It's fall and time to pick all those pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.
Mini pumpkins are my favorite to decorate with.
I picked about 40 from my garden.
This method will work for all sized pumpkins.
To give them a good cleaning,
fill your sink or a bucket full of warm water,
1/4 cup or bleach and a drop or two of Dawn dish soap.
Give them a good rinse with clean water.
Lay them out to dry stem side down
or gently dry them off with a soft towel.
If you want them to last longer or use them to decorate,
you might consider spraying them with a sealer spray
or rubbing them with a floor wax.
If kept out of the sun and heat they can last three or more weeks.
They are now ready to use to decorate or paint.
If you carve a pumpkin, clean it again the same as above after carving.
This will help kill the bacteria, and help the pumpkin last longer.
Then, if you want to protect it even more you can run Vaseline all over the inside.
Keep it inside or at least out of direct sunlight.
The best option is to put it in the refrigerator during the day, and outside when the sun goes down and it cools off.
We always wait until the week of Halloween to carve ours. I have always let my kids decorate their own pumpkins. When they were little they either painted them or colored then with sharpie markers. When they are ready they used the safety carving knife sets.* I am actually one of those kids that slid their hand down a knife cutting a tough pumpkin. I wish they had those safety knives when I was a kid.
Real candles will cook the pumpkin and also make it rot faster.
I recommend fake tea light candles or Christmas lights. I love to use Christmas lights on the flashing setting.
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