You know IKEA hacks, right? They typically involve taking a generic, common product and customizing it. I took my own advice and did a last minute, DIY “hack” over the weekend, but not with a table or dresser from IKEA. Instead, I hacked one of those cheap orange pumpkin candy holders from Target.

My pumpkin hack was quick and dirty and I learned quite a bit as I went. I took my pumpkin straight from the store to my spray-painting station– a cardboard box on the back patio. Why was this wrong? I didn’t prep the pumpkin properly, so the paint didn’t really stick and there were a few places where the paint actually peeled straight off. I should have either wiped the surface off with rubbing alcohol or sprayed a coat of primer on, or both. Alas, hindsight is 20-20. And the pumpkin will be just fine for this year. Maybe I’ll hack it again next year, doing something completely different!

Once the pumpkin was painted with a few light coats of Rustoleum’s metallic black spray paint, I took a gold paint pen and filled in the “carved” portions of the pumpkin: the eyes, nose and mouth. While I was spraying the pumpkin, I used my metallic gold spray paint and sprayed “stretchy spiders” (that’s what Target calls them…) Once those were dry, I used hot glue to adhere them to the pumpkin. Another lesson here: it only partially worked: two spiders stayed adhered, two didn’t. I’ll be applying super glue to the difficult ones shortly. Hopefully they will cooperate.

Finally, I snipped off the boring black plastic handle and replaced it with a sheer gold ribbon that I found in the basement. I had just the right amount, which means that it really was meant to be.

So, what do you think of the Great Plastic Pumpkin Hack of 2013?

Finished product!

Oooh! Scary! Gold spiders in search of treats!

Of course you want to know what’s inside, right? We’ve got: Junior Mints, Whoppers, Snickers, Reese’s Pieces, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hersey’s milk chocolate and cookies ‘n cream bars, and Twix bars. All of our favorite things! Thankfully Megan’s Island sees very few trick-or-treaters, so most of that deliciousness will be kept for us.

Nom. Nom. Nom. Think we’ll be able to save some candy for Thursday? Me neither.

Total cost for the great pumpkin hack?

• Plastic pumpkin: $1 (Target)
• Plastic spiders (4-pack): $1 (Target)
• Spray paint of your choice: ~$4/can (I always use Rustoleum)
• Paint pen: Varying costs, depending on what you get
• 12″ of Ribbon
• Hot glue (and then crazy glue)

Total for me: $2 and ~ 10 minutes of hands-on time.