me and voila, here I was scrambling to find last minute pumpkin carving ideas.

The one I had seen was a bit fancier, grown up, version of the Cinderella’s carriage but we let our kids help with whatever parts of the decorating they like and I think our 4 year old definitely added her princess charm to it. I mean really, can you ever have TOO much bedazzling. Go big or go home I always say. Smirk. It turns out Elsa from Frozen stopped by and sprinkled snowflakes all over the carriage for that special touch. Perfect, if I do say so myself.

It’s easy and cheap to make. This cost me under $5. Some materials I had and some I bought from the dollar store.

What you Need

• 1 big pumpkin perfectly shaped for a carriage ($3 this last in the game)
• 4 mini gourd style pumpkins ($2 for a pack of 6, previously bought for fall decor)
• white glue
• glitter glue (we used blue – $1)
• Blue craft paint (we mixed white with blue for a light colour)
• Sponge brush or paint brush (we used a sponge to cover more space quickly)
• bedazzle jewels (lots and lots of them for eager princess fingers – $1)
• Snowflake stickers ($1)
• Metal or thick wood dowels to secure the gourd wheels (Hubs used super long metal nails he had)
• Candle for lighting inside the pumpkin

How to Assemble

1. Cut open the circle around the stem for the lid. Clean out the pumpkin of pulp, setting seeds aside for a tasty baked treat later. Cut out the windows and door for the carriage and wipe clean any pieces from the exterior of the pumpkin.
2. Paint the entire pumpkin and lid with stem, setting aside to dry completely before the next step. We let our 4 year old do this and she was super excited.
3. Get your bedazzling on. I squeezed glitter glue around the door and windows to make them stand out better and allowed, or rather was forced to allow, my 4 year old to dictate where the entire bag of jewels should be glued. I squeezed glue, she bedazzled. Set aside for the glue to dry completely; god forbid ANY jewels fall off this masterpiece.
4. Attach the gourd wheels by a heavy wood or metal dowel, one end into the gourd and one end secured deep enough into the base that the weight of the pumpkin will rest evenly on all four gourd wheels. You can line them up evenly by sight.
5. Light that carriage pumpkin and await the princess to arrive Trick-or-Treating at your door this Halloween.

We each carved a pumpkin, all except Baby Ro who would barely touch the pulp of the pumpkin. Baby Ro was interested and eager to participate but once I helped him touch the pumpkin pulp he cried and wanted his hand wiped off; a clean freak toddler, who knew.

Tomorrow we were invited to join our pre-preschoolers class for a Halloween celebration and told we could bring nut-free treats. I came up with these budget-friendly last minute Halloween treat bags, Boo Bags as I like to call them. These Halloween ghost treat bags are easy and quick to make; add a bag of popcorn for a non-candy and nut-free treat. Check out how I did it.
 

If you like these, I’d love for you to pin these designs on Pinterest and make sure to follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for more fun ideas.

What fun ideas have you done this Halloween? Happy Halloween from our family to yours!