Centerpieces

• A whole pumpkin can add festive decoration to your formal dining table. If you are looking for ways to dress up the table for your Thanksgiving meal or any type of event you are hosting during the fall season, place a large pumpkin in the middle of your table. For a dimensional effect, use one large pumpkin, one medium pumpkin and one small pumpkin. Around the pumpkin, scatter silk maple leaves in fall colors. For an unique twist, look for white whole pumpkins to use, and place white candles around them for a pale, subtle decorative centerpiece.
  
  

Food

• Pumpkin flesh and seeds are edible, so you can use a whole pumpkin to make something delicious. Carve the top of the pumpkin large enough to fit your hand inside. Scoop out the seeds and then work on getting out the flesh. You can roast the seeds with salt and butter in the oven to make roasted pumpkin seeds and reserve the flesh to make homemade pumpkin pie or to add the pumpkin flesh to a vegetable dish. Save the whole pumpkin after it has been seeded and wiped out clean, then use it as a serving bowl to house rice, vegetables or stuffing.
  
  

Craft Projects

• Kids and adults enjoy decorating whole pumpkins and making them look like cats, witches, ghosts and zombies. With a whole pumpkin, you can use paint to create scary, silly or sweet faces for Halloween. To make a witch, paint the whole pumpkin green and use black paint for the eyes and mouth, reserving a fake plastic witch nose from the store to glue onto the pumpkin where the nose goes. Or you can paint a pumpkin white with two black eyes to make a ghost.
  
  

Planters

• An eco-friendly way to reuse your whole pumpkin is to turn the shell of your pumpkin into a planter for flowers. After you have scraped out the seeds and flesh, add soil to the inside of the pumpkin and plant your seeds, or plant your flowers. You can set these around your yard for decoration.