Got pumpkin seeds? We’re sharing 10 Fun Ways To Use Pumpkin Seeds after you’ve carved your Halloween pumpkin!
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I think most of us can agree: the not-so-fun part about carving Halloween pumpkins or using a fresh pumpkin for cooking is cleaning the inside.
Inside a pumpkin, you’ll find lots of fibrous strands and pumpkin seeds. It can be slimy, messy work. It’s not surprising it gets the nicknames of pumpkin guts, pumpkin brains, or pumpkin slime!
But with all the work of cleaning a pumpkin, there is a great reward: PUMPKIN SEEDS!
Feel free to discard those pumpkin fibers, but those nutrient-rich pumpkin seeds?? There is so much you can do with them, many of which will create great memories with your family.
10 Fun Ways to Use Pumpkin Seeds
Roast Pumpkin Seeds for a Snack
In our home, it’s a tradition to roast our pumpkin seeds into a nutritious and delicious fall snack. For the best steps to roasting pumpkin seeds, make sure to visit our post: How to Make Perfect Pumpkin Seeds.
Feed the Birds!
Many birds would love your pumpkin seeds! Be sure that when you roast them that you don’t use any salt or other seasonings. After roasting, place these vitamin-rich pumpkin seeds in your bird feeders or place a plate of them outside and they will find them fast. To learn more about using pumpkin seeds to feed birds, visit this article: Roast Pumpkin Seeds for your Bird Feeder
Create Pumpkin Seed Flowers
The shape of a pumpkin seed works perfectly to resemble a flower petal. With some glue and imagination, you can create beautiful Pumpkin Seeds Flowers. Allow them to dry naturally (or roast them in the oven) and you can use them as-is for a natural look or color them for a fun look. Use the flowers on garland, as part of a tablescape, or even as a Christmas ornament. Check out the pumpkin seed flowers at the links below for inspiration:
- Natural Pumpkin Seed Flowers
- Pumpkin Seed Poinsettia Flower
- Painted Pumpkin Seed Flowers
Save Pumpkin Seeds for Planting
Store clean, dry, and uncooked pumpkin seeds in a cool and dry place and plant them in early spring. By autumn next year, you will have your own little pumpkin patch to pick from! Pumpkins take time to mature and develop but the truth is they are easy to plant and grow.
Save a few for this reason and give them a try next spring. If you are new to saving pumpkin seeds for planting, check out this post: Raise Your Own Pumpkins: Tips for Drying, Saving and Planting Seeds
Use Pumpkin Seeds for Kid Crafts
Pumpkin seeds make a great fall-themed art supply. Their shape can easily resemble the leaves on a tree, the feathers of a turkey, the petals on a flower, or anything else the imagination can think of! They can also be dyed with liquid watercolors, painted, or colored with markers. For inspiration, check out these creative ideas:
- Thanksgiving Pumpkin Seed Art (this site also has instructions on dyeing pumpkin seeds)
- Autumn Pumpkin Seed Tree
Use Pumpkin Seeds for Fall Decor
Pumpkins seeds are great for using in natural fall decor in your home. Dried pumpkin seeds can be strung on a thread to create a garland, can be filled into a clear vase, glued to decorate a photo frame, and countless other ideas.
Pumpkin seeds pair well with other natural items, such as dried apple slices, cinnamon sticks, and raffia.
Make Pumpkin Seed Jewelry
You might not think of pumpkin seeds for jewelry making, but you can use them to make some really cool, natural jewelry. It’s a fun activity for kids, but even adults can make their own stunning creation. By stringing nearly dried pumpkin seeds (you don’t want them 100% dry), you can make necklaces or bracelets. You can even make earrings! Get inspired with these tutorials:
- Pumpkin Seed Necklace (uses melon seeds, but you can easily substitute pumpkin seeds)
- Organic Seed Necklace
- Dyed Pumpkin Seed Necklace
Make DIY Beauty Treatments with Pumpkin Seeds
Roasted pumpkin seeds (without seasoning), can be ground up fine in a food processor and used in face or body scrubs for exfoliating. Here are a few DIY beauty treatments you can make with pumpkin seeds:
- Pumpkin Seed Exfoliating Mask
- Pumpkin Spice Body Scrub
Use Pumpkin Seeds for Learning
Learning math concepts can be easier for children when they have hands-on objects to use and sort. Roasted pumpkin seeds (without seasonings) can be a fun math manipulative for teaching and reinforcing math concepts. Use the pumpkin seeds to practicing measuring or weighing or to help act out math problems. Make it even more fun by coloring the pumpkin seeds with watercolors, paint, or markers.
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