Food October 26, 2023

Easy pumpkin seed snack 2 ways and festive pumpkin party decor

WATCH: 'GMA' celebrates National Pumpkin Day

Once you've selected the perfect pumpkin for jack-o'-lantern carving this Halloween, you'll want to be sure to remind yourself to save the seeds.

Babs Costello, cookbook author and lifestyle content creator, joined "Good Morning America" on Thursday to share her favorite ways to put pumpkins on display, plus two versions of a pumpkin seed snack you can make after all the carving is done.

Babs Costello
A personalized pumpkin.

Scroll below to check it all out.

Babs Costello joins "GMA" to share pumpkin hacks for fall.

Easy way to clean out a pumpkin

Costello showed "GMA" how to properly clean out a pumpkin with ease, with the help of an electric hand mixer.

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Pumpkin seed snack recipe

Two pans of roasted pumpkin seeds.

Costello also showed "GMA" how to make sweet and spiced pumpkin seeds that make a tasty and festive party snack.

Ingredients

For sweet seeds

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For spicy seeds

1 tablespoon oil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Other festive uses for pumpkins

A pumpkin drink dispenser.

An ordinary cooler won't cut it for a festive fall party, so Costello shared a simple trick to turn a pumpkin into a beverage cooler.

A hollowed out pumpkin used as a cooler.

Costello added a plastic bag as a liner inside a tall pumpkin with the top cut off, and a beverage hole cut out on the face (this can be achieved using a round cookie cutter and a mallet). She then put a spout through the hole and filled the lined pumpkin with her drink of choice.

Another fun activity for kids with no carving required, Costello said, is to make a painted ghost pumpkin: Make thumbprints using white and orange paint and use black paint to create eyes and a mouth. Repeat the design all over the pumpkin.

Two hand painted pumpkins with no carving required.