Stack painted pumpkins to make a pumpkin tree decoration! Here's how.

Pumpkin tree
A pumpkin tree.

To make a stacked pumpkin tree project:

Pumpkin tree
Pumpkin tree

1. Drill a hole to fit a 1- to 2-inch-diameter dowel through each pumpkin (we used the faux pumpkins Funkins for a long-lasting display). Start at the top just behind the stem and go all the way through to the bottom.

2. Insert the dowel in a hole drilled into a tree stump or a board wide enough to accommodate the widest pumpkin. (Alternatively, pound it into the ground.)

3. Build a tower of pumpkins from largest to smallest. Mark the dowel at the top of the top pumpkin.

4. While the tower of pumpkins is still assembled, use a washable marker to trace the outline of the tree onto the pumpkins (to ensure that your lines transition smoothly between pumpkins).

5. Take apart the tree.

6. Trim the dowel to the height marked in Step 3.

7. Cover the marker outlines with black acrylic paint, then add wavy lines for bark and circles for knots. Or paint the tree solid black.

8. When the paint is dry, wipe off any marker showing. Be gentle: If you wipe too hard, the paint could come off.

9. Reassemble your tree on the stump and surround it with woodland creatures. Click here for free downloadable stencils to make the woodland pumpkins in our photo.