My great-granddaughters aren't quite old enough to understand Holidays & Celebrations, but they do understand good food and fun. Making these decals was unbelievably easy and took hardly any time at all. Plus, they come right off the jars when you're done, so we can do this again for any season or any reason. We used one  pumpkin carving templates, which you can find at here

1 - Print your design on a laser printer or copy it on a photo copier that uses toner. (We printed these at 25%.) Cover the design with packing tape. 

2 - Use a rounded tool to emboss the tape onto the print. I used a wooden kitchen tool, but even the rounded edge of scissor handles would work. Press fairly firmly and go over every area twice. You can see a slight change in color as the toner from the print adheres to the tape.

3 - Cut out the design, staying fairly close to the edges of the design.

4 - Soak the print in water for or so, then gently rub the paper from the back. The design will remain on the packing tape, neat as can be.

5 - Center the decal on the mason jar, and press. 

6 - We wanted to decorate a bottle that was too big for packing-tape-size decal, so we went to Plan B. We printed the design at 150%, then used it as a template to cut out the bats from a Duck Tape sheet.

7 - Remove the backing and smooth onto the bottle.

Ready to party!

How to Carve a Pumpkin Using a Pattern

Use patterns to guide your pumpkin carving and your jack-o'-lanterns will be the envy of the neighborhood. The best thing to do is to come up with your pattern before you start carving rather than winging it.

Things You'll Need

Pumpkin-carving Sets

We used one pumpkin carving templates, which you can find at here

Instructions

1 - Cut out a lid in the top of the pumpkin large enough to fit your hand and a spoon inside.       

2 - Add a small notch in the back of the lid. The notch will remind you how the lid is positioned, allow smoke and heat to escape, and ensure that the candle receives enough air to remain lit.

3 - Scoop out the pulp and seeds. Retain the seeds for roasting.  

4 - Scrape the inside of the pumpkin in the area where you'll be using the pattern, until that area is about 1 inch thick.

5 - Trim and make small incisions in your pattern so that it lies flat on the face of the pumpkin. Tape the edges of the pattern to the pumpkin.    

6 - Transfer the pattern by poking small holes along the pattern lines with a drill tool or needle.   

7 - Remove the pattern.

8 - Saw carefully along the dotted lines. Gently push the pieces through with your fingers. 

9 - Create a glow effect by scraping designs into the shell of your pumpkin with a melon baller, wood gouge or linoleum cutter.

10 - Anchor a candle in the bottom of the pumpkin and light the candle. You're now ready to display your best jack-o'-lantern ever.

Tips Warnings

When you're cutting out the lid, angle the saw blade toward the center of the pumpkin. This will create a ledge for the lid to sit on so that it doesn't fall into the pumpkin.

Keep your transfer dots close together. If the dots are hard to see, rub flour over them to make them more visible.

If your jack-o'-lantern starts to shrivel, soak it in water for several hours to freshen it.

It's much safer to use a pumpkin-carving tool than a knife - consider picking up a pumpkin-carving set to get the job done right.

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