Jack O’Lantern Pumpkin Water Bowls

One of my favorite parts about art this fall has been watching Little Bug try supplies for the first time. The look on her face when she first tried a paintbrush was priceless.  So, I was really excited to host a pumpkin painting play date for her and her friends.  It was the perfect chance to have her try painting on a new canvas – a pumpkin.

It’s also been fun watching her explore rinsing her brushes.  These jack o’lantern pumpkin water bowls are the perfect way to add a festive touch to your art table. Taking inspiration from my black polka dot Halloween vases, these water bowls use a basic round glass bowl (a find at the Dollar Store), cardstock cut-outs and glue dots.  After the party fill with candy corn and use as a candy dish.  The kids will be thrilled.

You Will Need:

Clear glass bowl
Pumpkin face template
Black cardstock for pumpkin face cutouts (affiliate)
Glue Dots (affiliate)
Halloween ribbon or natural twine (optional)

1. Draw the pieces of your pumpkin face onto black cardstock.  Create any kind of face you’d like or use a pumpkin face template as your guide. Cut out the parts of a pumpkin face from the black cardstock.

2. Use glue dots to adhere the face to the glass bowl.

3. This step is completely optional – Tie a piece of ribbon, natural raffia or twine around the top of the bowl to add a decorative touch. Fill with water for rinsing brushes at the art table. You could also or use as a snack serving bowl at the play date.

A quick note about pumpkin water bowls and toddlers… How to use the water bowl definitely needs to be demonstrated. Little Bug thought that the water was just another paint that kept changing. She was using it to paint her pumpkin for awhile. I sometimes forget that everything we know was taught to us somehow. Rinsing off brushes in a water bowl is no different and is not an innate skill.

These pumpkin water bowls were a fun addition to our party.  The kids enjoyed a little bit of pumpkin flair when rinsing their brushes and loved seeing the pumpkin change an assortment of colors throughout the party.  The bowls are now resting happily as candy dishes in our studio.  And, yes, one is filled with candy corn.

Happy Celebrating,

Natalie