It’s Super Easy to Turn a Faux Pumpkin Into a Wine Dispenser — Just Watch

Throwing a Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, or Samhain bash? If you’re looking for a special way to display your libations or doll up your decor, look no further. I recently found (and tried!) a clever hosting trick that’s perfect for every event you’ll host this autumn, and every autumn to come — and you have to see the results.

DIY icon @sellingthesuburbs shared an ingenious hack to TikTok where she turns a faux pumpkin into a snazzy wine dispenser for parties. While I’m not the craftiest person, I do like autumn and, of course, Halloween. So when the challenge was put forth for me to tackle this myself, I took it on with gusto! While in the video she keeps the pumpkin unadorned for her wine dispenser, I decided to fashion mine into a jack-o’-lantern. With this idea, I created one lovely item to enjoy for all of October’s festivities. (You can also do the same with a real pumpkin!).

• An artificial pumpkin, approximately 8 to 13 inches tall
• Pumpkin carving tools or a boxcutter
• 1 three-liter boxed wine
• Black rectangular stickers (optional)

1. Cut the top off of your pumpkin. First and foremost, cover your work surface with paper bags or a tarp because this project will get messy! Draw a wide circle (about 4 inches in diameter) around the stem of the pumpkin with a pencil. With the larger carving tool, saw directly on the pencil line around the perimeter of the circle and pop off the top. Make sure to save the lid, as you will use it.  

2. Create your wine spout. Measure the base of the wine bag’s spout to determine how large of a hole you’ll need to make for the spout to fit. The diameter of the base of the wine bag I used was about 2.25 inches. For a little wiggle room, I drew a 2.5-inch circle three-quarters down the pumpkin to serve as the “mouth” of my jack-o’-lantern. I then took the larger carving tool and cut out the hole.

3. Ease your wine bag into the pumpkin. Make sure its spout is facing you and pointing downward while guiding it to come out of the smaller hole. Gravity will serve as your friend, as the weight of the wine will help maneuver the placement of the spout and anchor the bag. The spout should be sticking out of the hole and hanging slightly. Be sure to clean the spout thoroughly before removing the tab when you’re ready to consume the wine, as it might have collected some of the foam dust.  

4. Create the jack-o’-lantern’s face. Cut out two large triangles and one small triangle from the black rectangular stickers to serve as the eyes and nose for your jack-o’-lantern. Now pop the lid back on and voila! You’re ready to be the host with the most. (Of course, this final step could be done earlier in the process, too.)

A three-liter bag of wine fit quite nicely in this, but you can also use this handy jack-o’-lantern as a simple table decoration or a candy bowl for Halloween by lining the inside of the pumpkin with fabric or construction paper. You could also leave the mouth hole open to treat it as a candy “dispenser.”

While the original Instagram post makes it look quick and easy, crafting one of these was a lot harder than I thought it would be, material- and labor-wise. It did take a bit of time to cut out the holes that I needed, but the jack-o’-lantern came out nicely. If I ever wanted to try this idea again to use as a wine dispenser for a party, I would carve a real pumpkin to use rather than a synthetic one, then discard it — although it’s nice that my new jack-o’-lantern will last me for many years to come. At any rate, for the DIY whizzes who want to fashion a decorative reusable pumpkin, grab some paint, glitter, faux flowers and leaves, snakes, or skulls, and strut your stuff — happy hosting to all!