Why I’m “Nuts” for my DIY Melted Crayon Teal Pumpkin

Growing up with a severe peanut allergy was nuts.  I developed the allergy before I was two years old, and my parents didn’t know anyone else who had the same allergy.  There wasn’t a huge food allergy movement back in the 1980s, so other parents didn’t believe that I could possibly be *that* allergic to peanuts (thanks to that one mom for the anaphylactic shock!).  Halloween and Christmas were always scary times with nut riddled candy and homemade baked goods.

My own children tested negative for a peanut allergy when they were infants.  But, because you can become allergic to anything at any time AND because they have the genetic predisposition for a peanut allergy, they live by the same peanut-free rules that I do.  Whomp, whomp.  No Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for us.

When I saw that the national non-profit group FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) was pushing for a new Halloween tradition, I immediately got on board.  The group is encouraging families to put a teal pumpkin on their front porch as a sign to Trick-or-Treaters that the home has non-food treats available.  Their Teal Pumpkin Project has gotten a lot of interest in the media, and I’m hoping that a lot of homes will be participating.  As a family, we have always offered nut-free candy, but now we are also going to have non-food treats, too.

Of course, a teal pumpkin was an excellent excuse for me to put together a crafty Halloween project. Since I’ve been eyeing the crayon drip pumpkins for years, I decided that this was my chance!

I started by grabbing a live white pumpkin to decorate.  I really wanted a fake craft pumpkin, but those have apparently been sold out for over a week at my local Michael’s.  A WEEK!  People have moved on to Christmas.  Poor guy at Michael’s had to hear my “But it’s not even Halloween yet!” rant.  Bless his heart

I bought a few boxes of crayons and just used the teal and a dark blue from each box.  I used eight crayons total and broke them each in half for 16 pieces.

I followed Alexa’s advice and used Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue to attach the crayons to the pumpkin.  It held the crayons in place okay, but they started to slide down the sides of the pumpkin if I’m being totally honest.

Once I had all of the crayons placed, I plugged in my HomeRight Heat Pro Deluxe II heat gun and started melting away.  I originally turned it on high, but that melts an entire crayon in like 10 seconds.  So, I changed it to a lower setting so that I could provide more direction for my drips – you can use the hot air to sort of guide the melted wax over the pumpkin.  I loved having the ability to change temperatures on it to get exactly the temperature I wanted for my project.  Pro tip:  The crayons can become a drippy mess, so be sure to protect your surface!

Once it was finished and the wax cooled, it looked like this:

For everyone thinking, “Lindsay, that’s not teal,” please know that it’s definitely teal in person!  I am apparently photographically challenged.

I printed on cardstock one of FARE’s flyers that states that our home has candy and non-food treats.  I taped it onto some toothpicks and stuck it into the top of the pumpkin.  I’ll have the pumpkin displayed in an obvious place on the porch for our neighborhood trick-or-treaters to see.

I found these individually wrapped spiders and spider web at our grocery store – they were just $1 for a dozen of them.  I thought they were perfect to give out!

There are all sorts of ways you can DIY a teal pumpkin and get in on the Teal Pumpkin Project in the next few days.  Paint one with teal craft or spray paint.  Decoupage teal paper onto a pumpkin.  Glue teal rhinestones on one.   Or, just print out the flyer and have it on your front door.  FARE also has a good list of other non-food treats you might want to consider.

Have you heard about the Teal Pumpkin Project?  Are you participating?

This post has been sponsored by HomeRight.  I have been compensated for my time, but all opinions are my own.