Pumpkin Ice Bucket

Wine bottles in a pumpkin

Created by: Sharon Garofalow, Cupcakes and Cutlery

The holiday season is upon us, which means we’ll be hosting our family and friends often. Make your table extra festive with a Pumpkin Ice Bucket! It’s fast to make and adds such a fun touch to your bar area. Although I’m showing my ice bucket holding white wine, you can easily use it for soda, sparkling cider or champagne.

Things You'll Need:

  • 1 mid- to large-sized pumpkin
  • Marker
  • Serrated pumpkin carving knife
  • 2 larger plastic zip-top bags
  • 1 leaf
  • White paint pen
  • 1 straight pin

Directions to create your Pumpkin Ice Bucket:

Choose your pumpkin. You can see from the scale in the photo above that the pumpkin I used was just about the height of a wine bottle (with the pumpkin top still on). I used a marker to draw my scallop design and then used a serrated pumpkin carving knife to follow the pattern. I cleaned out the inside of the pumpkin using a large serving spoon (and reserved the pumpkin seeds for roasting, because yum! These would also be great to put out as a snack at your party).

I used two large plastic zip-top bags to create a little bit of a lining on the inside of the pumpkin before I added my wine bottles and ice. Pumpkins tend to be pretty thick so they shouldn’t leak as the ice melts, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I used a leaf from my flower arrangement and a white paint pen to make a drink marker for the Pumpkin Ice Bucket, which I attached to the pumpkin with a straight pin.

Keep an eye on your Pumpkin Ice Bucket throughout your party and make sure to remove water from melted ice and refresh with new ice as needed.