Here’s the PERFECT Halloween porch decoration for 2020! These pandemic pumpkins are just the comic relief everyone needs, am I right?!

If I had seen these pumpkins a year ago, I would have thought, “What in the world…?” Why are we wearing masks and clutching rolls of toilet paper??? Well, welcome to 2020! HA!

It’s so easy to make these pandemic pumpkins for your own porch, and I think they are actually a funny way to hand out candy without contact. Of course, if you leave the bowl unattended, you’ll probably get someone who comes along and clears the bowl… We’re planning to put this out, but also sit near it.

In all seriousness, we do need to be careful about spreading germs this year. We have a close friend whose live has been severely affected by the after-effects of covid, so I’m taking this virus seriously. We do plan to hand out candy, but we’ll be keeping a distance!

How to Make Pandemic Pumpkins

These pandemic pumpkins are SO easy to do.

We wanted a parent and child, so we bought two different sizes of pumpkins. The hay bales were useful for propping up the arms. We found those at Hobby Lobby.

First, choose items to fill your pumpkin peoples’ bodies. I used a metal bucket (IKEA) and two plastic containers. Put rocks in your containers, if needed, for extra weight so they don’t tip over.

Then, place shirts over the containers. Stuff the arms with tissue paper.

Don’t stuff them super tightly because you want to be able to bend and pose the arms easily.

Decorate the heads with eyes and masks.

For the eyes, I used Sharpie oil-based paint pens. Regular Sharpies do NOT draw well on an orange pumpkin. You can, however, use regular Sharpies on a white pumpkin.

We used rubber bands to attach the masks. For the smaller pumpkin, we used two rubber bands and tied them together in the back.

A small hay bale was the perfect thing to prop up the toilet paper rolls and arms.

I made hands out of orange craft foam. To get a good shape, I traced the kids’ hands (my 6 year old for the smaller pumpkin and my 8 year old for the larger one).

That’s MY shirt on the plaid pumpkin, but I traced my hands and they looked way too big. Didn’t work with adult hands, and I’m a petite adult.

Then add pandemic accessories! Toilet paper, of course! And then hand sanitizer, Chlorox wipes (if you have a canister to spare – maybe an empty one?). The kids also suggested gloves and water bottles.

I printed the 6 ft social distancing sign on PowerPoint. Just search in clipart and there are a few options!

21 Comments

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  1. Michelle Oct 8, 2020

    So clever and fun. Love this idea.

    Reply
  2. Cindy Oct 8, 2020

    Very clever! 🤣

    Reply
  3. Jens Fridthjof Knudsen Oct 8, 2020

    Hilarious :) May I post it? I'd like to share it on my Facebook account. With your consent.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Oct 8, 2020

      Yes! My first choice would be to share it from my Facebook page. If you don't want to do that, you can share it with the link.

      Reply
      1. Jens Fridthjof Knudsen Oct 9, 2020

        Thank you :) I certainly will share it from my Facebook page!

        Reply
  4. Suzanne I. Lee Oct 8, 2020

    Adorable! and easy enough to do with stuff I have (thankfully, lol) on hand!

    Reply
  5. marjorie hatch Oct 8, 2020

    I'm not on Facebook, but I'd love to tweet it! How can I do that? With your permission.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Oct 8, 2020

      You should be able to share the link on Twitter! Thanks! :-)

      Reply
  6. Ruta Oct 8, 2020

    This is adorable and so timely!!

    Reply
  7. Jane McIntosh Oct 8, 2020

    Hysterical! I luv them! Now, if no one gets offended or “rips off” the toilet paper!!!

    Reply
  8. Stanley R Taylor Oct 8, 2020

    Great idea!

    Reply
  9. Paula hansen Oct 8, 2020

    This is the greatest idea and you are so creative. Thanks for showing how you did it so it can easily be made!!
    Thanks for all your great ideas. I love your blog!!!

    Reply
  10. Karen Vargo Oct 8, 2020

    Too Funny!

    Reply
  11. Adelle Young Oct 8, 2020

    Love it, I’ll just need to change the sign to metric for us Australians 🤦🏻‍♀️😂💐

    Reply
    1. Evelyn Webb Oct 9, 2020

      It's one adult kangaroo tail to nose for Aussies. 1.5 metres.

      Reply
      1. Sarah Oct 10, 2020

        Haha, that's great! My kids would love to measure the distance in kangaroos. :-)

        Reply
  12. luisa cruz Oct 8, 2020

    This look very funny... I love it!

    Reply
  13. Dani Oct 8, 2020

    What a creative and fun idea!! I love it!!

    Reply
  14. Robin Steinweg Oct 9, 2020

    Brilliant!!!!

    Reply
  15. Donna Oct 9, 2020

    Adorable, makes me smile!

    Reply
  16. Magi Oct 9, 2020

    These are brilliant!!! Such a clever idea!!! Xxx

    Reply
  17. Shannon Ramirez Oct 9, 2020

    We are SO doing this...thank you for the wonderful idea!!

    Reply
  18. Mary K Babb Oct 10, 2020

    I just saw this and not only is it a great idea it's adorable!!!!🎃

    Reply
  19. Vicky Rowland Oct 10, 2020

    This blog post has been one of the most fun and funny ones I have seen. I sincerely and totally smiled for the first time in regard to the pandemic! Thank you!
    Great ideas as well!

    Reply
  20. Billie Oct 11, 2020

    I love these pumpkins, so cute.

    Reply
  21. CHRISTA DAUME Oct 12, 2020

    Very clever and so cute!

    Reply

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