Photo by Nesster

As we approach Thanksgiving and the end of the harvest season, you may still have uncarved pumpkins hanging around as part of your seasonal decor. Rather than tossing them, consider these frugal ideas:

• Why not let it hang out for a while? While there is a ton of pressure to toss away all memories of the glorious harvest season when you start to deck the halls, pumpkins make great decorations for the Thanksgiving table and serve as a great visual reminder of the abundance of the season. Keep them out, place a few acorn squash or gourds next to them, and enjoy the last few weeks of harvest before the yuletide greetings dominate the air.

• Make pumpkin seeds and homemade pumpkin puree. Especially with the odd shortage of canned pumpkin this year, its so much cheaper to can your own pureed pumpkin than buy it in-store. If you aren’t up for canning it for later use, cut it into chunks and freeze it to be pureed when you need it for a pie or soup.

• Use it as a vase. Carve out the inside and use it to hold mums, daisies, or other seasonal flowers. Or fill it with pinecones, twigs, acorns and other natural insignia of the season of plenty.

• Make a natural planter. Fit a flowerpot into the inside of the pumpkin. You’ll have a festive planter that will last at least a month or so.

• Make a harvest scarecrow. Carve a face for your scarecrow. As it starts to crumple with age, the wrinkled and nubby skin of the pumpkin will give your scarecrow some character.

• Add it to your compost pile. Before your pumpkin starts to rot, let your kids have a blast kicking it around the yard in some old sneakers until it’s broken into a few pieces and then throw it into your compost pile. (Because you do reuse kitchen scraps by adding them to a compost pile, right? Confession: I don’t. I can’t stand earthworms, they gross me out. We feed our pumpkins to the goats.)

Easy Canning Alternative #1: Par-Boil Pumpkin for Freezing

1. Chop the pumpkin into small chunks, and put them in boiling water for five minutes. This process is called blanching.

2. Drain the pumpkin pieces in a strainer, and let them cool.

3. Once they are cool to the touch and dry, you can put them in freezer-proof containers, like the millions of Ziploc bags or cheap Rubbermaid containers we’ve all acquired.

Easy Canning Alternative #2: Baking Pumpkin for Freezing

1. Cut pumpkin into small chunks and place on a baking sheet at 500 degrees Farenheit.

2. Once it’s slightly browned, let the pumpkin cool, and put into freezer-proof containers as described above. Once you find that perfect pumpkin pie or muffin recipe, all you’ll have to do is pull it out of the freezer, thaw it and puree in a blender, if necessary.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Nadia is a young Army wife and stay-at-home mom to two adorable little kids. She enjoys bargain shopping and finding the hottest and cheapest deals for her readers and blogging about her frugal living adventures as a military mama at A-B-C Frugality. When she’s not blogging or chasing a naked toddler, you can find her working hard to finish up her Bachelor’s degree in Education or reading the latest Twilight book.