If it's October, then you know it's pumpkin season. Everywhere we turn, there are pumpkin foods, decor, and crafts — in shops, on front porches, at the kids' schools, and of course, in the house you found from Beavercreek homes for sale. No doubt your family can't wait to see what kind of pumpkin wizardry you'll come up with this year, so let's not disappoint them. Here are several novel projects our REALTORS®  have sourced from bloggers, designers, decorators, and artisans to bring out the best in those lovely pumpkins, gigantic or mini, you're bringing home this year.

1. Pumpkin candles
   Not a fan of pumpkin or pumpkin-flavored foods? No worries. Enjoy pumpkins by turning them into projects, like a  mid-size pie pumpkin or smaller half-pumpkin, transformed into a candle. Just like the jack o'lanterns you carve from fresh pumpkins, the candle holder won't last all that long but will dry out and shrivel up. So if you want a candle holder that lasts longer, use an artificial pumpkin. In addition to the real or artificial pumpkin, you will also need soy wax flakes, wicks, cinnamon sticks, a pencil to hold the wicks, and if you choose, wax coloring and cinnamon flavor for smell.
   
   
2. Out of this world jack-o'-lanterns
   Are you an old hand at carving jagged rows of sharp teeth, scary slits for eyes, and a triangle for a hollow nose, all accented with eerie candlelight from inside the jack-o'-lantern? Jazzy designs for carving and decorating unique jack-o'-lanterns abound in magazines, craft books, and the internet. You can go as simple or as wild as your imagination takes you, adding glitter or paint (you can always forgo the carving and paint the pumpkin or draw on it with felt tip pen), hot gluing appliques, or applying decorative tape. Be sure to follow best practices for preserving the pumpkin by cutting the bottom off instead of the top, hollowing out the fresh pumpkin thoroughly, preserving the walls with petroleum jelly, etc.
   
   
3. Pumpkin as a planter.
   Choose a round, fat pumpkin with a flat bottom. Get some flowering bedding plants and soil, and you're ready to make your pumpkin planter. Slice off the top of the pumpkin, then scoop out the innards with a garden trowel. Fill the hollowed pumpkin half or two-thirds full of potting soil, then place the plants atop the soil. Fill in the spaces around the plants with soil, and keep the plants watered. When the pumpkin starts to fade, plant the whole creation in the garden and let the pumpkin deteriorate and feed the plants.
   
   
4. Harvest pumpkin seeds.
   Sure, you can buy these at the store, but it's more fun to show the kids how to harvest and prepare their own tasty and nutritious pumpkin seeds. Whether you buy or grow your own pumpkin, save the seeds before you carve the jack-o'-lantern by cutting the "lid" off, then scooping out the seeds and pulp. Place seeds and pulp in a bowl of water. Pull the seeds from the pulp, placing the seeds in a colander as you work. Rinse the seeds under cool water. Rub seeds together to remove more pulp. Once you've removed most of it, drain the seeds, then spread them on a dish towel or paper bag to dry.
   
   Once they're dry, spread them on a baking sheet, and drizzle with melted butter or cooking oil. Season with garlic salt, and roast at 275 degrees till done.

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