What It Means To Put A Pink Pumpkin On Your Porch

Orange always comes to mind when decorating your porch with pumpkins in the fall. These days, however, seasonal décor is taking on a new meaning as people decorate with colorful gourds in various hues to raise awareness for health concerns and important causes — from epilepsy with a purple pumpkin to drunk driving with a red pumpkin. So, what does it mean to put a pink pumpkin on your porch? In addition to wearing pink ribbon pins and t-shirts, decorating with a pink pumpkin is a unique way to promote breast cancer awareness.

It's perfect to decorate a front porch for fall with a pink pumpkin since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Placing one on your patio is a great conversation starter if you or someone in your family is fighting or has previously battled breast cancer. That little extra pink among the orange might also be an important reminder to one of your neighbors to schedule their yearly mammogram.

Did you know you can buy naturally grown pumpkins in a pink color perfect for promoting breast cancer awareness? It's true. A unique variety of pumpkin called the "Porcelain Doll" was developed over a decade ago. They're pink outside and orange inside, with the same nutritional values and uses for cooking and baking as a regular pumpkin.

In addition to supporting breast cancer research by buying them from farmers, gardeners, and community groups, some supermarkets and home improvement warehouses have Porcelain Doll pumpkins available during the fall (although not all sales benefit breast cancer research, so be sure to ask if that's important to you). If you can't find a natural pink pumpkin to purchase locally, you can still craft a pink one to decorate your porch and raise breast cancer awareness. And when planning for next fall, you can also buy seeds and try growing one or more of these lovely pumpkins yourself.

If adding a pink pumpkin to your porch seems like a perfect way to make others mindful of breast cancer, you can try painting one. In addition to picking up a pumpkin, you'll need to visit your favorite craft store to get an economical foam paintbrush, pink acrylic paint, and some spray- or brush-on acrylic sealer.

After prepping your work area with newspaper or a drop cloth, ready your pumpkin by washing and drying it. Next, apply a coat of sealer to the pumpkin and let it dry thoroughly. Move on to painting half the pumpkin pink, let the paint dry, and then paint the other half to minimize messiness. You can add as many coats of paint as needed to get the color right. When the paint is completely dry, coat the entire pumpkin with another application of sealer. If you want to paint a pink ribbon on the front to further your breast cancer awareness message or add some pink glitter to make it extra fancy, you can do that, too.